Building Writers: Cornerstones™ explicitly teaches students sentence construction with grammar in context—an essential foundation for all types of writing.
Too often students are expected to write at length before they’ve understood the basics of writing clear sentences and paragraphs.
Cornerstones teaches young students how to write complete, grammatically correct sentences so they can then successfully express themselves in paragraph writing for assignments, assessments and more.
Cornerstones carefully and systematically brings children along the writing journey, starting with oral language and written words in Kindergarten, moving up through complete and correct sentences in Grades 1 and 2, and then finishing with clear paragraphs in Grade 3.
For too long, the focus on rhetorical modes in the earlier grades, without first building a strong foundation, did a disservice to students and hindered their growth as writers. This is the program that gets it right."
Explicit instruction in compactly designed 10–15-minute sessions fit flexibly into even the busiest schedules. These lessons establish successful writing habits by providing foundational writing skills instruction that most ELA writing schedules lack.
Hands-on activities, engaging teacher resources, and independent practice build students’ writing skills and confidence.
Today’s classrooms, with their many demands, don’t have time to waste.
Building Writers: Cornerstones™ provides targeted writing instruction in compactly designed 10-15-minute sessions to fit flexibly into even the busiest schedules. These lessons establish an efficient, effective instructional writing routine that taps a variety of models and activities to introduce key writing concepts, reinforce understanding, and nurture the independent application of new skills through writing activities.
[Cornerstones] has been an incredibly helpful tool in addressing a persistent gap in our curriculum: supporting students in building strong foundational writing habits early on."
Step 1: Model
Modeling Resources with multimedia content, such as songs and animations, explicitly introduce new writing concepts and show them in action. These resources provide multisensory instruction to build writing skills.
Step 2: Guided Practice
During Guided Practice, experiment with concepts and express ideas in words and sentences with interactive resources. Guided practice helps build successful writing habits.
Step 3: Independent Practice
Students apply newly learned skills during Independent Practice writing activities—including response to text.
Cornerstone’s targeted lessons, designed to fit into busy ELA schedules, set up learning routines in 10-15-minute sessions. The program’s streamlined focus on sentence construction and teaching grammar in context easily complements core ELA writing curricula with explicit instruction in key writing skills.
It’s easy to tap all Teacher’s Guide content, including multimedia Modeling Resources and an interactive Sentence Builder for Guided Practice—all at point of use in each lesson. Teachers can show the parts of a sentence and how to create them with these interactive writing skills tools.
Our Kindergarten and Grade 2 teachers implemented [Cornerstones] this year and immediately recognized its impact. The program filled a noticeable gap in our curriculum by providing explicit instruction in foundational writing skills–something both necessary and previously missing."