Direct Instruction: Writing Strategies

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.

View References

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

Literacy

Foundational Writing Skills

Syntax

Verbal Reasoning

Cognition

Attention

Inhibition & Self-regulation

Student Background

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: 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: 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: 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.

Family Engagement

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

Guided Inquiry

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

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.

Mindfulness Activities

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

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.

Pre-reading Questioning

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

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.

Literacy 4-6

Direct Instruction: Writing Strategies

Overview

Use It in the Classroom

Design It into Your Product

Resources

Factors Supported by this Strategy

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