Recommendation 2: Teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes

Recommendation 2: Teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes
Level of evidence: Strong
Writing well involves more than simply documenting ideas as they come to mind. It is a process that requires that the writer think carefully about the purpose for writing, plan what to say, plan how to say it, and understand what the reader needs to know. Instruction should include the components of the writing process: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, and editing. An additional component, publishing, may be included to develop and share a final product .
Teach students the writing process
.1Teach students strategies for the various components of the writing process
Students need to acquire specific strategies for each component of the writing process. Students should learn basic strategies, such as POW (Pick ideas, Organize their notes, Write and say more), in 1st or 2nd grade. More complicated strategies, such as
peer revising, should be introduced in 2nd grade or later. Many strategies can be used to assist students with more than one component of the writing process. For example, as students plan to write a persuasive essay, they may set goals for their writing, such as providing three or more
reasons for their beliefs. Students should then devise a plan for periodically assessing their progress toward meeting these goals as they write. As students evaluate their draft text, they may reread their paper to determine whether they have met the goals they articulated during planning. If not, students may revise their writing to better meet their goals .
.2Gradually release writing responsibility from the teacher to the student
Writing strategies should be taught explicitly and directly through a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. Teachers should ensure that students have the background knowledge and skills they need to understand and use a writing strategy. Then, teachers should describe the strategy and model its use. Teachers also should articulate the purpose of the strategy, clearly stating why students might choose to use it as a way of improving their writing. Teachers then should guide students to collaborate in small groups to
practice applying the strategy. Once students demonstrate an understanding of the strategy, the teacher should encourage students to practice applying it as they write independently. Teachers should make sure they do not release responsibility to students too early .
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.3Guide students to select and use appropriate writing strategies .
When students initially learn to use writing strategies, teachers frequently should discuss when and how to use the strategies throughout the writing process, as well as why the strategies are helpful. Once students learn to use a variety of strategies independently, through the gradual release process, teachers should help them understand how to select appropriate strategies and use them across a range of writing tasks .
To help students select the appropriate writing strategy, teachers might consider posting strategies on a wall chart in the classroom. One column of the chart might include a list of all the strategies, and another column might provide a list of situations in which these strategies could be used. Once students
are able to use a strategy effectively and independently, they can identify and add situations to the chart. Students also can identify opportunities to apply strategies in different content areas .
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.4Encourage students to be flexible in using components of the writing process
Writing requires flexibility and change. Once students have acquired a set of strategies to carry out the components of the writing process, they need to be purposeful in selecting strategies that help them meet their writing goals. They also need to learn to apply these strategies in a flexible manner, moving back and forth between different components of the
writing process as they develop text and think critically about their writing goals. For example, plans and already written text may need to be revised and edited numerous times to communicate more effectively, and writing must be polished to make it suitable for publication .
Teach students to write for a variety of purposes :
How to carry out the recommendation
.1Help students understand the different purposes of writing
Students should understand the purpose of each genre (to describe, to narrate, to inform, or to persuade/analyze) so that they can select the genre best suited to their writing task .
.2Expand students concept of audience
Writing for different purposes often means writing for different audiences. To help students understand the role of audience in writing, it is important to design writing activities that naturally lend themselves to different audiences. Otherwise, students may view writing in school as writing only for their teacher. When discussing writing purposes, teachers and students can generate a list of potential audiences for a given writing assignment. Students then can choose the audience that best fits their writing topic .
.3Teach students to emulate the features of good writing
Students should be exposed to exemplary texts from a variety of sources, including published or professional texts, books and textbooks, the teacher’s own writing, and peer samples. Exemplary texts can illustrate a number of features, including text structure; use of graphs, charts, and pictures; effective word choice; and varied sentence structure .
.4Teach students techniques for writing effectively for different purposes
Students also must learn to use techniques that are specific to a purpose of writing. When developing a persuasive essay, for example, students can use the TREE (Topic sentence, Reasons—three or more, Ending, Examine) technique, whereby they make a plan for their paper that includes what they believe, reasons to support their beliefs, examples for each reason, and an ending .