Ten Writing Instructional Strategies Every Teacher Should Know

1
Ten Writing Instructional Strategies Every
Teacher Should Know
Douglas Fisher San Diego State University dfisher_at_
mail.sdsu.edu
2
Language Experience Approach

• Students are active language users
• Teacher transcribes students
• words (whole class,
• small group, or
• individual)
• Students extend
• text

3
Interactive Writing

• Oral Language
• Composition
• Construction
• Sharing the pen
• students write
• in front of their
• peers

4
Writing Models

• Offers a pattern or
• form to scaffold
• writing
• Using existing text
• students insert
• original writing

5
Generative or Given Word Sentences

• Focus on the craft of writing
• Lessons to refine
• practice
• Use student
• examples for
• editing
• No excuse

6
Word Pyramids

• Requires students to consider lots of words
• Explores and expands word knowledge
• Dictionary use?

7
Power Writing

• Brief, timed writing events to improve
• fluency
• Students chart their
• own progress
• Extension -
• progressive
• writing

8
Found Poems

• Student use existing text
• Select specific words/phrases
• Arrange them in free-verse
• Requires re-reading
• of texts

9
RAFT Writing

• Role, Audience, Format,
• and Topic are
• explicitly taught
• Perspective taking
• is the focus

10
Writing to Learn

• What do students know and think?
• Brief prompts
• Yesterdays news a review of class from the
  previous day
• Crystal ball a prediction of what might come
  next
• Best thing I learned a summary or analysis of
  the best part of class
• Exit slip a written review of the class
  completed before leaving the room
• Not process papers

11
Independent Writing

• Based on a prompt, students produce original
  writing
• Multiple genres
• Rubrics guide
• students
• completion
• of the task

12
Interactions Writing and the Language Arts

• Read aloud or shared reading
• Independent reading
• Word study (word wall)
• Collaborative learning
• centers
• Individual and small
• group instruction