Significance
Writing is an essential skill for students to learn in their early, formational years – it directly translates into future academic, career, and life success. Established in my Literature Review section that poor writing performance reaches far beyond elementary years to present long-term effects in secondary education, collegiate education, and students’ performance in the career world, a tremendous drive to best serve these students fueled this project beyond what I had originally dreamed (Graham, Friendlander, & Laud, 2013).
The strong documentation behind SRSD methods, the freedom and accessibility to implement it into our existing writing workshop structure, and the possibility of wondrous transfer into other subjects made this method a perfect choice for exploration, and I couldn’t be happier with their (and my) growth (Mason, Harris & Graham, 2011). Let’s revisit my original Action Research Question:
The strong documentation behind SRSD methods, the freedom and accessibility to implement it into our existing writing workshop structure, and the possibility of wondrous transfer into other subjects made this method a perfect choice for exploration, and I couldn’t be happier with their (and my) growth (Mason, Harris & Graham, 2011). Let’s revisit my original Action Research Question:
Question
In what ways does the employment of Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) in Writer's Workshop affect the writing process for students?
- How does explicit teaching of the basic structure of the 5 W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why) impact students' narrative writing?
- Do explicit mini-lessons affect students' writing quality over time?
- What are the effects of the introduction of self-regulation during independent writing time?
Phase 1 began with explicit instruction in the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why), progressing from clear, varied practice to vivid stories, rich with elaboration, illustration, and writer’s celebrations to commend their work. Phase 2 changed as the year, curriculum, and combined nature of this 1st and 2nd grade class altered the material writing proficiency would be most needed in – and so we turned back to literacy and reading comprehension to ensure quality of understanding and eventual production. Just as we had begun Phase 1 by breaking apart Tacky into the 5 W’s and using literature and digital media to inform our writing, in Phase 2 students would need a strategy to approach, interpret, and understand informational text in addition to a strategy for producing high quality writing on the topic.
While limitations certainly altered the final stages of this product, many valuable insights were gained as the study of SRSD, my students, and their writing progressed. Some of these insights are presented here:
While limitations certainly altered the final stages of this product, many valuable insights were gained as the study of SRSD, my students, and their writing progressed. Some of these insights are presented here:
Students Write More Easily About a Familiar Topic – Not Themselves
In classrooms I had worked in before this one, student writing time was usually driven by questions like “What did you do last weekend?” or “What are you excited to do this summer?” With older student populations and unsure writers, this tends to produce the answer of “I don’t know” or “Nothing.” Pushing a student who has no idea what to write about towards well-structured and detailed writing is a very difficult uphill battle.
When familiar, fun, or interesting literature is provided, students latch on to content, have the supports of reference material if they feel stuck, and tend to write, elaborate, and go beyond the content provided to them through literature or digital media. Digital media was definitely the most inspiring of writing prompts, also coming at the close of Phase 1 when my students were writing full steam ahead in the narrative style. Fictional narrative literature came in second, and informational text ranked third (still above personal writing topics), which may have stemmed from the recent introduction of this text type. See more information on the differential motivation of media types in my Phase 1 Findings.
When familiar, fun, or interesting literature is provided, students latch on to content, have the supports of reference material if they feel stuck, and tend to write, elaborate, and go beyond the content provided to them through literature or digital media. Digital media was definitely the most inspiring of writing prompts, also coming at the close of Phase 1 when my students were writing full steam ahead in the narrative style. Fictional narrative literature came in second, and informational text ranked third (still above personal writing topics), which may have stemmed from the recent introduction of this text type. See more information on the differential motivation of media types in my Phase 1 Findings.
With Sentence Structure Frames & Connecting Words,
Complex Structure Was Unlocked
When I began this research, we started by outlining sentences using the bare minimum of words to describe the 5 W’s. It was only until I received sentences back from native English speakers that read, “Morning Sally ran park fun” that I realized something huge was missing – connecting words! The problem was quickly and easily remedied by placing articles, pronouns, and conjunctions into our sample sentences on the board, filled in by students’ oral suggestions, and used by all of the students as an example of a complex sentence that they could add and remove elements to and from. While the necessity of these connecting words could decrease over time, I kept them in Phase 2 since the text type and writing type was so different. Maintaining stability and consistency in the writing outline was one way to reduce the affective filter of adapting to this new information.
Memory and Transfer
As previously explored in my Phase 1 findings, this explicit teaching method worked wonders on memory and transfer. From the beginning, in Phase 1, to the conclusion of Phase 2, I have seen the 1st graders progress from understanding, to application, to mastery of the concept of the 5 W’s, and then light years ahead, teaching the method to their second grade peers, applying it in their writing for other subjects, and taking on the role of a writing leader in the room.
To see students that originally struggled with writing have such high self-efficacy in this 5 W’s method that they began mentoring their older, 2nd grade classmates in this style of writing organization was miraculous. This, more than even their writing pieces and astounding growth, showed how empowering effective, clear, and practical teaching can be for students – and I highly recommend SRSD for achieving results similar to these in all subjects.
To see students that originally struggled with writing have such high self-efficacy in this 5 W’s method that they began mentoring their older, 2nd grade classmates in this style of writing organization was miraculous. This, more than even their writing pieces and astounding growth, showed how empowering effective, clear, and practical teaching can be for students – and I highly recommend SRSD for achieving results similar to these in all subjects.