Writing Research and Best Practices - Idaho Falls School...

In the2003 report,TheNeglected“R”:TheNeed for aWritingRevolution, theNationalCommission onWritingstated: Writing is not simply a way for students todemonstratewhattheyknow. It isawaytohelpthemunderstandwhat they know.Certainly, these two ideasmirrorthephilosophyoftheDepartment’simplementationof thestatewritingassessment in1991. As isevidencedbytheirincreasedscoresontheFCATwritingassessmentover the past few years, Florida’s students have, indeed,improved their writing and their understanding of whattheyknow.Now,beginningwiththe2004-05schoolyear,increased accountability standards compel educators toexpectFlorida’sstudentstowritebetter.

Howcanteacherscontinuethedramaticimprovementintheirstudents’writing?Thepurposeofthisdocumentistohelpanswerthisquestion.

WritingResearchandBestPracticesWhat does the latest research say about the teachingofwriting?What arebest practices? In afive-year researchproject on excellence in teaching English, Judith Langerfound that “In effective schools, learningand instructionrelated to knowledge and conventions of English andhigh literacy take place as separated, simulated, andintegrated experiences” (Langer, 2002). Separated andsimulated activities refer to the introduction of a skill orknowledgeitemtotheclass,andtheintegratedactivityisthepurposefulapplicationofit.Theeffectiveteachingofwritinginvolvesallthreeoftheselearningexperiences,withanemphasisonthewriter’scraft, theuseofhigh-qualitywritingexemplars,timeforclassroomwritingpracticeandthoughtfulreflectionbefore,during,andafterthewriting.Thefollowingeightbestpracticesdescribethegoalsandlearningenvironmentofsuccessfulwritingteachers.

BestPracticesinTeachingWriting1. Establishapositiveatmosphereforwriting,

reading,andlearningby:

• Creatinganinvitingclassroomwithflexibleseating,accessibleresources,andattractivesurroundings

• Modelingrespect

• Sharingtheteacher’sownwritingwithstudents

• Establishingroutinesandexpectations

2. Organizeforwritingby:

• Settingupawritingworkshoproutinewhichconveneseverydayoftheweek

• Usingwriter’snotebooks/portfolios

• Teachingwriter’scrafttechniquesbasedonanunderstandingofthewritingprocessandstudentdevelopmentalwritingneeds

3. Providemeaningfulstudentwritingactivitiesby:

• Promotingstudentchoiceandownershipforbothfictionandnonfictionwriting

• Providingopportunitiesforauthenticwriting,allowingfortherecursivenatureofwritingpracticeoveraperiodofdaysand/orweeks

4. Ensurethatstudentsread,respondto,anduseavarietyofmaterialswrittenforavarietyofpurposesandaudiencesby:

• Givingreadinganintegralroleinthewritingclassroom

• Providingdiversereadingmaterialsmodelingtheimportanceofcraftandidea

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ProvenInstructionalPracticesforHigh-QualityWriting

5. Writeregularlyacrossthecurriculumand gradelevelsby:

• Collaboratingonassignmentsamongcontent areateachers

• Sharingwritingrubricsacrossgradelevelsand subjectareas

6. Arrangeforstudentstohaveconstructive responsetotheirwritingandtoofferresponseto otherwritersby:

• Makingteacherandpeerresponseanintegral partofwritinginstruction

• Providingclasstimeforrevisionafterresponseto theoriginaldraft

• Providingselectiveresponsesthatdonotoverwhelmthestudents

• Respondingintermittentlythroughoutthewriting process,notonlyafterthefinaldraft

• Usingmanytechniquesforresponse,including student-teacherconferences,peerreviews, responseforms,classcritiques,andself assessments

7. Provideopportunitiesforstudentstocollaborate aswriters,thinkers,andlearnersby:

• Usingcollaborationtechniquessuchasfurniture placement,modelingcollaboration,providing checklistsandforms,andorganizingwritingpairs orsmallgroups

• Providingguidelinesanddemonstrationsof appropriatestudentinteractionsandcreating specifictasksforstudentstoaccomplishduring theircollaborations

8. Conducteffectivemini-lessonsonwritingby:

• Choosingwriter’scraftlessonsthatrelateto students’needsaswellascurriculumand/or assessmentneeds

• Structuringmini-lessonssostudentscanobserve, discuss,andsimulatethetargetedwritingcraft lessonsorskills

• Providingspecificresponsestothesesimulated practices

(Adapted from Best Practices in Teaching Writing: An Outline by Charles Whitaker, from the Annenberg CPG Channel Write in the Middle video series (2004), producedbyKentuckyEducationalTelevision.)

FourComponentsofWriter’s Workshop Howdoesateacherincorporatetheseeightbestpractices intowriter’sworkshop?Throughdirectwritinginstruction scaffoldedwithintheinstructionalcomponentsofwriting aloud;sharedwriting;guidedwriting;andindependent writing(Allen,1998;Routman,2000;Fountas&Pinnell, 2001).Thesefourcomponentsaredescribedbelow.

1. WRITINGALOUD

• Teacherdemonstrates–writingonchartpaper, overhead/LCD,board

• Teachermodelsaloudwhatshe/heisdoing, thinking,andrethinkingwhilewriting,rereading andrevisingdraft

• Teachertalksaloudabouttopicssuchas appropriatewritingmode-narrative,expository, persuasive(story,menu,letter,poem,etc.); spacingneeds(K-2);organizationalpatternsand transitionwords;writer’scraftlessonssuchas persuasivedetailsofstatisticsandexpertopinion; effectiverepetition

• Teacherpointsoutskillssuchasspelling conventions,punctuationneeds,vocabulary choices,sentencestructures,revisiontechniques

2. SHAREDWRITING

• Teacherandclasscomposealoud,collaboratively

• Bothnegotiatetopics,purposes,andwordchoice witheachother

• Teacheractsasscribeandencouragesallstudentstoparticipate

• Teacherprovidesexplicitquestioningand directions,encouraginghigh-levelthinkingon focus,support,organization,languageuse/ conventions,writer’scraft

3. GUIDEDWRITING

• Coreoftheprogram–wholeclass,smallgroup, orindividualized

• Studentwritesandteacherguides

• Explicitteachinginformofmini-lessonsfor reinforcementofskillsdepictedinsharedwriting orforintroductionofnewwriter’scraftlessons

• Rubricdevelopmentandreviewconferencestake placealongwithpeerresponseandsharing

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• Writingmayberesponsestoliterature;responses toworldorschoolevents;relatingofinformation/ reports;descriptionofclassroomexperiences; personalreflections;writingtolearnincontent areas

• Writingactivitiesareembeddedinongoing contentorliteraturestudyonadailybasis

4. INDEPENDENTWRITING

• Studentsworkalone,usingtheircurrent knowledgeofwritingprocess,oftenchoosing owntopics

• Occursdailyinwriter’sworkshopformat

• Teacherandstudentmonitorthroughdailylog journals,conferences,teacherfeedback

IndicatorsofaBalancedWriting Workshop Howdothesefourcomponentslookintheclassroom? Whataretheindicatorsofabalancedwritingworkshop? Classroomseatingarrangementsandmaterialsmaydiffer dependingonthegradelevelandabilitiesofthewriters. However,thefollowingmajorindicatorswillmostlikely bepresent.

• Reading-writingconnection-tyingtogether booksbeingreadaloudand/orstudiedinclassto writinglessonsandresearchreports/projects

• Meaningfulprint-richenvironment–usinglabels, posters,captionswheretheycatchstudent’s attentionandserveapurposeforwriting;literacy centersatK-5suchaspostoffice,supermarket, bookstore,office,kitchen;real-worldassignments andarticlesofinterestpostedformiddle/high students

• Teachermodeling–regularlydemonstrating (modelingaloud)thedraftingofnarratives,leads, poetry,punctuationconventions,alongwith writinginresponsetoreadingassignments

• Realpurposesandaudiences–providingK-12 studentstimetowriteeachdayabouttopicsthey haveknowledgeofandcareabout,usingrubrics whichdescribelevelsofachievement

• Writer’scraft–specificallyteachingthe techniquesofwritingsuchastheimportanceof audience,theuseofdialogue,connotativeand sensorylanguage,parallelsentencestructures

• Writinginvariousmodes/genres–producing picturebooks,recipes,brochures,essays,social studiesreports,moviereviews,websitereviews, letterstotheeditor,bookreviews,memoirs

• Emphasisonrevision–revisingpieces thoughtfullyovertime—notanewpieceof writingeachday(muchwritingwillnotleave draftform)

• Conference/assessmentnotes–keepingalogor portfoliooneachstudent’swritingprogress

• Spellingandvocabulary–connectingbothto writing,readingandlanguageuse

• Sentencestructureandconventions–practicing incontext,usingmini-lessons,notisolatedskills sheets.

SuggestionstoImproveFCAT WritingScores Judith Langer (2000) found that “in schools that beat the odds, test preparation has been integrated into the class time, as part of the ongoing English language arts learninggoals.”Inhigh-achievingschools,teachersteach writingasaliteracyskillforlife-longlearning,notmerely for passing a test. In the spring of 2000 The Florida DepartmentofEducationconvenedawritingtaskforce to review grades 4, 8, and 10 FCAT writing data from 1993to2000.Theresultsofthisresearchwerepublished inLessonsLearned:FCAT,SunshineStateStandardsand Instructional Implications Data through 2000 (2002). Along with providing statewide trends in student achievement, this document provided five instructional strategies for improving writing. The Lessons Learned research, reflecting Langer’s earlier research findings, emphasized that “including these basic instructional activities in the daily curriculum [would] provide writing practice…and enable students to understand the standards being applied, meet those standards, and improve the overall quality of their writing.” These five strategies are bulleted next, followed by four other strategies based on the best practices discussed in this document.

• Teachwritingasaprocess,stressingtherevisionand editingstages.Multiplerevisionsofoneessayor storymaybemorehelpfulthanwritingseveralessays orstorieswithoutrevision.

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• Requirestudentstoreadandinterpretaprompt independently,toorganizetheirthoughtsandplan theirwriting,andtowriteanelaborated(well-detailedandthorough)response.

• Shareexamplesofstudentwritingfromeachofthe scorepoints,andaskstudentstogivesuggestionsfor improvingtheessay.

• UsetheFloridarubrictoscorestudentwriting,and rewritetherubricinstudent-friendlylanguage.

• Provideoralandwrittenfeedbacktostudents, emphasizingallfourelementsofwriting:focus, organization,support,andcontrolofconventions.

• Usemini-lessonstoemphasizethewriter’scraft suchasleadsandconclusions;showing,nottelling; anecdotaldetails;audienceawareness;sentence combining.

• Scoresomedraftsonlyontheparticularcraft elementbeingstudied,noteveryaspectofthepaper.

• Emphasizethathigh-qualitywritinghasaclearfocus, extensiveelaborationofdetail,amaturecommandof language,andappropriatesentencevariety.

• ProvidetimeperiodicallybeforetheactualFCAT writingassessmenttorehearse“testconditions”and discussstudentreflectionsoftheexperience.

CaveatsRegardingTwoTeaching Practices Described below are two practices that have not produced quality writing for the majority of Florida’s students.

Teaching formulaic writingisthe firstareaof concern. Barry Lane states in his book After the End (1993) that “writersdon’tneedtobegivenformulas;theyneedtobe shownpossibilities.”Toooften,formulaicwritingleadsto mediocre, dull writing where student engagement with the text is absent. In the latest edition of Inside Out, DanKirbyasserts“whendevelopingwritersarerequired tofocusonforms,theylearntopluglifelesswordsand mundaneideasintotheformula…”(Kirbyetal.,2004). It is not that most Florida students who use a form cannotwrite;itisthattheycannotwriteatthelevelthat today’s businesses and colleges expect. Writing which is purposeful, reflects insight into the writing situation,

and demonstrates a mature command of language are rubric descriptors of high-quality writing. Teachers are encouragedtorecognizethelimitationsof presenting andacceptingascorrectoneorganizationalplanover allothers.Whileaformulamaybeusefulforbeginning ornovicewriterswhoneedscaffoldinginorganizational techniques and in the crafting of elaboration, it should not be an outcome expectation for student writers at any grade level. The results of a research study from the University of Delaware (Albertson, 2003) indicated alowerfrequencyof5-paragraphessaysathigherscore points on a holistic rubric. The researcher concluded “that learning to use a range of available organization and development strategies may be more worthwhile [thanformulas],atleastforthepurposeofpassinghigh stakeswritingassessments.”

Learning and practicing an array of organizational writing patterns also encourages higher order thinking. Teachers who teach a menu of organizational patterns, alongwitheachpattern’slinkingexpressionsandsignal words,implicitlyhelpstudentsmakesenseoftheideas they want to express (Billmeyer et al., 1998). Among these patterns are chronological order, comparison-contrast, description, concept/definition, and process/ cause-effect. Creative, thoughtful modes of writing may be developed through the use of these patterns – modes such as the personal essay, research report, autobiography, feature news article or editorial, as well as,theshortstoryorpoem.

Rotememorizationofanessaycomponent,forexample, an introduction or lead paragraph, is a disturbing practiceobservedduringthehandscoringofrecentFCAT Writingessays.Providingmodelsofsentencestylesand techniques by excellent writers for student imitation is considered a best practice (Killgallon, 1998; Noden, 1999). However, some students have been encouraged to memorize another writer’s work, such as a lead paragraph, and use it in their FCAT Writing responses. This practice infringes upon the student’s ownership of the writing. In effect, it is not the student’s original writing, an explicit requirement of FCAT Writing, and may be considered a violation of test administration rules.

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FinalCommentsTheNationalCommissiononWritingrecentlypublished a second report Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out (2004), highlighting the results of a survey of major American corporations regarding written communication. Respondents rated accuracy, clarity, conventions, and conciseness as extremely important characteristics of effective written communication. These corporate leaders’ responses reiterated the focus of the Commission’s original report: clear writing and clear thinking go hand in hand—each is dependent on theother.

Resources VideoSeriesonWritingInstruction TheAnnenberg/CPBChannelisafreesatellitechannel forschools.Videosalsoarestreamedondemandat http://www.learner.org/.Twonewvideoseriesare excellent:DevelopingWriters:aWorkshopforHigh SchoolTeachers(2004);andWriteintheMiddle:a WorkshopforMiddleSchoolTeachers(2004).

ProfessionalBooksandArticles Bomer,R.(1995).TimeforMeaning:CraftingLiterate LivesinMiddle&HighSchool.Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.

Fletcher,R.&Portalupi,J.(2001).NonfictionCraft Lessons.York,ME:StenhousePublishers.

NCTE’sAssemblyfortheTeachingofGrammar.(2004). NCTEGuideline:SomeQuestionsandAnswersabout Grammar.Urbana,IL:NationalCouncilofTeachersof English.

NationalWritingProject Informationonthefivewritingprofessional developmentsitesattheUniversityofCentral Florida,UniversityofSouthFlorida,FloridaGulf CoastUniversity,FloridaStateUniversity,andNova SoutheasternUniversitymaybeaccessedat http://www.writingproject.org.

NCTEWritingInitiative NCTE’sWritingInitiativetosupportbestpracticesin theteachingofwritingacrossalldisciplinesmaybe

ReferencesAllen,J.&Gonzalez,K.(1998). There’sRoomforMeHere: LiteracyWorkshopintheMiddleSchool.York,MA:Stenhouse Publishers.

Billmeyer, R., Barton, M., McREL (2002). Teaching Reading intheContentAreas:IfNotMe,ThenWho?2nded.Aurora, CO:McREL

Lane, B. (1993). After THE END: Teaching and Learning CreativeRevision.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.

Langer, J. (2002). Effective Literacy Instruction: Building SuccessfulReadingandWritingPrograms.Urbana,IL:National CouncilofTeachersofEnglish.

Langer, J. A., with Close, E. Angelis, J. & Preller, P. (2000). GuidelinesforTeachingMiddleandHighSchoolStudentsto ReadandWriteWell.Albany,NY:NationalResearchCenter onEnglishLearning&achievement.

Florida Department of Education. (2002). Lessons Learned— FCAT,SunshineStateStandardsandInstructionalImplication. Tallahassee,FL:FloridaDepartmentofEducation.

KentuckyEducationalTelevision.(2004).WriteintheMiddle: Aneight-partprofessionaldevelopmentvideo.Lexington,KY: Author

Kilgallon, D. (1998). Sentence Composing for High School. Portsmouth,NH:Boynton/CookPublishers.

Kirby,D.,Kirby,D.L.&Liner,T.(2004).InsideOut:Strategies forTeachingWriting.3d.ed.Portsmouth,NH:Heineman.

Freeman, M. (1995). Building A Writing Community: A PracticalGuide.Gainesville,FL:MaupinHousePublishing.

Fountas, I. & Pinnell G. S. (2001). Guiding Readers and Writers:Grades3-6.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.

National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges.(2003).TheNeglected“R”:theNeedforaWriting Revolution.NewYork:CollegeBoard.

National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges.(2004).Writing:ATickettoWork…OraTicketOut: ASurveyofBusinessLeaders.NewYork:CollegeBoard.

Noden, H. R. (1999). Image Grammar: Using Grammatical StructurestoTeachWriting.Portsmouth,NH:Boynton/Cook Publishers.

Routman, R. (2000). CONVERSATIONS: Strategies for Teaching, Learning, and Evaluating. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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accessedathttp: www.ncte.org prog writing