Writing and Writing Instruction

Michael D. Tomorsky
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Over the past few years, our school has had multiple trainings on writing instruction.
Teachers that attended these trainings were asked to take the new ideas and lessons back to the
classroom and use them in their instruction. All grade levels would then be on the same page
using strategies and practices that students would learn to become familiar with and adapt to as
they moved to higher grades. Unfortunately, the transiency of our staff has remained consistent,
and each year we replace five to ten teachers, or more. This means the strategies and practices
that were shared between grade levels has become fractured and inconsistent, especially in
writing. Additionally, the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (C.C.S.S) has put
most of the instructional focus on reading and math. As a fifth grade teacher, I see many gaps
that need to be attended to before grade level expectations can be taught. There needs to be a
renewed focus on writing instruction at our school so that a solid foundation of writing and the
students understanding of the writing process becomes a cornerstone of our school.
Writing is an important part of education and impacts a person through their life span. Sperling
and Freedman stated eloquently, It is important because it helps to demonstrate, support, and
deepen individuals knowledge and understanding off themselves, their relationships, and their
world (as cited in Mo et al. 2014, p.455). When thinking of this quote, writing becomes more
than just a subject taught in a classroom, it becomes part of the fabric that enhances our lives.
The need to build writing skills cannot be understated. According to the National Commission on

Writing for Americas Families, Schools, and Colleges (NCWAFSC), students who lack good
writing skills are, more likely to see their grades suffer, less likely to attend college and
successfully complete a college degree, and are more likely to face challenges in attaining
successful employment and promotions in todays competitive job market (as cited in Mo et al.,
p.455). For years, states have conducted yearly assessments to evaluate students writing, and
have also made passing a writing proficiency exam a graduation requirement. A students future
success depends on a solid foundation that begins in elementary school and is scaffolded year
after year to aid in developing a literate society. Social media and digital literacy play an
important part of our lives. According to the (NWCFASC), 85% of teens reported using some
form of electronic personal communication for daily social interaction, self-exploration and
expression, and reflection on current events (as cited in Mo et al., p.455). Music, poetry, and
blogging are creative ways one can express creativity and self-exploration which expand our
understanding of each other and ourselves.
As the C.C.S.S. were implemented, publishers and companies flooded the market with
programs that were Common Core, yet many of these products were rehashed ideas with small
modifications to capitalize on teachers insecurities about teaching the standards. For many
teachers the transition has been, and continues to be, quite a struggle. Where do we begin to
develop a writing curriculum that best meets the needs of our school? The best place is to start at
the beginning and identify best practices for writing instruction. Zumbrunn and Krause (2012)
identified seven authorities in the field of writing and asked, What principles underlie effective
writing instruction (p. 346)? The qualitative research based on this question brought together a
varied and unique collection of ideas and identified five themes that were organized into guiding
principles of effective writing instruction:

Principle 1: Effective Writing Instructors Realize the Impact of Their Own Writing Beliefs,
Experiences and Practices
Principle 2: Effective Writing Instruction Encourages Student Motivation and Engagement.
Principle 3: Effective Writing Instruction Begins with Clear and Deliberate Planning. But is Also
Flexible
Principle 4: Effective Writing Instruction and Practice Happen Every Day
Principle 5: Effective Writing Instruction Is a Scaffold Collaboration Between Teachers and
Students. (Zumbrunn & Krause, 2012)

These five principles will serve as the building block of our schools focus on quality writing
instruction.
Principle 1: Effective Writing Instructors Realize the Impact of Their Own Writing Beliefs,
Experiences and Practices
One of my professors said, If you value what you are teaching, it will become part of
your practice. Writing is not easy, and I have often heard people, including teachers say, I am
not a writer. Because of these insecurities, teachers can fall into a trap of using step-by-step
writing programs. Jeff Anderson cautions teachers about this, as writing instruction becomes
pushed into, a neat, restrictive corner, distilling it to a one-way-to-do-it solution (Anderson ,
What writing is & isn't, 2014, p. 10). As teachers and students of writing, personal reflection on
our beliefs, experiences, and practices will shape how we approach teaching. One way to build
confidence in a teachers writing instruction is to participate in a book study. An excellent
resource to use is What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher. This book offers practical examples of
how to approach writing by providing strategies, just to name a few, of how to teach ideas, voice,
character development, and use of time to develop narrative and expository compositions. Using
this book will improve and enhance teachers confidence in how they approach writing

instruction. Teachers also need to think of themselves as writers. It has been suggested that,
Journaling is an effective way for teachers to experience writing while reflecting on their
practice and learning about themselves as both writers and teachers (as cited by Zumbrunn et
al., p. 347). It is not realistic that all teachers would want to keep a journal, but if the approach is
taken that it treated like an afternoon Book Club, perhaps more teachers would be willing to take
the risk of journaling their experiences and sharing their writing with others. Once teachers have
reflected and understand their own strengths and weaknesses as a writer, they will be more
prepared to face the challenges of teaching writing.
Principle 2: Effective Writing Instruction Encourages Student Motivation and Engagement
One would be hard pressed to find students not excited and eager to use technology to
text or communicate through social media. The challenge as a teacher is to find a way to harness
that enthusiasm and use it in the classroom. It is a professional responsibility to teach the
required standards, yet the way to teach is not set in stone. One way to motivate students is to
allow them a choice about what to write and set goals about their writing. Using digital tools,
poetry, journaling, song and playwriting, are just a few alternative forms of writing that could be
the spark that encourages young minds. This builds accountability and independence, and
hopefully motivation to write. Student engagement is another challenge many teachers face.
There is a difference between a student who sits and is compliant and a student who is engaged
with their work. Cooperative learning is the key to engaging students to communicate and share
their ideas. In order to be truly cooperative, there are five principles that need to be followed: (1)
assign pupils to teams in a way that group composition would foster helping interactions among
members; (2) structure positive interdependence within teams in order to orient pupils actions
towards a common goal; (3) structure individual responsibility so that each member makes his or

her contribution to the group task or goal; (4) develop pupils cooperative skills to enhance social
relations and constructive interactions among team members; and (5) organise group processing
in order to improve group functioning (as cited by Lehraus, 2014, p. 58). There are cooperative
learning structures that support many aspects of classroom instruction, from class building and
team building, to thinking skills and processing information. One structure that applies to writing
is Think-Write-Round-Robin. Students are given a topic, think about their response, then
independently write down their thoughts, are then given an equal amount of time to share and
discuss their responses. (Kagan & Kagan, 2009, p. 6.33). This is one example of how students
can begin the process of writing, receive immediate feedback, and build on each others ideas.
Creating balance between motivating and engaging students and instruction will take careful
planning.
Principle 3: Effective Writing Instruction Begins with Clear and Deliberate Planning. But
is Also Flexible
Applebee and Langer conducted a survey of students and teachers and found that 6.3% of
class time was devoted to explicit writing strategies, 5.5% on modeling writing, and 4.2% on
evaluating writing. (as sited by Sundeen, 2015, p. 199) This accounted for 2.5 hours of
instruction over nine weeks and was mostly filling in blanks, short answers, and filling in blanks,
not composing (Sundeen, p. 199). Planning instruction takes time, and is often a solitary activity.
Developing a strong Professional Learning Community (P.L.C.), when teachers collaborate and
plan instruction together, experience and ideas are shared to meet the needs of the students. If the
expectations of the lesson are not clear, disconnect between what the teacher wants to teach and
what the student perceives, leads to ineffective teaching. Using P.L.C.s builds dialog on how to
bring writing instruction to all parts of the curriculum, especially in the content areas, and

develop awareness of new ways to increase the amount of time students spend writing. Online
programs, like Edmodo and Google Classroom, offer opportunities to extend writing instruction
outside of the classroom. The ability to write blogs, and create online discussion groups, not only
adds to the amount of time students spend on writing, it also allows students to work on
keyboarding skills. As our staff makes these changes, it is important to stress the importance of
having an open mind and being flexible when approaching writing instruction.
Principle 4: Effective Writing Instruction and Practice Happen Every Day

Knowing the writing process (prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing) lays
a solid groundwork for teaching writing in the classroom. Yet there are so many techniques to
guide students through these steps, it can seem overwhelming. Many teachers feel pressure to
focus on math and reading and they push aside or cut short the writing lesson (as cited by
Zumbrunn et al., p. 347). Developing routines helps keep the lessons on track and builds a
posivitive learning environment for children. Number Talks is a daily math discussssion where
students mentaly solve and defend their solutions in a group setting. Jeff Anderson has developed
an approach similar for teaching grammar and writing. His Invitations to Notice begin by
probing two areas and asking specific questions of the students to discuss the writing:

Craft
o Whats working with the text?
o Whats effective?
o Wheres the good writing? The craft? The effect?
o What else?
Punctuation
o Whats the punctuation doing?
o What effect does the punctuation have on my reading aloud?
o What changes if we remove it? Use something else?
o Whats the writer accomplishing with his or her choices?
o What else? (Anderson, 2007, p. 29)

Graham, Perrin and Hillocks, argue grammar instruction like Daily Oral Language and
worksheets should be avoided (Mo et al., p. 451), which make Invitations to Notice a great
routine that can be adapted to any grade level. Blogging is another routine that benefits every day
writing instruction because it allows students to engage in authentic discussion as a writer,
reader, and commenter and makes students aware of their audience (Kilpatrick, Dostal,
Saulsburry, Wolbers, & Graham, 2014, p. 611) and builds their ability to write across the
curriculum.
Principle 5: Effective Writing Instruction Is a Scaffold Collaboration Between Teachers
and Students.

Collecting data and writing samples from students is the first step in building collaboration
between teachers and students. Without this information, planning to meet a students needs is
like finding a needle in a stack of needles. Karen Harris said, Sometimes students are asked to
do something theyre not given the tools to do. Its like telling people to dig a gold mine and not
giving them shovels and axes. The gold is down there, but they cant get it without tools.
(Zumbrunn et al., p. 350) Strategies can take many forms, one way to give students the tools to
write is to use a mnemonic device as an anchor chart to guide students as they write, below are
two examples for narrative and expository text:

Space Launch: Narrative

Dare to Defend: Expository

The parts of a good story include:

S- Setting elements,
P-Problems
A-Actions
C-Consequences, and
E- Emotional reactions
The steps for writing a good story are:
L-List of idea words for my story
A- Ask if my ideas will meet my
writing goals
U-Use encouraging self-talk
N-Now write with million dollar
words sharp sentences and details
C- Challenge myself to develop ideas
H- Have a close look at my paper for
mistakes

The parts of a good opinion paper include:

D- Develop position statement
A-Add supporting arguments
R-Report and refute
counterarguments
E-End with strong conclusion
The steps for writing a good opinion paper are:
D-Develop list of idea words
E- Evaluate their importance
F-Find more ways to convince my
readers
E-Encourage myself through self-talk
N- Now write with clear ideas, sharp
sentences, and great impact
D- Decide if I met my writing goals

(Mo et al., p. 449)

Teachers will need to model how to use such mnemonic devices and how to research and gather
materials for expository writing. Another scaffold is the use of mentor text as an example of good
writing. As students note what a writer does well, they are, at the same time, creating a menu of
options they can use in their own writing (Anderson , 2014, p. 14). These strategies are
adaptable to any grade level, and might require more research to meet specific grade level
standards.
Assessments
Assessments need to be created by closely looking at the standard being taught. First, teachers
need to conference with their students to set goals and evaluate the writers strengths and
weaknesses. Specific feedback is an important part of the assessment process and should be done
during a writing conference so the student can be praised for reaching their goals and suggestions
offered for futures meetings (Zumbrunn & Krause, p. 352). Rubrics will need to be developed so
students have a clear understanding of what their writing should include and how they can meet
their goals. Gathering student work and creating a portfolio will allow students to see how their
writing has grown and offer the ability to go back and revise a piece that they would like to
improve. Having an informal conversation with a student or between peers can be a quick way to
gauge how a student is progressing and ways to encourage them to meet their goals.
Conclusion
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it. Winston Churchill
As our school revaluates how we teach writing, an emphasis must be placed on
collaboration in and among grade levels. By sharing ideas and working in a PLC, the strength of
our instruction will grow, our pedagogy will be consistent, and our students will grow to become

better writers. We must remain vigilant to make sure that the practices we adopt remain in place.
Teachers will continue to come and go, but if we take the time to create and value these changes,
we may see a decrease in the amount of teachers who leave, which build a stronger more reliable
network of teachers.
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it. Winston Churchill

References
Anderson , J. (2014). What writing is & isn't. Educational Leadership, 71(7), 10-14.
Anderson, J. (2007). Everyday Editing: Inviting Students to Develop Skill Craft in
Writer's Workshop. Stenhouse Publishers.
Kagan, D., & Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente,
California: Kagan Publishing.
Kilpatrick, J. R., Dostal, H. M., Saulsburry, R., Wolbers, K. A., & Graham, S. (2014).
The integraton of digital tools during strategic and interactive writing
instruction. In R. S. Anderson, & C. Mims (Eds.), Handbook of research on
digital tools for writing instruction in k-12 settings (pp. 608-628). Hershey, Pa:
Information Science Reference.
Lehraus, K. (2014). How to integrate cooperative skills trainging into learning tasks:
an illustration with young pupils' writing. International Journal of Primary,
Elementary and Early Years Education, 43(1), 55-69.
Mo, Y., Kopke, R. A., Hawkins, L. K., Troia, G. A., & Olinghouse, N. G. (2014). The
neglected "r" in a time of Common Core. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), pp.
445-453.
Sundeen, T. H. (2015). Writing instruction for adolescents in the shadow of the
Common Core State Standards. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59(2),
197-206.
Zumbrunn, S., & Krause, K. (2012). Conversations with leaders: principles of
effective writing instruction. The Reading Teacher, 65(5), 346-353.