A practicum was designed to give third-grade teachers a way to incorporate into the standard school day ongoing assessment techniques. The teachers used portfolios of the 140 children's work as an important, tangible and readily accessible record. The development and presentation of eight monthly workshops and ongoing classroom demonstration and support of portfolios addressed the individual child's needs in a personal, language arts integrated manner, needs which stemmed from community cultural differences and linguistic orientation. The practicum provided the teacher with a way to establish and manage a classroom climate for continuous portfolio assessment approach and cooperative/collaborative Writing to Learn Centers. Lesson plans were formulated from writing activities related to real purposes, interests, motivation, and needs of the children, connecting school, home, and community. Interactive family assignments, parent/child/homework workshops and ongoing parent/teacher/child conferences were instituted to assist children and parents with the purposes and functions of varied forms of written communication. The practicum succeeded in providing an effective continuous assessment approach, as a positive supplement to the current reporting system. As a result of the workshop programs supplementing the writing curricula and the ongoing child/teacher conference time, there was a marked increase in the children's enthusiasm, confidence, and writing output. The children also demonstrated much improvement in the quality of their writing, and the parents became active participants in their children's writing development. Contains 92 references and five tables of data. (RS)