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Effective Writing Instruction for Struggling Writers Developed by Region IV Education Service Center In collaboration with the Texas Education Agency News Flash “Children want to write. They want to write the first day they attend school. This is no accident. Before they went to school, they marked up walls, pavements, and newspapers with crayons, chalk, pens or pencils…anything that makes a mark. The child’s mark say ‘I am’.” Graves, 1983 2 Struggling Writers • Compose very little considering time allocated for writing • Lack awareness of how to organize the writing and produce less coherent papers • Leave out critical information 3 Struggling Writers Have difficulty adding detail to the composition Experience difficulty with word choice, handwriting, mechanics, identifying and correcting errors Are not fluent writers 4 Struggling Writers Lack procedural knowledge about the writing process Have difficulty selecting topics and generating ideas 5 Struggling Writers Are unaware of audience, purpose, and form demands Do not understand that writing is a means of conveying a message Do not monitor their own progress 6 Good News “We have made more progress in written expression for students with disabilities than in any other academic area.” Vaughn, Gersten, and Chard (2002) 7 Components of Effective Writing Instruction for Struggling Writers A classroom climate that motivates students to write An emphasis on the writing process Continual monitoring of student progress Specific instruction and strategies to meet the needs of the struggling writer 8 Motivation • Serves as a critical element in all learning • Focuses or energizes student’s attention, emotions, and activity • Plays a central role in the writing process 9 Create a Classroom Climate that Motivates Students Invite students to learn Provide sufficient time with quality needs-based instruction Base all instruction on the TEKS Support student learning through scaffolded instruction 10 Invitations to Learn An effective classroom teacher’s actions and words will meet students’ needs and desires for Affirmation Contribution C.A. Tomlinson, 2002 11 Invitations to Learn An effective classroom teacher’s actions and words will meet students’ needs and desire for Purpose Power Challenge C.A. Tomlinson, 2002 12 Sufficient Time with Quality Needs-Based Instruction “Writing taught once or twice a week is just frequent enough to remind students that they can’t write and teachers that they can’t teach.” Graves, 1983 13 Sufficient Time with Quality Needs-Based Instruction Teachers need to create as many opportunities as possible to teach writing. Students should be working on pieces of writing all of the time. 14 Sufficient Time with Quality Needs-Based Instruction “Struggling writers require more time and more extended, structured, and explicit instruction to develop skills and strategies essential for writing.” Catts & Kamhi, 1999 15 TEKS-Based Instruction Vertical Alignment of TEKS 12 All educators serving a struggling student must meet regularly and have purposeful discussions about the instructional needs of the student. K 16 Scaffolded Instruction Scaffolded instruction is the temporary support that allows a student to move from his/her current knowledge and skills to a higher level of competence, moving from dependence on the teacher/others to independence as a learner. 17 Scaffolded Instruction to Support Student Learning Explicit instruction is provided at the initial level of student proficiency The design or use of the instructional strategy is adapted Substantial support is given early and the support is gradually reduced as the student gains independence 18 Continuum of Teacher Support for Writing Struggling Writer Skilled Writer High support Moderate support Low/No support Independent Dependent Teacher-directed Prompted assistance Student-directed Unprompted assistance Instruction Integration Adapted from Fountas & Pinnell, 1996 19 Scaffolded Writing Instruction • Modeling • Mini-lessons • Conferences – Teacher/student – Student/student • A variety of grouping patterns • Technology use 20 Support Provided Through Teacher Modeling Modeling or demonstrating is an important part of all good instruction, Including mini-lesson instruction. Direct Writing Instruction Examples of Good Writing 21 Mini-Lessons • Are of short duration (10–20 minutes) • Demonstrate important aspects of the writing process with clear, powerful examples • Focus on a specific writing principle or procedure • Are interactive and meet students’ needs 22 Teacher/Student Writing Conferences The teacher Helps the writer, not the writing Points out specific positive aspects in the writing and reinforces strengths Identifies specific instructional needs 23 Teacher/Student Writing Conferences The teacher Assists students in setting goals Learns how the writer is progressing in his/her application of the writing process and concepts taught during mini-lessons 24 Peer Conferences Give students real and immediate audiences for their work Improve student writing Help develop effective oral communication skills 25 Peer Conferences Assist students in becoming selfevaluators Enhance student selfesteem 26 Grouping Patterns Type of Group Whole Group Small Group (same ability) Pairs/Partners One-on-One Instructional Focus Introduce new concepts Practice concepts not mastered by approximately 2/3 of the class Review concepts Instructional Strategy Mini-lesson Modeling Instruction targeted Mini-lesson to specific Modeling students’ needs Practice concepts Peer conferences already introduced Instruction targeted Teacher/student to a specific conference student’s need 27 Technology and Writing Instruction Computers • • • • Are enjoyable to use Encourage risk-taking Allow for revision and editing Give professional results When students compose on computers, they write more and both the quality of their writing and their attitude toward writing improve. Bangert-Drowns, 1993 28 Technology Use Provides assistance for • • • • • Organizational assistance Grammar correction Speech synthesis Visually highlighting words Word cueing and word prediction • Voice recognition 29 The Writing Process Shifts emphasis from a product-driven approach to a process-driven approach Provides effective writing instruction Enforces the process all writers go through as they develop their compositions Helps develop positive attitudes towards writing 30 Stages in the Writing Process Reflective Recursive Prewriting Publishing Editing Drafting Revising 31 Using the Writing Process with Struggling Writers • Allows students to be involved in writing regularly for meaningful purposes and real audiences • Focuses on meaning first and then skills in the context of meaning • Accommodates individual differences allowing students to work at their own level and pace • Involves collaboration 32 Using the Writing Process with Struggling Writers Provides opportunities for generalization and transfer of learning Helps establish independent problem-solvers both in writing and in the classroom in general Gives student control of their writing Creates writers 33 Using the Writing Process with Struggling Writers “The reason writing helps children with learning disabilities is that they do far more than learn to write; they learn to come to terms with a new image of themselves as thinkers— thinkers with a message to convey to the world.” Graves, 1991 34 Prewriting • Helps the writer explore the possibilities in the writing task • Stimulates and enlarges the writer’s thoughts • Moves the writer from the stage of thinking about a writing task to the act of writing • Develops a plan to help the writer choose the topic, purpose, audience, and form or structure Do not overlook prewriting activities! 35 Drafting • As the first version of writing, the purpose of drafting is to put thoughts onto paper. • Writing’s recursive nature means that drafting will be revisited again and again and again. 36 Revising Improves the composition so that the product is more interesting and understandable to the reader Clarifies meaning and expands ideas Helps writers learn the craft of writing Revising means “seeing again.” 37 Editing Helps the writer • Understand that conventions convey meaning • Make corrections to errors in the conventions of writing, including spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation 38 Publishing Helps the writer focus on the communication of meaning to a real audience, thus giving a purpose for writing efforts Acknowledges that writing is genuine communication Is an effective strategy for motivating writing Practices the highest level of revision and editing skills 39 Monitoring Student Progress Formal measurements • Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) • State Developed Alternative Assessment (SDAA) • Additional norm- or criterion-referenced tests 40 Monitoring Student Progress Informal measurements Observation Conferences Writing samples Anecdotal records Checklists Rubrics 41 Specific Instruction and Strategies for the Struggling Writer Reinforce core instruction taught to all students Provide scaffolded instruction to support use of strategies taught in core learning to struggling writers Provide deeper scaffolded instructional strategies that support the same learning 42 The Reading and Writing Connection Writers who are readers Have a wider knowledge base to draw from for topic selection and personal connections Practice and study language in ways that are closely related to real-world situations Become cognizant of what good writing looks and sounds like Use knowledge of text organization, conventions, and elements of style to aid in comprehension 43 Writing Across the Curriculum Writing • Increases recall and understanding of information • Enhances the thinking of students • Facilitates the learning of the content Writing’s greatest gift Is the ability to help us learn. Moore, 1994 44 Content Area Writing Writing tasks should include Informational Writing Imaginative Writing Essay Writing Journal Writing 45 Benefits of Journal Writing Encourages risk taking Provides a safe private place to write Makes thinking visible Provides opportunities for reflection Validates personal experiences and feeling 46 Benefits of Journal Writing Promotes the development of written language conventions Provides a vehicle for evaluation Promotes fluency in writing and reading Provides a personal record for students 47 Strategic Writing Instruction Can be presented to students through mini-lessons and conferences Makes students aware of when, where, how, and why strategies work Is tailored to the needs of individual students 48 Steps for Writing Skills and Strategy Instruction • Identify the skill/strategy • Preteach vocabulary or concepts • Describe the components • Explain strategy’s use • Model while writing a composition • Instruct students to memorize and rehearse strategies • Help students work toward independent mastery 49 Scaffolded Instruction in Action Initial core instruction Present new material Explain the task Provide opportunities for practice Give feedback Enrich background knowledge Review and reteach material Use technology 50 Scaffolded Instruction Throughout the Writing Process Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Publishing 51 Prewriting Difficulties Selecting a topic Narrowing the focus Generating ideas Organizing thoughts Determining audience and purpose 52 Drafting and Revising Difficulties • Composing very little and omitting critical information • Developing complete sentences/paragraphs • Developing an idea • Producing focused and coherent papers • Writing fluently 53 Editing Difficulties Spelling Punctuation Grammar Use Sentence Structure 54 Invitations to Learn In a writing process classroom, how can teachers provide support for these five areas that will motivate students to want to write? Affirmation Contribution Purpose Challenge Power 55 Remember The invitation to learn comes from YOU 56