Strong writing skills open the door to self-expression, critical thinking, and academic success. At Kings Beach Elementary, a new Excellence in Education grant is helping to bring more structure, engagement, and opportunity to writing instruction for students across grades 2 through 5.
The grant, submitted by Katena Sanford, provides a one-year school license for the Mystery Writing program, part of the Mystery Science platform. Mystery Writing includes standards-aligned lessons designed to support students in developing foundational writing skills as well as more advanced opinion, narrative, and informational writing. Teachers use the lessons to supplement the existing language arts curriculum.
The program is implemented in multiple ways across grade levels 2–5. Third grade has already incorporated Mystery Writing into Walk to Learn groups and English Language Arts instruction two to four days per week.
Mystery Writing builds on the existing use of Mystery Science within the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District, offering a familiar platform for teachers. The program features engaging topics and lesson structures designed to encourage student participation in writing activities.
This grant provides a one-year opportunity for Kings Beach Elementary to evaluate the program’s effectiveness in supporting student writing and meeting grade-level standards.
Grant Details
- School: Kings Beach Elementary
- Grant Category: Literacy
- Amount Funded: $1,499
- Item Funded: Mystery Writing School License
With access to new tools and dedicated writing support, students at Kings Beach Elementary are building skills that will carry into every subject area and beyond the classroom.
“We are able to target informative, opinion, and narrative writing standards in ways that the students are incredibly engaged. They are talking about what they will write and they WANT to write about the prompts and mini lessons from Mystery Writing.” ~ Katena Sanford, Kings Beach Elementary.We’re excited to support literacy initiatives like this one, thanks to donor support! You can contribute to the success of our local students and teachers, too. Learn more here.