synthesis

Teaching Writing! CIR 306- Dr. Tingle

Career Readiness  Many/most people make a living writing and/or speaking.

 How many students will make a living writing and speaking? How do we prepare them for their chosen career?

 “Despite the importance of writing in and out of the classroom, data from the National Center for Education Statistics (2012) show that a majority of students in the United States have not mastered the skills necessary for proficient or grade-level- appropriate writing.” (Gillespie, Olinghouse, & Graham, 2013)

 Though the demands for proficient writing in academic and workplace contexts are great, we are not doing a good job as a nation of helping students meet these demands (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2012; NCWAFSC, 2003, 2004; Salahu-Din, Persky, & Miller, 2008) (Troia & Graham, 2016)

Why is teaching writing so difficult?  Writing is the most difficult of all language skills!

 In 2011, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that only 27% of assessed students performed at or above the proficient level in writing (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012) continuing a trend of severely low performance from previous years. Prior to 2011, 25-30% of students scored proficient on the annual NAEP writing assessment (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012).

 “Currently our practices in the classroom are creating inequities for our students.” (Wierzbicki et al., 2018)

 Writing is an extremely complex skill. It is a goal-directed and self-sustained cognitive activity requiring the skillful management of the writing environment; the constraints imposed by the writing topic; the intentions of the writer(s); and the processes, knowledge, and skills involved in composing (Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997).

 According to the CCSS, students are expected to learn how to write for multiple purposes (e.g., to narrate, to inform, to persuade) and use writing to recall, organize, analyze, interpret, and build knowledge (Graham & Harris, 2013).

Why is teaching writing so difficult?  Writing is complex because it involves the use and coordination of numerous cognitive processes that engage several sub-processes, for example, topic selection, planning, accessing prior knowledge, generating ideas, rehearsing, attending to spelling and handwriting, reading, organizing, editing, and revising (Chapman, 2006).

 While it is fundamental, it is really hard. It is not only challenging for students but can be a stressful endeavor for teachers to effectively teach and facilitate writing in the classroom.” (Wierzbicki et al., 2018)

Why is teaching writing so difficult?  What are the attitudes that teachers have about teaching writing?

 Graham (as cited in Zumbrunn & Krause, 2012) stated, “The more prepared our teachers are, the more efficacious they are, the more likely they are to have students write and spend time teaching writing” (p. 348).

Do teachers know how to teach writing? Do they have professional development that helps them become better teachers of writing? Are they themselves writers?

 “For the most part the researchers in the field acknowledge and identify the phenomenon, however, they do not provide tools for teachers or teacher educators to make change in this area.”(Wierzbicki et al., 2018)

Why is teaching writing so difficult? Developmental disorders:

 Dyslexia (or reading disability)

 spelling disability (dysgraphia)

 oral and written language disorders (SLP students)

 students who have ADD/ADHD (also have trouble spelling, forming letters, getting thoughts on page- writing requires a lot of focus, persistence, planning!)

 hearing impairment

 motor impairment

 instructional casualties!

Remember the Simple View of Reading- SVR

Simple View of Writing? If you had to create a Simple View of Writing, what would

it look like?

Competent Writer!

Simple View of Writing- Louisa Moats

Lower Level Writing Skills- Transcription

Skills

Higher Level Writing Skills- Language Processing

Skills

Competent Writer!

Mental Control/Working Memory Overlay in both areas

Simple View of Writing- Louisa Moats  Simple View of Writing (similar to the Simple View of Reading) says that students need to develop/ master lower level writing skills as well as higher level writing skills to be a competent writer.

 Higher level writing skills- Using story structure or information text structure, selecting a topic, choosing format, adding or deleting info, varying sentences, audience awareness, remembering the plan, etc.

 Lower level writing skills- forming the letters (handwriting), spelling, capitalizing, punctuation, monitoring noun/verb, using standard English/grammar, editing, proofreading, etc.

Lower Level Writing Skills- Transcription

Skills

Higher Level Writing Skills- Language Processing

Skills

Competent Writer!

Mental Control/Working Memory Overlay in both areas

Language Dependent

 Both low and high level skills are Language Dependent!

Sentences (syntax), phonology, orthography, pragmatics, discourse structure, semantics, morphology. Handwriting is only exception because of its motor component but that also gets wired in to the process because it’s tied into language.

Standards

 Lack of foundation writing skills in transcription and or text generation

 Common core standards address only the higher order language processing skills. However, teachers must focus on lower level transcription skills.

 ‘Can’t put cart before horse’ lower level skills have to be developed, supported by researchers, and taught to students.

Writing standards  CCR standards as written are lacking a foundational skills that provide direction for explicit teaching of writing skills. A teacher would have to have the background knowledge and be familiar with reading and writing research to ‘unpack’ the standards. To the contrary, reading standards have foundational skills that can be followed for explicit teaching of reading skills. (Moats, 2011-Utah Sped Consortium)

 “Nearly one in five teachers we surveyed reported that they were not very familiar with the CCSS-WL and professional development efforts apparently have been lacking if so many teachers do not possess a working knowledge of the writing standards, the first step to successful implementation.” (Troia & Graham, 2016)

Recursive- Cognitive Process Model

 The recursive-cognitive process model. Based on the work of Emig, Flowers, Hayes, Britton, and others, this model argues that the writing process is recursive (stages are constantly re-visited) and that it is rooted in the psychological environment of the writer, as well as the communication situation at hand. While adopting the basic tripartite structure of the stage-model theory (planning, translating [drafting], reviewing [revising]), this model places that structure in the context of the rhetorical situation and the memory and thinking patterns of the writer.

 https://sun.iwu.edu/~writcent/writing_processes.htm

Recursive Model  Three Recursive- writing is a cognitive skill that requires a cognitive Juggling act!! Involves 3 phases:

 Planning- have to know where you are going

 Translating- getting words into written form- symbols into a readable form

 Reviewing/revising- spelling, work on sentences, wrong direction, etc.

 They are not sequentiall!! They involve rapid circular interaction as we compose- we know this from 1980 study of what college freshman were doing when they were reading and writing. Through talking out loud during writing an essay, the researchers analyzed the thought processes into the categories above.

 This research study was a shift from behavioral perspective and the first in it’s kind.

 (Hayes & Flowers, 1980)

Recursive model-expanded  Virginia Berninger- Researcher, from The University of Washington, studied writing and Dissected the parts of that model- each of the 3 components have sub components that can be measured and evaluated. She also authored book- Teaching Students with Dysgraphia.

 1. Planning-

 Generate ideas! Have to have ideas

 Setting goals- what kind of paper am I going to write, who is going to read, what is the purpose, length,

 Ideas have to be organized- genres?, letter to editor?

Recursive model-expanded

 2.Translation-

 a. putting words to ideas- text generation- many have problems here- getting words to ideas-come up with the language- vocabulary and the semantic generation!

 b. transcription- symbolization-process of taking words and putting into symbolic form-

 students who have high verbal capacity/oral expression need to rehearse with them because translation is difficult. Need to talk things out, need graphic organizer, etc.

Recursive model-expanded

3. Review/Revising

 Reading from the reader’s perspective- Is the message complete? Is it logically written with conventional symbols and grammar?

 Revising and editing- did I say what I wanted to say? Did I reach my audience? Conventions? Interest?

 With review/revising- continuous improvement as students write. Students will pause, rewrite, change wording, etc.

Why is teaching writing so difficult?

All teachers need instruction on HOW to teach writing! A consistent approach for

sped and regular classroom.

Most students are struggling writers (75% according to NCES, 2012)!

Teachers need systematic methodology and tools for teaching!!

Lower Level skills- Transcription

How can handwriting & spelling support writing?

How Can Teaching Handwriting Support Writing Instruction?

 “Both legible letter writing and automatic letter writing contribute uniquely to amount and quality of written composition in grades 1-6.” (Berninger & Wolff, 2009)

 Once lower level writing skills are automatized, a student’s cognitive desk space is able to focus on higher level writing skills- Louisa Moats

 “Handwriting fluency is causally related to writing.” (Graham, Harris, & Fink , 2002)

 “Transcription skills demand more effort or attention in children than adults, and limit their ability to think about and organize written output .” (McCutchen, 1996)

Interdependency  Spelling, handwriting, language and composition are interdependent!

Poor writers are limited by spelling, handwriting, and working memory problems in all grades.

Handwriting problems affect both fluency and quality of writing

Spelling problems affect the quality and quantity of what is written

Better spelling is associated with better writing

Command of the sentence underlies command of text organization

Gary Troia, author and educational researcher, says teachers need to divide their time teaching foundational skills and time to focus on composition.

Spelling  It is much harder to fix a struggling speller than it is a struggling reader. With reading, instruction is explicit and systematically taught. Spelling has not been as systematic.

 How to provide relief for poor spellers (so that writing doesn’t suffer):

 Grading content and spelling separately

 Allow personal spelling dictionary

 Provide proofreading, reminders, etc

 Provide ‘best’ written products

Remember, technology is not always to answer…Students need to be on at least a 5th grade reading level to use spell checker accurately!! (homophones, etc.)

5 Principles of Spelling:  1. Language of origin- the language from which a word came into English,, as well as its history, often explains the word’s spelling (etymonline.com)

 2. Phoneme-grapheme correspondences- Phoneme-grapheme correspondences are the mappings between speech sounds and letter groups. A grapheme is a unit that spells the grapheme.

 3. The position of a phoneme or a grapheme in a word- the position of a phoneme or grapheme refers to whether it is at the beginning, middle, or end of a syllable and what sounds (or letters) come before or after it. Position of sounds and letters often determine what letters are used from spelling.

 4. Letter order and sequence patterns, or orthographic conventions- over the past few centuries, scribes and dictionary writers put constrains on how we are allowed to use letters. In addition, there are syllable-spelling conventions, and syllables can be classified into 6 regular types.

 5. Meaning (morphology) and part of speech- English is morphomenic! A deep orthography like English represents both sound and meaning.

Handwriting  Handwriting is an important component of lower level writing skills.

 Writing is the product of

 lower level transcription skills and higher level language processing with an overlay of the mental control processes.

 Students cannot be good writers unless they have command over all of these elements!

 Students need well developed lower and higher level and control over mental control processes to be a good writer!!!

Evidence Poor Writer’s Characteristics- Berninger, 2009

 Primary and significant problems with transcription (spelling, handwriting, punctuation)

 General language deficiencies

 Limitations of working memory- difficulty planning, organizing, retrieving, sorting, ‘juggling many balls at once’

 Struggling writer- problems in one or many areas

 “Transcription and working memory explain much of the variance in composition quality and fluency at the intermediate level”. (McCutchen, 1996)

Evidence  Transcription skills demand more effort or attention in children than adults, and limit their ability to think about and organize written output (McCutchen, 1996)

 Lower-order transcription skills underlie higher order text generation in K (Puranic & Aiotaiba, 2012)

 Just like with reading, if they struggle with every single word comprehension suffers. If students struggle with lower level writing skills, such as handwriting, their composition suffers!! (Louisa Moats)

Advantages

 Just like with reading, if students struggle with every single word comprehension suffers. With Writing, if they struggle handwriting and spelling every single word, composition suffers.

 Advantage to teaching students handwriting and cursive- goes from left to right and builds fluency with reading and writing!

 So, similar to reading fluency, handwriting and whole word writing fluency, through competent letter formation and handwriting, leads to improved compositions.

Big Ideas suggested by Louisa Moats  Through handwriting, or written communication, writing/composition can improve.

 Big Ideas: Teach foundational skills (lower level transcription skills), language processing skills (higher level skills) and composition!

 Teach handwriting, keyboarding, spelling, grammar and usage, and sentence construction explicitly and systematically!

 Divide instructional time between lower level and higher level skills!

 Do not wait to teach composition: sentence, paragraphs and multi paragraph compositions! Begin teaching early and use organizers!

Higher Level Skills Language Processing SVW

Simple View of Writing- Louisa Moats

Lower Level Writing Skills- Transcription

Skills

Higher Level Writing Skills- Language Processing

Skills

Competent Writer!

Mental Control/Working Memory Overlay in both areas

Looking at Writing http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Kindergarten- Kindergarteners are often enthusiastic writers and they will weave writing activities into their play. Provide budding writers with experiences that give them something to write about. Invented spelling is normal at this age, as children are translating the sounds of spoken words into writing. Children at this age can read their own writing and should be encouraged to read aloud!

 Print own first and last name

 Draw a picture that tells a story and label or write about the picture

 Write upper- and lowercase letters (may not be clearly written)

Looking at Writing: Strategies for K http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Alphabet matching- Very young learners are developing their understanding of the alphabetic principle — the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Teachers can help students develop this understanding through lots of fun activities that help students explore the alphabet letters and sounds.

 Concept sorts- A concept sort is a vocabulary and comprehension strategy used to familiarize students with the vocabulary of a new topic or book. Teachers provide students with a list of terms or concepts from reading material. Students place words into different categories based on each word's meaning. Categories can be defined by the teacher or by the students. When used before reading, concept sorts provide an opportunity for a teacher to see what his or her students already know about the given content. When used after reading, teachers can assess their students' understanding of the concepts presented.

 Concept of word- Concept of word refers to the ability of a reader to match spoken words to written words while reading. Students with a concept of word understand that each word is separate, and that words are separated by a space within each sentence. Using strategies to build concept of word in the classroom can also strengthen a child's developing awareness of the individual sounds within words.

 Rhyming games- Rhyme is found in poetry, songs, and many children's books and games. Most children also love to sing and recite nursery rhymes. Words that can be grouped together by a common sound, for example the "-at" family — cat, hat, and sat — can be used to teach children about similar spellings. Children can use these rhyme families when learning to read and spell.

K Writing Samples  Follow the link to view the 5 samples of writing. (Samples located on the left side menu)

 http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

Looking at Writing http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 First graders write many times a day to express their ideas and interests — they are writing with a purpose, through, stories, letters, and lists.

 They can:

 print clearly and leave spaces between words

 able to write simple but complete sentences

 beginning to understand when to use capital letters, commas, and periods

 begin to use “story language” in their own writing, for example, incorporating phrases such as “once upon a time” and “happily ever after”

In their writing, you’ll see a combination of invented and correct spelling (especially words from a word wall or vocabulary list).

Looking at Writing: Strategies for 1st grade http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Story maps- A story map is a strategy that uses a graphic organizer to help students learn the elements of a book or story. By identifying story characters, plot, setting, problem and solution, students read carefully to learn the details. There are many different types of story map graphic organizers. The most basic focus on the beginning, middle, and end of the story. More advanced organizers focus more on plot or character traits.

 Prewriting questions – templates that contain questions such as Who? What? When? Where? How? Why?

 Teaching about story structure using fairy tales: beginning, middle, and ending chart with beginning “Once Upon a Time” and ending with “They lived happily ever after.” The middle chart contains sequence words such as “first, then, next, after that, and finally”.

1st Writing Samples  Follow the link to view the 5 samples of writing. (Samples located on the left side menu)

 http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/first-grade

Looking at Writing http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Second graders are polishing a wide range of basic writing skills, including writing legibly, using capitalization and punctuation correctly (most of the time!), and moving from invented spelling to more accurate spelling. For most, handwriting becomes automatic, so they can concentrate more on the content of their writing rather than on the mechanics.

 Second graders can:

 organize their writing to include a beginning, middle, and end

 write a simple essay with a title and introductory sentence, provide examples and details that support their main concept, and write a concluding sentence.

Looking at Writing: Strategies for 2nd grade http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Story maps- same as first grade templates or can use advanced templates

 Word maps- A word map is a visual organizer that promotes vocabulary development. Using a graphic organizer, students think about terms or concepts in several ways. Most word map organizers engage students in developing a definition, synonyms, antonyms, and a picture for a given vocabulary word or concept. Enhancing students' vocabulary is important to developing their reading comprehension.

2nd Writing Samples  Follow the link to view the 5 samples of writing. (Samples located on the left side menu)

 http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/second-grade

Looking at Writing http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Third graders begin to really flex their “idea” muscles and learning to express those ideas in more sophisticated ways.

 Third grade writers:

 Sentences are getting longer and more complex

 Use a dictionary to correct their own spelling

 Grammar improves; for example, you'll see appropriate punctuation, contractions, and correct subject-verb agreement.

 Can write an essay with a simple thesis statement, examples and supporting details, and a thoughtful concluding sentence.

 Are building skills in the writing process — research, planning, organizing, revising, and editing (with help from teachers and peers).

Looking at Writing: Strategies for 3rd grade http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/kindergarten

 Paragraph hamburger- The "paragraph hamburger" is a writing organizer that visually outlines the key components of a paragraph. Topic sentence, detail sentences, and a closing sentence are the main elements of a good paragraph, and each one forms a different "piece" of the hamburger.

 Paragraph shrinking- Paragraph shrinking is an activity developed as part of the Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS). The paragraph shrinking strategy allows each student to take turns reading, pausing, and summarizing the main points of each paragraph. Students provide each other with feedback as a way to monitor comprehension.

 Writing conferences- Research on the writing process suggests that writers learn the most about writing when they share and reflect on their writing. In classrooms, this is most commonly done through writing conferences as part of the revision stage. Whether they occur with pairs, with small groups, or with the teacher, the social benefits of sharing writing improves writing.

3rd Writing Samples  Follow the link to view the 5 samples of writing. (Samples located on the left side menu)

 http://www.readingrockets.org/looking-at-writing/third-grade

Recursive Model  1. Planning-

 Generate ideas!

 Setting goals- what kind of paper am I going to write, who is going to read, what is the purpose, length?

 Ideas have to be organized- genres?, letter to editor?

 2.Translation-

 a. putting words to ideas- text generation- using language- vocabulary and the semantics!

 b. transcription- symbolization-process of taking words and putting into symbolic form

 graphic organizers

3. Review/Revising

 Reading from the reader’s perspective- Is the message complete? Is it logically written with conventional symbols and grammar?

 Revising and editing- did I say what I wanted to say? Did I reach my audience? Conventions? Interest?

 With review/revising- continuous improvement as students write. Students will pause, rewrite, change wording, etc.

Recursive Model and The Writing Process

Step 1 Prewriting

Step 1- Planning

Step 2 Drafting

Step 2 Translation

Step 3 Revising/ Reviewing

Step 3 Revising/

Editing

Step 4 Rewriting

Step 5 Publishing

The Writing Process  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy- guides/implementing-writing-process-30386.html

 The writing process involves teaching students to write in a variety of genres, encouraging creativity, and incorporating writing conventions. This process can be used in all areas of the curriculum and provides an excellent way to connect instruction with state writing standards.

 This differs from the recursive method because it shows the writing process to be more linear.

The Writing Process- Step 1  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy- guides/implementing-writing-process-30386.html

 The following are ways to implement each step of the writing process:

 Prewriting—This step involves brainstorming, considering purpose and goals for writing, using graphic organizers to connect ideas, and designing a coherent structure for a writing piece. For kindergarten students, scribbling and invented spelling are legitimate stages of writing development; the role of drawing as a prewriting tool becomes progressively less important as writers develop. Have young students engage in whole-class brainstorming to decide topics on which to write. For students in grades 3-5, have them brainstorm individually or in small groups with a specific prompt, such as, “Make a list of important people in your life,” for example. Online graphic organizers might help upper elementary students to organize their ideas for specific writing genres during the prewriting stage. Examples are the Essay Map, Notetaker, or Persuasion Map.



The Writing Process- Step 2  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy- guides/implementing-writing-process-30386.html

 Drafting—Have students work independently at this stage. Confer with students individually as they write, offering praise and suggestions while observing areas with which students might be struggling and which might warrant separate conference time or minilessons.



The Writing Process- Step 3  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy- guides/implementing-writing-process-30386.html

 Revising and Editing—Show students how to revise specific aspects of their writing to make it more coherent and clear during minilessons. You can model reading your own writing and do a think aloud about how you could add more details and make it clearer. Teach students to reread their own work more than once as they think about whether it really conveys what they want to their reader. Reading their work aloud to classmates and other adults helps them to understand what revisions are needed. Your ELLs will develop greater language proficiency as they collaborate with their peers when revising.

The Writing Process-Step 4  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy- guides/implementing-writing-process-30386.html

 Rewriting—Have students incorporate changes as they carefully write or type their final drafts.

The Writing Process-Step 5  http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy- guides/implementing-writing-process-30386.html

 Publishing—Encourage students to publish their works in a variety of ways, such as a class book, bulletin board, letters to the editor, school newsletter, or website. The ReadWriteThink Printing Press tool is useful for creating newspapers, brochures, flyers and booklets. Having an authentic audience beyond the classroom gives student writing more importance and helps students to see a direct connection between their lives and their literacy development.

The Writing Process  Rubrics help to make expectations and grading procedures clear, and provide a formative

assessment to guide and improve your instruction. The Sample Writing Rubric, for example, can be used for upper elementary students.

 As you work with your students to implement the writing process, they will begin to master writing and take it into all aspects of life.

Peer review, with clear guidelines for students to give feedback on each other’s work, motivates students, allows them to discuss their writing with their peers, and makes the work load a little lighter for you. The Peer Edit with Perfection! PowerPoint Tutorial is a useful tool to teach students how to peer review and edit.

You can also have students can edit their own work using a checklist, such as the Editing Checklist. Editing is when students have already revised content but need to correct mistakes in terms of spelling, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and word choice.

Use minilessons, small-group lessons, or individual conferencing if necessary to make sure that students have made thoughtful changes to their writing content before moving on to the final draft.