The most commonly missing element (and the most important part) of writing instruction
Including 5 tips for the classroom
I've observed:
hundreds of teachers,
thousands of lessons, and
engaged in many literacy experiences.
Can you guess the most commonly missing element (and the most important part) of writing instruction?
Shared Demonstration
This is often the "middle part" of instruction: after the teacher has modeled the skill or strategy but before learners are let loose to try it on their own.
Regie Routman brought this missing element of writing instruction to my attention. She writes in front of and with her students, taking in their input while crafting an essay or story together on chart paper, crossing out words when a better one surfaces, reading aloud what they wrote together, revising in small groups and as a class, all while explaining the thinking behind the writing throughout the process.
It's essentially the apprenticeship model conducted at scale.
Regie also notes the benefits of shared writing:
All students’ ideas are validated publicly.
It is a safe and joyful experience, where risks are encouraged.
You immerse students in the language of writing and of writers.
Any element of the writing process can be facilitated through it.
It is efficient; all students have access to high-quality instruction.
At this point, you might be wondering:
Why isn't shared demonstration utilized more?
A couple of possible reasons:
It is messier and unscripted.
Teachers feel rushed and pressured to teach the mandated curriculum.
Shared demonstration is not how a lot of students learned; teachers too often teach how they were taught.
Yet when we slow down and respond to what learners need, we see how much they would benefit from hearing and seeing the writing process in action.
The Solution: Less Teaching, More Learning
And when I say "teaching", I mean all the explaining, lecturing, and showing models of what excellence looks like without context of the process.
Summarizing some of the research on time during the literacy block, Richard Allington writes:
“In typical classrooms, it is not unusual to find that kids read and write for as little as ten percent of the day (30 minutes of reading and writing activity in a 300 minute, or five hour, school day).”
However, in high-achieving and highly engaged classrooms:
“Teachers routinely had children actually reading and writing for as much a half of the school day, often around a 50/50 ratio of reading and writing to stuff (stuff is all the others things teachers have children do instead of reading and writing).”
Shared demonstration ensures instruction is centered on actually writing. Next are five tips for using it within the literacy block.
Tip #1: Write about topics that interest you and students.
Little reduces enthusiasm for writing more than focusing on topics or issues that students find irrelevant. To find out what interests them, pay attention to what they are reading, listen in on their conversations with peers, or simply ask them.
Tip #2: Keep initial shared demonstrations simple and brief.
Regie recommends charts, poems, lists, beginning-of-the-year classroom expectations and agreements, and guides for school visitors. Online tools that lend themselves well to shared demonstration include social media, blogs, and digital posters.
Tip #3: Reduce your time dedicated to teaching.
You can still keep your resources and explanations, but shorten them to the smallest amount of time necessary. The remainder of your lesson plan is allocated to creating together until students are ready to try it own their own.
Tip #4: Pay attention to how your students respond.
The ultimate goal is student independence. If your students at every level of capability are demonstrating understanding as you write together, transition to opportunities for them to try it and apply it on their own.
Tip #5: Expand your identity as a writer.
You don't have to be a published author to claim an identity as a writer. I started my writing career by posting a weekly newsletter for my students' families. Some of these newsletters we wrote together. Writing regularly helps you gain confidence as a writer.
And the best way to develop students' identities as writers and to get them writing is by writing with them.
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Excellent article. Whether called Shared Writing or Modeled Writing, getting up in front of the students and thinking out loud while you compose a piece of writing is a godsend to the students. There are so many things they can see, understand and engage with. It should be done frequently since learning is recursive. In turn, teachers need to see this modeled for them again and again so they can fully grasp the nuances and the power of this strategy. Often we just “tell” teachers about it — and like anything new and unmodeled, it may not make sense.