Literacy Professional Learning Resource – Teaching Strategies

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VELS level 3 – Writing strategies

This section includes information on some writing strategies a teacher can use to stimulate learning.

Scaffolding: Collaborative learning and teaching

Three types of collaborative, social learning

• Apprenticeship: a community process of learning
• Guided participation: an interpersonal process of learning
• Appropriation: a personal process of learning 

Teaching approaches to enact apprenticeship in classrooms

Modelled writing: apprenticeship

Modelled writing involves the teacher writing so that the whole class or small group can see each of the words as they are written and can hear the teacher explain the thinking behind the process of writing. 

The teacher needs to carefully plan and be explicit about the writing before the exercise begins.

Modelled writing can demonstrate:

• connecting and expanding ideas
• use of organisational structures for particular text types
• selection of words and sentence structure to influence the audience
• ways of planning for writing
• why a particular text type was selected
• individual style as a writer
• social and situational appropriateness
• examining already written text to improve clarity and to meet the intended purpose
• importance of spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting (if appropriate)
• previous knowledge that is being used and what further research is required.

Before starting:

Select a writing task that is meaningful, be clear on the purpose and audience, select the text type and use one phase of the writing process as a focus with reference to the other phases:

• organise
• plan
• compose
• revise
• proof read
• publish

After writing:

Ask students to consider their latest piece of writing and to identify what they need to be thinking about as they continue to work on their text.

Teaching approaches to enact guided participation in classrooms

Shared writing: guided participation

Shared writing involves the teacher (as scribe) and students collaboratively composing a piece of writing. 

Students are able to be involved in a writing process that is much richer than if they had to write for themselves.  It also allows for a more complex text to be written as the students and teacher challenge each others’ thoughts and ideas.  It creates powerful opportunities for in-depth discussion to be synthesised into the written form. 

Shared writing enables students to:

• discuss and see different perspectives on how a text can be written with a particular purpose for an intended audience
• express ideas, experiences, knowledge and opinions for complex ideas and to see them in writing
• understand how to plan, compose and record more complex texts
• become part of a community of writers.

Process for shared writing

Some suggestions for each phase:

• organise: negotiate a topic, identify key ideas, the medium, the audience, select a text type, format
• plan: the sequence of ideas, structure of the text, identify technical vocabulary and other research required
• compose: write an opening sentence that will capture the audience to want to read further, use of punctuation, grammar to make the message clearer and more interesting
• revise: reread the whole text, focus on the intended message revising sentences, groups of sentences or paragraphs
• proof read: read carefully the whole text checking sense of message, punctuation, spelling and grammar
• publish: present written text in selected publishing format.

Guided writing: guided participation

Based on students’ independent writing they are grouped according to particular needs to improve their writing. 

This teaching strategy needs to be short and focused with the main features being:

• explicitly teaching of writing conventions and strategies to the group
• making connections between the explicit teaching focus to each student’s writing
• asking students to share how they have improved their writing using what they have learnt from the explicit teaching. 

Some examples that could be focused on with students:

• organise: purpose and audience
• plan: use of graphic organisers to identify all messages
• compose: use of paragraphs to organise and present complex ideas clearly and sequentially
• revise: use of connectives ( and, but)
• proof read: spelling of frequently used words including domain specific
• publish: modelling handwriting.
  

Independent writing: appropriation

Roving conferences:

Following an explicit small group teaching session, the teacher works with the students in short, focused teaching conferences or conversations.

Process:

• observe students and quickly read parts of the text
• provide positive feedback
• use questions to focus the student’s thinking
• explain to students that these are the types of questions that they can be asking themselves.

What to focus on:

• initially focus on how the text is organised and composed to identify a teaching focus or
• focus on strategies to revise, proof read and publish the text.

Note: depending on where students are at in the writing process you may decide to focus on authorial or secretarial aspects of writing.

Some questions to focus the student’s thinking:

• Can you reread your first sentence?  What message are you trying to give for this audience? Do you think the message is clear?
• Why did you choose this type of text? Is this the best way to convey your message? 
• Have you used interesting vocabulary? Can you identify some words that you have overused and could replace with different words to make it more interesting for the reader?
• Have you used a variety of sentence types? What other ways could you write this sentence to make it more interesting? 
• Have you checked the spelling? Which words would you like some support with spelling? 

During independent writing students are creating their own texts.  They may be creating a new piece of writing or adding to and revising a piece of their writing.  The habit of writing regularly provides opportunities to learn about texts and how they work. 

Establishing structure for independent writing includes:

• writing process
• purposes for writing
• text types.

Writing process

To support students during independent writing, the writing process needs to be clearly articulated and displayed for students to refer to.

• organise
• plan
• compose
• revise
• proof read
• publish.

Purposes for writing

Is it for learning?  For example:

• short, spontaneous, unedited, exploratory writing to channel, crystallise, record, direct and guide thinking
• keeping track of ideas during learning
• retaining what needs to be remembered.

Is it for a particular audience with a specified purpose in mind?

• Who is the audience?
• For the audience is there clarity, appropriate organisation of text, wording and fluency?

Text Types

Before students begin writing ask them to identify the features of the text type they will be writing in such as:

• persuasive
• explanation
• questionnaire
• narrative
• reports

Professional learning

Evaluating a writing strategy

Ask students who have been involved in one of these strategies (roving conferences, modelled writing, guided writing, shared writing) to let you know:

• how you supported them with their writing
• how the strategy supported them to improve their writing
• what else could have supported them.

Select a writing convention or strategy that would be appropriate for a selected group of students in your class. Organise a writing session with them Collect their writing after they have had an opportunity to refine their writing and assess the effectiveness of the strategy used.