Teach writing strategies including strategies for planning, revising and/or editing text.
Read the Introduction and pages 7 – 27 of Writing Next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools. The various Writing Strand speakers at the conference discussed nearly all of these recommendations.
View the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Steve Graham entitled Effective Writing Instruction – Don’t Sweat the Common Core Blues. After each relevant slide, stop and discuss with colleagues the extent to which your school/grade level is currently incorporating each one of these recommendations into your current writing program.
Read and discuss the article entitled, “Using Self-Regulated Strategy Development to Support Students Who Have ''Trubol Giting Thangs Into Werds.”
Plan a book study around one of the books explaining the purpose and methods of strategy instruction in writing.
Suggestion:
Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Writing better: Teaching writing processes and self-regulation to students with learning problems. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
Practitioner-Oriented Follow-Up Book:
Harris, K.R., Graham, S, Mason, L., & Friedlander (2008). Powerful writing strategies for all students. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Complete lesson plans and student and teacher materials for 12 writing strategies.
Gain knowledge and understand the what, why and how of teaching self-regulated writing strategies at the elementary level. Learn how to apply self-regulated strategies within the classroom.
View the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Karen Harris entitled The Magna Carta Provided That No Free Man Should be Hanged Twice for the Same Offense: Self-Regulated Strategies Development in the Elementary Grades.
Go to the IRIS website (Vanderbilt University) to watch online tutorials on SRSD. Modules on both the TREE and WWW strategies are available.
• Click on “Learning Strategies” and then “Using Learning Strategies: Instruction to Enhance Student Learning.”
Have someone who attended this session lead the group in viewing the PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Tanya Santangelo entitled Self-Regulated Strategy Development with Adolescent Writers: Possibilities and Considerations. Another option is listening and viewing the 2010 presentation on the same topic by Dr. Linda Mason entitled Self-Regulated Strategy Development: Instruction for the Struggling Adolescent Writer.
For those teachers starting to implement self-regulated writing strategies, conduct peer observations or principal walk-throughs, which focus on application of the knowledge and skills learned from the above activities.
Consider further building your knowledge base on self-regulated writing strategies by accessing the following links:
Lesson plans and support materials for story and opinion essay writing strategies designed for students with both behavioral and writing challenges in elementary grades 2-5.
A case study set which presents a number of writing strategies to help students in the elementary and middle school grades who struggle with writing.
Dr. Robert Reid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a comprehensive website devoted to strategies instruction.