The freshmen in English 1 CT have been learning about Write Tools for the past two weeks. They have been working hard to learn the eight steps of writing a paragraph. The steps are: read and analyze the prompt, stop and think, brainstorm, pick and choose, plan, color code, turn and talk, and draft. Write Tools uses these steps to help make writing easier for students. The curriculum also uses colors to help students write a well-formatted paragraph. Green is for the topic and conclusion, yellow is for the big ideas, and red or pink is for the supporting details. After taking notes on Write Tools and remembering how to use the colors correctly, the students have been practicing writing paragraphs about To Kill a Mockingbird, the novel we just finished. They have been working hard and producing great pieces of writing.