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Literacy 4-6 > Strategies > Direct Instruction: Writing Strategies

Direct Instruction: Writing Strategies

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Overview

Explicitly teaching strategies for planning, writing, and revising texts improves students' writing quality. By focusing on an individual strategy and spending time describing, modeling, and having students practice that strategy, teachers can help students develop their Foundational Writing Skills, Syntax, and Verbal Reasoning skills.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch as this teacher uses the gradual release model to teach the writing strategy of using vivid imagery. Students engage in a discussion about the strategy, see the strategy modeled, participate in guided practice, and then practice independently.

  • Since writing is a complex activity, students can become more effective writers and see themselves as writers when they learn to use strategies for different stages of the writing process. Explicitly teaching writing strategies like enhancing word choice, sentence combining, adding detail, and revising based on feedback, helps students build a toolbox of strategies to use to improve their writing. Using a direct instruction method like Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) can help deepen understanding of these individual strategies by teaching them through the steps of developing students' Background Knowledge, discussing the strategy, modeling the strategy, memorizing the strategy, supporting the strategy, and providing independent practice.

    • Design It into Your Product

  • It is important that as students learn new strategies, they have scaffolded support to master and independently apply them. Developers can create programs that include explicit strategies with multiple stages to develop new writing skills.
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    Resources

    Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
    Professional Development

    Learning SRSD

    How to implement SRSD including a detailed description and examples

    Research

    Writing Instruction

    Subtopic that includes descriptions and evaluations of instructional approaches to improve students' writing on Digital Promise's Research Map

    Research

    Writing Strategies for Middle School

    Summary of research behind strategies that improve adolescents' writing

    Factors Supported by this Strategy

    Student Background
    Adverse Experiences
    Literacy Environment
    Physical Well-being
    Safety
    Sleep
    Socioeconomic Status
    Social and Emotional Learning
    Emotion
    Self-regulation
    Cognition
    Attention
    Inhibition
    Long-term Memory
    Short-term Memory
    Speed of Processing
    Working Memory
    Literacy
    Foundational Writing Skills
    Syntax
    Verbal Reasoning

    More Instructional Approaches Strategies

    Authentic Audiences & Purposes

    Writing can become personally meaningful when students have an actual audience and a real purpose for communicating with that audience.

    Direct Instruction: Genre-specific Writing Strategies

    Explicitly teaching strategies for different genres, like narrative or persuasive writing, helps students write for different purposes and audiences.

    Direct Instruction: Keyword Search

    Teaching students how to create and use strong keywords for Internet searching is critical for helping them know how to find accurate, relevant information.

    Direct Instruction: Spelling

    Formal spelling instruction improves not only students' spelling skills but also their reading skills.

    Direct Instruction: Comprehension Strategies

    When teachers provide explicit instruction in comprehension strategies and model when to use them, students learn how to flexibly apply them to make meaning of texts.

    Direct Instruction: Vocabulary

    Seeing and using new words repeatedly and in many contexts is critical for Vocabulary acquisition.

    Direct Instruction: Web-based Reading Strategies

    Research shows that, along with traditional reading comprehension strategies, students use unique strategies to read the non-linear, hyperlinked structure of online texts.

    Independent Reading

    Independent reading promotes literacy by emphasizing student choice with teacher support in selecting books, as well as by making time for free reading.

    Guided Inquiry

    In guided inquiry, teachers help students use their own language for constructing knowledge by active listening and questioning.

    Provide Writing Models

    When students read models of the type of writing they are doing, they can identify effective elements to incorporate in their writing.

    Reading Conferences

    Through one-on-one conferences, teachers can provide individual support to each student to deepen comprehension and interest in reading.

    Pre-reading Questioning

    Helping students think about what they know about the topic of upcoming work helps activate their Background Knowledge or reveals gaps.

    Multimodal Instruction

    Instruction in multiple formats allows students to activate different cognitive skills to understand and remember the steps they are to take in their literacy work.

    Family Engagement

    Students are more likely to come to school when families feel like a valued part of the community.

    Mindfulness Activities

    Through short but regular mindfulness activities, students develop their awareness and ability to focus.

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