I would focus on one skill at a time and not really put a limit on the time. You may have half of your students ready to move onto a new skill and the rest not there yet. I would continue to introduce new skills and then the students may need individualized instruction. I find that writing is the easiest time to individualize instruction, because everyone is busy writing, and you can easily work one on one.

Do you have to have a writing grade? We don't grade for writing, mainly just prepare for state tests. I only grade grammar and conventions.

Hope this was helpful

I got this book and love it and plan to use it this year with my middle schoolers. However, I guess I'm just a little bit confused as to what is the best way of doing this. For example, do I spend 1-2 weeks doing lessons focused on ideas, then move on to 1-2 weeks of organization, and so on. If so, do I just grade papers based on the traits we're currently focused on? Not quite sure on what to do...