The first year of the writing program at the William M. Trotter Elementary School (Boston, Massachusetts) accomplished (1) the development of an outline of basic writing activities and skills for grades one through five; (2) the use of holistic rating; (3) the development of a common correction symbol; (4) the development of writing folders containing student writing samples; (5) the establishment of a central file of ideas and materials; (6) in-class demonstrations of activities to develop writing skills; and (7) meetings with or communications to parents about the writing program. Teachers' evaluations indicated that the children enjoyed writing more, that the frequency of writing practice increased, and that the students' writing appeared more organized. On the basis of one holistic rating session of one set of grade five writing samples, it was determined that the writing program had increased the writing ability of the poorest writers in that grade. (Attachments include directions for eliciting writing samples, criteria for judging writing samples, outline of the curriculum guide, the correction symbol system, and samples of student writing.) (HOD)