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1. Writing Steve Graham - Vanderbilt University steve.graham@vanderbilt.edu

3. At Work Up to two-thirds of the new jobs in the near future will require a college education and high-level literacy skills, including the ability to write clearly, cogently, and effectively

4. At present, 90% of white collar workers and 70% of blue collar workers say that writing is important to their job success For salaried jobs, writing has become a gateway to hiring and promotion

5. In College Good writing is essential to success in college Writing on the SAT Types of Writing Required in College: Analysis and Interpretation Persuasion

6. In K - 12 Writing is a primary way to determine what students know – this places weaker writers at risk For example, slow handwriting can double the time it takes for a fifth grade child to complete a writing assignment

7. WRITING CAN ENHANCE READING Writing To Read (Carnegie Corp) 1. Writing about text improves comprehension

8. How? Writing fosters explicitness, as the writer must select which ideas in text are most important. Writing enhances understanding, as the writer must put ideas about text into their own words, making them think carefully about what the ideas mean. Writing is integrative, as it encourages the writer to organize ideas from text and about text into a coherent whole, establishing specific relationships between these ideas.

9. Writing encourages reflection and transformation, as the permanence of writing makes it easier to review, reexamine, critique, and construct understandings of ideas from text. Writing forces a personal involvement with ideas from text, as it requires active decision making about what will be written and how it will be treated.

10. Lead into example of writing practice to facilitate comprehension LOST DOG: Mixed breed, shaggy, left front leg amputated, missing top of right ear, partially blind, bad case of mange, tail was broken and healed crooked, some teeth gone, scars on head and back, has been castrated. Answers to the name

11. LUCKY

12. Examples of Types of Ideas that Improve Understanding of Text Writing and answering questions Taking structured or unstructured notes Summarizing text More extended writing involving analysis and interpretation or personalization

13. 2. Writing Instruction enhances word reading, reading fluency, and comprehension 3. Writing more enhances reading comprehension

14. Counter-example to my next point A grasshopper is nervous and jumpy because he cannot sleep. He cannot sleep because he has no eye-lids. He has no eyelids because he is too nervous and jumpy to sleep

15. LIKEWISE, WRITING CAN ENHANCE CONTENT LEARNING Effect Size = .23 across 26 studies As a result weaker writers may not be able to take advantage of the power of writing when learning or reading

17. Writing Instruction is not what it should be.

18. Primary Grades - Positives Teachers spend at least an hour a day on writing or writing instruction Most teachers make adaptations for weaker writers Teachers spent 30 minutes (50% of their writing time) teaching basic writing skills (although too much time is spent teaching grammar)

19. Primary Grades - Negatives Students spend only 20 to 30 minutes a day writing (with little of this time spent writing expository text) 40% of teachers make few or no adaptations Very little time devoted to teaching process Students rarely use computers to write Little connection between school and home in terms of writing One-third of teachers indicate their college teacher preparation program were inadequate

20. Grades 4 to 6 Positives Most teachers make adaptations

21. Grades 4 – 6: Negatives 15 minutes a day spent teaching writing 25 minutes a day spent writing (research reports, writing to inform, & persuasive writing infrequent) There is little computer use 67% of teachers indicate their college teacher preparation program was inadequate Teachers use research-based practices infrequently

22. Secondary Schools Positives – teachers use a variety of adaptations and research-supported procedures

23. Secondary - Negatives Adaptations are made infrequently and research-supported practices used infrequently Most common writing activities do not involve much in the way of analysis & interpretation One-half of teachers assign multi-paragraph assignments less than once a month Most writing and writing instruction is done by language arts teachers, followed by social studies teachers, & then science teachers (not much at any point)

24. Secondary - Negatives 71% of teachers indicate their college teacher preparation program was inadequate 50% of teachers indicted they are still inadequately prepared when in-service and personal efforts are thrown into the mix Use of word processing as a tool for writing is infrequent (but better than the earlier grades)

25. What Do We Need to Do?A Few Thoughts Double the amount of time students spend writing in the elementary grades (at least 40 to 50 minutes) – including writing across the curriculum (using writing as a tool for learning) and more expository writing in the primary grades In the elementary grades, increase the amount of time spent on explicitly teaching process (75 to 100 minutes a week)

26. Starting in grades 4 to 6 have students write multi-paragraph assignments more than once a week Starting in the primary grades have students write 3 or more reports a year

27. Make technology an integral part of the writing program at all grade levels In middle and high school make writing the responsibility of all content area teachers (double to triple the amount of time spent on writing and writing instruction) Improve teachers capacity to teach writing and use writing as a tool for content learning and enhancing reading comprehension

28. Rules for Writing a Paragraph Write for as long as you can hold your breath without getting blue in the face

29. Then put in a comma

30. When you yawn put in a semicolon, and when you sneeze, that’s time for a paragraph.

31. Evidence-based Practices for Writing I do not have time to cover all evidence-based practices for improving writing, but I would like to cover the ones that are most powerful. At the end of this power-point 17 additional evidence-based practices are listed along with the documents identifying them as effective

32. Writing Next Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies

33. Effect Size -HO Effect Size provides a standardized measure of the quantitative differences between the two treatments, providing information on both the direction and magnitude of this difference.

34. Strategy Instruction ES = .82 N = 22 Involves explicitly and systematically teaching students strategies for planning, revising, and/or editing text. Instruction is designed to teach students to use these strategies independently. Writing strategies range from processes such as brainstorming (which can be applied across genres) to strategies designed for specific types of writing, such as stories or persuasive essays.

36. 2. Teaching Summarization Involves explicitly and systematically teaching students how to summarize texts. This can include teaching strategies for summarizing text or instructional activities designed to improve students’ text summarization skills. N = 4 ES = .82

37. Teach these 6 rules of summarization: Delete unnecessary material Delete redundant material Compose a word to replace a list of items Compose a word to replace individual parts of an action Select a topic sentence Invent a topic sentence if need be

38. 3. Peer Assistance Involves students working together to plan, draft, and/or revise their compositions. N = 7 ES = .75

39. 4. Setting Product Goals Involves assigning students specific goals for the written product they are to complete. N = 5 ES = .70

40. IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are one of the hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our EASY SKY Diving book, please make the following correction: On page 8, line 7, the words “state zip code” should have read

41. “pull rip cord”

42. 5. Word Processing Involves having students use word processing and related software to write. N = 18 ES = .55

43. When a child in an affluent neighborhood was asked to write a story about a poor family she chose her own.

44. Once upon a time there was a poor family. The father was poor. The mother was poor. The children were poor. The nannies were poor. The pool man was poor. The personal trainer was poor.

45. 6. Sentence Combining Involves teaching students to construct more complex and sophisticated sentences through exercises where two or more basic sentences are combined into a single sentence. N = 5 ES = .50

46. 7. Process ApproachES = .32 N= 21 Involves extended opportunities for writing; writing for real audiences; engaging in cycles of planning, translating, and reviewing; personal responsibility and ownership of writing projects; high levels of student interactions; creation of a supportive writing environment; self-reflection and evaluation; personalized individual assistance and instruction; and in some instances more systematic instruction.

47. Give me an example of a double negative.

48. Never-Never land

49. Oh that’s not a double negative. “I don’t know no double negatives.”

50. Grammar Involves the explicit and systematic teaching of grammar (e.g., the study of parts of speech and sentences). N = 11 ES = -.32

51. Questions?

52. The rest of the evidence based practices start here

53. 8. Pre-Writing ActivitiesWriting Next Involves students engaging in activities (such as using a semantic web or brainstorming ideas) designed to help them generate or organize ideas for their composition. N = 5 ES = .32

54. 9. Inquiry Writing Next Involves engaging students in activities that help them develop ideas and content for a particular writing task by analyzing immediate and concrete data (e.g., comparing and contrasting cases or collecting and evaluating evidence). N = 5 ES = .32

55. 10. Study of Models Writing Next Involves students examining examples of one or more specific types of text and attempting to emulate the patterns or forms in these examples in their own writing. N = 6 ES = .25

56. 11. Teach handwriting, spelling, & typing ES = .80 for writing quality N = 6 *From Graham (in press) – see references

57. Evidence-Based practices from single subject design research * See Rogers & Graham (2008) see references

58. 12. Explicitly teach students strategies for constructing paragraphs (strong positive impact on schematic structure of paragraphs). Example Strategy: (1) show the type of paragraph (describe, show sequence, compare and contrast, and cause and effect) they will write in the first sentence; (2) list details they plan to use; (3) order the details; (4) .write the details in complete sentences; and (5) cap of the paragraph with a concluding, passing, or summary sentence.

59. 13. Explicitly and directly teach struggling writers basic writing skills, such as capitalization, punctuation, sentence construction, and so forth (small positive impact).

60. This involves the teacher modeling how to use the skill correctly, coupled with student practice applying it. In addition, taught skills are reviewed periodically.

61. 14. Reinforce positive aspects of students’ writing (small positive impact). This involves providing social praise, tangible reinforcers, or both, as a means of increasing specific writing behaviors.

62. 15. Have students’ monitor performance (small positive impact). For example, students might be asked to count how many words they generate each time they write or determine if specific genre traits or elements (e.g., story parts such as setting, plot, action, resolution, and so forth) are included in their papers.

63. 10 Evidence-based practices from the study of exceptional teachers that might make a difference * Graham & (Perin 2007c) – see references

64. 16. Dedicate time to writing and writing instruction, with writing occurring across the curriculum. 17. Involve students in various forms of writing over time. 18. Treat writing as a process, where students plan, draft, revise, edit, and share their work.

65. 19. Keep students engaged by involving them in thoughtful activities (such as planning their composition) versus activities that do not require thoughtfulness (such as completing a workbook page that can be finished quickly, leaving many students off-task). 20. Teach often to the whole class, in small groups, and with individual students; this includes teaching students how to plan, draft, and revise as well as teaching more basic writing skills.

66. 21. Model, explain, and provide guided assistance when teaching. 22. Provide just enough support so that students can make progress or carry out writing tasks and processes, but encourage students to act in a self-regulated fashion, doing as much as they can on their own.

67. 23. Be enthusiastic about writing and create a positive environment, where students are constantly encouraged to try hard, believe that the skills and strategies they are learning will permit them to write well, and attribute success to effort and the tactics they are learning.

68. 24. Set high expectations for their students, encouraging them to surpass their previous efforts or accomplishments. 25. Adapt writing assignments and instruction to better meet the needs of individual students.

69. Sources for Evidence Graham, S., & Perrin, D. (2007). Writing Next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescent middle and high school. Alliance for Excellence in Education. Washington, D.C. Graham, S., & Perrin, D. (2007). A meta-analysis of writing instruction for adolescent students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 445-476. Graham, S. (in press). Teaching writing. P. Hogan (Ed.), Cambridge encyclopedia of language sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Graham, S., & Perrin, D. (2007c). What we know, what we still need to know: Teaching adolescents to write. Scientific Studies in Reading, 11, 313-336. Rogers, L., & Graham, S. (in press) A meta-analysis of single subject design writing intervention studies. Journal of Educational Psychology.

70. Text on Teaching Writing Graham, S., MacArthur, C., & Fitzgerald, J. (2007). Best practices in writing instruction. NY: Guilford. Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Mason, L., & Friedlander, B. (2008). Powerful writing strategies for all students. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Writing better: Teaching writing processes and self-regulation to students with learning problems. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

71. Links for Teaching Writing Strategies http://shop.ascd.org/productdisplay.cfm?productid=602084This http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/index.html http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/pow/chalcycle.htm http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/srs/chalcycle.htm http://hobbs.vanderbilt.edu/projectwrite/  www.SchwabLearning.org www.unl.edu/csi