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Newsela Writing & Smarter Balanced: Preparing Students for Rigorous ELA Performance Tasks

April 1, 2025

Webinar guide

Connect daily writing to performance task success

Use this session to explore how Newsela Writing helps districts build Smarter Balanced readiness through everyday writing practice, formative feedback, and evidence-based writing.

Snapshot

Runtime 31:53
Who it’s for District administrators, curriculum and assessment leaders, and ELA instructional leadership teams preparing for rigorous assessments.
Use it to Support Smarter Balanced readiness, evidence-based writing, formative practice, and assessment-aligned instruction.

Session Takeaways

1 How can daily writing instruction support Smarter Balanced expectations? The session shows how students can build performance task readiness through consistent, authentic writing practice embedded in everyday instruction.
2 How does formative writing practice improve readiness? You’ll see how formative feedback loops help students strengthen skills over time without relying only on test-prep activities.
3 How can educators support evidence-based writing? The webinar highlights strategies that help students use evidence, explain thinking, and connect writing practice to rigorous ELA tasks.

Meet the Speakers

Speaker Dan Cogan-Drew
Co-founder and Chief Academic Officer, Newsela Speaker Arianna Ranahosseini
Curricular Solutions Architect, Newsela

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The Impact of Newsela on At-Risk 7th and 8th Grade Students

See the research

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How Norwalk Public Schools Used Differentiated Digital Content To Make Its Curriculum Accessible to All Students

Ground skills practice in authentic content.

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