Elementary School Writing:

Strategies & Interventions

Shevaun Taylor, Justin Wilson, & Maressa McDonald

Question 1:
What is the purpose of authentic
writing?
Question 2:
What has been your experience as a
writer? (Enjoy/dont enjoy?)

Assessing the Quality of Writing

subjective in nature, but consider .

Writing Foundation Skills

Writing Foundation Skills

1. Handwriting
2. Spelling
3. Sentence-level construction
*Skills necessary in order to free up
attention to focus on the quality of writing

Handwriting:Implications

10% to 34% of elementary students struggle with

handwriting (Karlsdottir and Stephansson, 2002; Berninger et al., 1997)

Handwriting instruction has been neglected: use of technology, inadequate

teacher knowledge and instruction

Common handwriting problems cited by teachers: overall neatness, spacing,

letter sizing, letter formation, alignment, reversals (Graham et al., 2008)

Graham, Harris, and Fink (2000) suggest that children who experience
difficulty mastering handwriting may avoid writing and decide that they
cannot write, leading to arrested writing development.

Skill #1: Teach Handwriting Skills

Teach tripod grip to avoid fatigue
use broken crayons, golf pencils
Teach efficient & legible ways to form
each letter
drawing vs. writing
Practice in multiple, short sessions
Apply handwriting skills in sentences
& authentic writing activities

Graham, et al., 2012 (What Works Clearinghouse)

Teach Handwriting Skills

1st
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

graders w/handwriting difficulty: Berninger et al. (1997)

Teacher models; students write
Teacher provides model with arrows; students write
Teacher provides copy of unmarked letter; student
looks and writes
Students look at copy with directions arrows; then
writes letters from memory
Writing letters from memory after looking at an
unmarked copy
All 5 groups improved in handwriting proficiency.
Group 4 had the best scores on a test of writing
fluency than the other groups

Handwriting Without Tears (HWT)

developmentally & multi-sensory based handwriting curriculum developed by OTs

limited empirical research: 3 unpublished

masters theses with mixed results
2014 study of HWT with 1st graders:
significant improvement in spacing, alignment,
and size of letters; legibility was same.
(Roberts, Derkach-Ferguson, Siever, & Rose,
2014)
2012 study of HWT with 1st graders: HWT
was not more effective instruction than the
teachers standard method of instruction
(Schenck, Shasby, Myers, & Smith, 2012)
Few studies done which compare an explicit
handwriting program to teacher-designed
programs

Skill #2: Spelling

Students should connect spelling
instruction with writing as much
as possible
Approximate spelling = minimal disruption to
generation of ideas (Gettinger, 1993)
Consciously thinking about how to spell a word while
writing may affect working memory (Graham, Harris, & Fink-Chorzempa, 2002)
Not knowing how to spell a word affects the word
students choose to use (Graham & Harris, 2005)

Spelling Instruction: 3 Parts

Phonological Awareness: K-2

identifying rhymes and words that start/end with the same sounds
segmenting words into smaller units such as sounds and syllables
blending sounds into words
manipulating sounds by adding, deleting, or substituting

Phonics: (orthography): K-3

systematic teaching of the sounds conveyed by letters and groups
of letters
Morphological Spelling: 2-6
study of word parts that carry significance: root words, prefixes,
suffixes, grammatical inflections (e.g., -s or -es for plurals)

Word Boxes: Phonological Awareness

Word Boxes: Phonological Awareness

Teaches: phonemic awareness, letter-sound association, spelling
Joseph (2012): 1st graders who receive word box training performed better
on word identification and spelling than a control group who received
phonetic rules only.
Whats missing? ORTHOGRAPHY!
Consider long e sound

seat = ea
piece = ie

sleep = ee
key = ey

we = e
Steve = e_e

Word Sorts: Phonics/orthography

Search for words that have common sound and spelling patterns and categorize

Word Sorts: Phonics/Orthography

Joseph (2000): superior performance for word
box instruction and word sort instruction over
traditional phonics (sounding out) for spelling
outcomes for 1st graders
Word sort group outperformed word box group in
spelling
Word sorts combined with trace-copy-cover-write
= more effective (Dangel, 1989)

Cover-Copy-Compare (CCC)
1. Teacher: 10 words on left
column
2. Student: study the word
->fold paper (Cover)->Copy
from memory
3. Uncover, compare response
4. If correct = move on to next
word
5. If incorrect = draw a line
through response. Study,
cover, copy from memory,
check

intervention central.org

Cover-Copy-Compare

Helps students with and without disabilities (SLD, ED, ID) improve their
spelling, especially when used with token economies, goal setting, and
repetition.

Use for sight words, frequently misspelled words in their writing, spelling
patterns

Self-management procedure: Teach process & students can be

independent

Generalize the words in their writing and reading (not just for a spelling
test!), maintained their skills over time
(Joseph et al., 2012)

Spelling Mastery SRA

Grade Levels: 1-6; individual or whole class

Designed for all academic levels, ELLs, learning disabilities
Fully-scripted lessons organized by skill development
15-20 minute lessons
Student workbooks = $11-$16; Teacher books = $172-$202
Three strategies for spelling words:
phonemic strategy: spell words the way they sound
whole word strategy: memorize words that dont follow
a rule
morphemic strategy: spell and blend bases and affixes
(suffixes, prefixes)

Skill #3: Sentence-level Construction

Developing an understanding of what

sentences are: meaning & syntax

Using oral language skills to support written
language skills
Applying conventions: punctuation &
capitalization
Variety of sentence structure: complexity
Evaluation criteria: Does this make sense?

Expose Students to good writing

Expose students to a variety of high quality writing.
Encourage students to mimic aspects of high quality
writing.
word choice
sentence structure
tables & graphs
Students can take some of their own writing and
replace synonyms in the sentences.
Struggling writers can have it read to them and they
can complete an outline or framework.

Example

Sentence Framing
Guides
sentence
writing

Can range
from
simple to
complex

Framing as a group
Teachers should establish a supportive classroom for
students to write.
Teachers can participate in writing lessons to
demonstrate the importance of writing.
Let students choose their own topics to write about.
But also have a good mix of prompt writing.
Giving and receiving feedback and collaboration can
increase sense of community.

Examples

Sentence Expanding
Expand the sentence
using different parts of
speech.

Sentence Combining
Choose sentences to
combine
Model by moving,
deleting, adding words
Rate the quality,
provide alternatives,
discuss which sentences
are better

Question 1: Who remembers the writing

process?
Question 2: Who can tell me all seven steps
of the writing process?

Teaching students the writing process

Planning involves developing goals and generating ideas; gathering information from reading,
prior knowledge, and discussions with others; and organizing ideas for writing based on the
purpose of the text.
Drafting means work on getting all thoughts out on the page, skills such as spelling,
handwriting, and capitalization and punctuation also are important when drafting, but should
not be the focus of students effort at this stage.
Sharing ideas or drafts with teachers, other adults, and peers throughout the writing process
enables students to obtain feedback and suggestions for improving their writing.
Evaluation can be carried out by individual writers as they reread all or part of their text or it
can be done by teachers and peers who provide the writer with feedback.
Revising and editing require that writers make changes to their text based on evaluations of
their writing.
Editing involves making changes to ensure that a text correctly adheres to the conventions of
written English.
Publishing typically occurs at the end of the writing process, as students produce a final
product that is shared publicly in written form, oral form, or both.

Teach students to use the writing process

for a variety of purposes

Writing is a process that requires that the writer think carefully about
the purpose for writing, plan what to say, plan how to say it, and
understand what the reader needs to know
Students should learn that writing is used for a variety of purposes, such
as conveying information, making an argument, providing a means of
self-reflection, sharing an experience, enhancing understanding of
reading, or providing entertainment
Students should be taught that writing is important
not just at school, but in their professional and social
lives as well

Examples of writing strategies

PLANNING

POW

1-6
PIck ideas
Organize their notes
Write and say more

Ordering ideas/outlining 1-2

Brainstorm/generate ideas for their paper
Review their ideas and and place a number
by what will go first, second, third, and so on

Ordering ideas/outlining 3-6

Brainstorm/generate ideas for their paper
Decide which are main ideas and which are supporting ideas
Create an outline that shows the order of the main ideas and
the supporting details for each main idea

Writing strategies contd

Drafting

Imitation 1-6
Select a sentence, paragraph, or text excerpt and
imitate the authors form

Sentence generation 3-6

Try out sentences orally before writing them on paper
Try multiple sentences and choose the best one
Use transition words to develop different sentence structures
Practice writing good topic sentences

Writing Strategies Contd

Sharing

Peer sharing 2-6

In pairs, listen and read along as the
author reads aloud

Share feedback with their writing

partner, starting with what they liked

Authors Chair K-6

Sit in a special chair in front of peers and read
their writing

Writing Strategies Contd

Evaluating

Self-evaluating 2-6
Reread and ask these questions:
Are the ideas clear?
Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end?
Does the writing connect with the reader?
Are sentence types varied?

Self-monitoring 3-6
Self Assess and ask these questions, either out loud or internally:
Did I meet the goals I developed for my writing?
Did I correctly use strategies that were appropriate for this task?
Record their answer to self-assessment questions to track progress toward goals
Congratulate them when they meet their goals

Writing Strategies Contd

Revising and Editing

Peer revising 2-6

Place a question mark by anything
they do not understand in their writing
partners paper
Place a carat ^ anywhere it would be
useful to have the author include more
information
COPS 2-6
Ask the COPS editing questions
Did I Capitalize the first word in
sentences and proper names?

How is the Overall appearance of my

paper?

Did I use commas and end-of-sentence Punctuations?

Did I Spell each word correctly

Gradual release of writing responsibility

Writing strategies should be taught directly through a gradual release of

responsibility from teacher to student
First, teachers need to ensure that students have the skills they need to
understand and use writing strategies. Then teachers can work on what, where,
why and how of using writing strategies and model them repeatedly for students.
Teachers then should guide students to collaborate in small groups to practice
applying the strategy. Teacher should be sure not to release responsibility to
students to early.
To adapt writing strategy instruction to individual students,
teachers should assess students as they acquire new strategies,
determining where instruction needs to be reinforced.
practice, practice, practice!
For students who acquire these writing strategies easily and more
quickly than their peers, teachers should consider increasing the
complexity of the strategy.

Example of gradual release of responsibility

to students

Guiding students to select and use

appropriate writing strategies
Once students learn to use a variety of strategies independently,
through the gradual release process, teachers should help them
understand how to select appropriate strategies and use them across
a range of writing tasks.
To help students select the appropriate writing strategy, teachers
might consider posting strategies on a wall chart in the classroom.
Beyond knowing when and how to use a strategy, students must
actually use it as they write.This can be facilitated by having
students set a goal to use the strategy in one or more identified
situations, followed by a discussion (and/or instruction) on how the
strategy needs to be modified.

Encourage students to be flexible

Writing requires flexibility and change
Teachers should engage students in writing activities in
which the writing process does not move in a step by
step manner
Students need to also learn to apply writing strategies
in a flexible manner, moving back and forth between
different components of the writing
process as they develop text and
think critically about their writing
goals.

Example

Understanding the different purposes of writing.

5 General Purposes for Writing
Describe- person place, process, or experience.
Narrate- tell a story of an experience, event, or
series of events.
Inform- previously learned or new information
Persuade- giving an opinion, point of view or
presenting an argument.
Analyze- analyze idea of text, comparing one to
another.

Examples

Daily Time for Students to Write

Provide adequate time for students to write is an
essential element of an effective writing instruction
program.
Should include 1 hour of dedicated time.
30 minutes of instruction on strategies, techniques and
skills.
30 minutes of writing practice where they apply the
new skills.

3rd Grade Common Core

4th Grade Common Core

Example

Questions?

References
Berninger, V., Vaughan, K., Abbott, R., Abbott, S., Brooks, A., Rogan, L., Reed E., & Graham S. (1997). Treatment of
handwriting fluency problems in beginning writing: Transfer from handwriting to composition. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 89, 652666.
Dangel, H. L. (1989). The use of student directed spelling strategies. Academic Therapy, 25, 43-51.
Gettinger, M. (1993). Effects of invented spelling and direct instruction on spelling performance of second-grade boys.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26(3), 281-291.
Gillon, G. T. (2004). Phonological Awareness: From Research to Practice. The Guilford Press: New York, NY.
Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., DAoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012).
Teaching elementary school students to be effective writers: A practice guide (NCEE 2012- 4058). Washington,
DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/ wwc/publications_reviews.aspx#pubsearch.
Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005, February). The impact of handwriting and spelling instruction on the writing and
reading performance of at-risk first graders writers. Paper presented at the Pacific Coast Research Conference,
Coronado, CA.
Graham, S., Harris, K., & Fink, B. (2000). Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting
problems in beginning writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 620633.
Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Fink-Chorzempa, B. F. (2002). Contribution of spelling instruction to the spelling, writing, and
reading of poor spellers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 669-686.
Graham, S., Harris, K., Mason, L., Fink-Chorzempa, B., Moran, S., & Saddler, B. (2007). How do primary grade teachers
teach handwriting. A national survey. Reading and Writing, 21, 4969.

References
Graham, S., Harris, K., & Loynachan, C. (1993). The basic spelling vocabulary list. Journal of Educational Research,
86(6), 363-368.
Joseph, L. M. (2000). Developing first graders phonemic awareness, word identification, and spelling: A comparison of
two contemporary phonic instructional approaches. Reading Research and Instruction, 39, 160-169.
Joseph, L. M., Konrad, M., Cates, G., Vajcner, T., Eveleigh, E., & Fishley, K. M. (2012) A meta-analytic review of the
cover-copy-compare and variations of this self-management procedure. Psychology in the Schools, 49(2), 122-136.
Karlsdottir, R., Stefansson, T. (2002). Problems in developing functional handwriting. Perceptual Motor Skills, 94(2),
623-662.
National Center for Education Statistics, 2012. The nations report card: Writing 2011 (NCES 2012-470). Washington, DC:
Institute of Education Sciences, U. S. Department of Education.
Persky, H. R., Daane, M. C., & Jin, Y. (2003). The nations report card on writing 2002 (NCES 2003-529). Washington, DC:
National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Peverly, Stephen. (2006). The importance of handwriting speed in adult writing. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29(1),
197216.
Roberts, G. I., Derkach-Ferguson, A. F., Siever, J. E., & Rose, M. S. (2014). An examination of the effectiveness of
Handwriting Without Tears Instruction. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 81(2), 102-113.
Schenck, C., Shasby, S., Myers, C., & Smith, M. L. D. (2012). Handwriting Without Tears versus Teacher-Designed
Handwriting Instruction in first grade classrooms. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Interventions, 5,
31-42.