Improving the writing and knowledge of emergent writers

Zumbrunn, S., & Bruning, R. (2013). Improving the writing and knowledge of emergent writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Reading & Writing, 26(1), 91-110. doi: 10.1007/s11145-012-9384-5

Background

The authors noted that the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) model for teaching writing was effective for students from Grades 2 to 12 and that their writing skills and knowledge improved after SRSD instruction. They noted that kindergarten and first grade students who tended to focus more on generating text than on the planning processes of writing might also benefit from SRSD instruction.

Aims

The study examined the effects of implementing the SRSD model of writing instruction on the writing knowledge and skills of very young average students.

Sample

The participants were six American first graders who demonstrated typical writing skills and their classroom teacher.

Method

The SRSD model required the teacher to teach her students writing strategies for planning and organizing their writing, self-regulation strategies such as monitoring and goal-setting, and strategies on talking themselves through writing tasks. The intervention had four phases: baseline, SRSD instruction, post-instruction, and maintenance. In the SRSD model instruction phase, the first of five stages focused on the use of seven essential story elements and word choice. During the following three stages, the teacher continued discussions on the story elements and word choice, focused on self-regulation strategies, and modelled the writing and self-regulation procedures. In the final stage, she provided the necessary support to her students’ individual needs during the writing process. The students wrote stories in response to writing prompts during each of the four phases of the intervention. Their stories were assessed for key story elements, length, and overall quality. Overall writing quality was assessed using anchor stories from first graders at the same school, which represented different levels of quality. All the students were interviewed to assess their discourse knowledge about writing before and after the intervention.

Findings

The results showed that after the intervention, the students made gains in the completeness of their stories. During the maintenance phase, the students showed even greater gains compared to the gains made during the post-instruction phase. They also demonstrated improvement in the overall quality of their writing and made gains in the length of their writing. The interview data revealed that they had better writing knowledge after the intervention.

Implications

The authors suggested that SRSD instruction could benefit typical Grade 1 students, not just Grades 2 to 12 students. They recommended that writing instruction for very young students could move beyond improving handwriting and spelling skills towards the explicit instruction of writing skills such as planning and organization, and self-regulation strategies such as goal-setting, monitoring, and self-assessment.

Original article retrieved from EBSCOHost.