Interactive Writing Beyond The Primary G PDF

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Interactive Writing Beyond
the Primary Grades
Heather Wall
M
y third graders and I were engaged in our State University (McCarrier, Pinnell, & Fountas, 1999).
weekly interactive writing summary of the By adapting McKenzie’s (1985) research on shared
week’s activities, with April (all student writing to include student participation through a
names are pseudonyms) acting as scribe to record “shared pen” approach, they made the process col-
on the whiteboard the sentences we composed. As laborative and interactive for students.
she wrote “Our class made our own county in our In an interactive writing lesson, the teacher
classroom and called it Kids County,” a discussion guides the students through the process of writing a
arose. text. Typically one student holds the pen and writes
“We forgot to put a comma in our compound sen- while the teacher and students negotiate phonetic,
tence,” Alejandro pointed out. structural, and semantic rules to compose the mes-
“No, we can’t put a comma, because it’s not two sage. Students take turns writing one letter, word, or
sentences!” insisted April. sentence at a time, with the teacher able to individu-
Conversations broke out among the group as alize instruction by purposely selecting particular
students discussed the characteristics of compound students to write certain sections. The intent is for
sentences. After much analyzing, we concluded the end product to be free of spelling and gram-
that the second sentence lacked a subject and so matical errors, which requires that time be spent on
was incomplete. No comma was inserted. But then discussion of phonics, grammar rules, and spelling
someone pointed out that Kids should be possessive, patterns. Interactive writing can be done with whole
and another discussion ensued about apostrophe classes or small groups of students. Various methods
placement. of engaging all students during the process include
While writers’ workshop is commonly used to passing out whiteboards and markers to encourage
provide an authentic context for addressing students’ simultaneous participation or having students write
writing needs, teachers struggle with ways to teach in the air. Teachers may also ask a volunteer to come
spelling, punctuation, and grammar in similarly au- up front to “hold the space” between words by using
thentic ways. Many researchers agree that grammar their hand to make a large space as another student
rules are best taught in the context of authentic writ- continues the writing.
ing experiences rather than in isolation (Cramer, Interactive writing was developed to model the
2004; Patterson, 2001; Tompkins, 2002; Weaver, 1996a, writing process for students and encourage the be-
1996b). While recent books have addressed the use of ginning of independent writing in the primary grades
literature as a tool or model for grammar and punctua- (McCarrier et al., 1999). Research has shown that as
tion instruction (Anderson, 2005; Dorfman & Cappelli, students receive this repeated practice in composing
2007), many teachers continue to search for ways to sentences, while also using resources such as word
teach writing mechanics in context and in engaging walls, memorizing sight words, and applying pho-
ways that make sense to students. Interactive writing netic skills, their own writing improves (Brotherton &
lessons, when used along with focused minilessons Williams, 2002; Button, Johnson, & Furgerson, 1996;
during writers’ workshops, can meet this need. Craig, 2003; McCarrier et al., 1999). Interestingly, read-
ing skills, including reading comprehension, have also
been shown to be positively affected (Craig, 2003).
Interactive Writing While interactive writing has been shown to
Interactive writing was developed in 1991 by a group have good success in the primary grades, very little
of researchers and teachers associated with The Ohio research has been done using this approach in the
The Reading Teacher, 62(2), pp. 149–152 © 2008 International Reading Association
DOI:10.1598/RT.62.2.6 ISSN: 0034-0561 print / 1936-2714 online 149

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upper elementary grades. Mariage (2001) exam- Dora: Maybe “Our class is learning about three
ined the effects of using a modified approach with different kinds of rocks: igneous, sedi-
fourth-grade special education students, wherein the mentary, and metamorphic rocks.”
teacher served as scribe as the students made editing Mrs. Wall: [drawing a name out of a can] Jose, you
suggestions. He found that, over time, the students come be the writer. Since we’re start-
were able to internalize a wide range of editing and ing a new topic, how will we begin this
revision conventions for use in editing their own and paragraph?
other students’ writing. Several
students: Indent!
Mrs. Wall: [ holding hand at beginning of the line
Interactive Writing to serve as a space, while Jose begins
in a Third-Grade Classroom to write Are] Let’s think about how this
I had experienced great success with interactive sentence begins. This word sounds like
writing in my first-grade classroom. When I moved another very similar word. Will we use
to third grade, I decided to adapt the approach to in- our or are? Look at the word wall to
clude a grammatical component along with the struc- help.
tural and phonetic focus my students still required. Jose: Oh! [erases and begins again correctly]
Along with explicit grammar and word study instruc-
tion elsewhere in our daily schedule, at the end of As the session continued, some words were easy for
every week I gathered my class together to compose the writer to spell independently, so I led the class
a few paragraphs summarizing our week’s learning to discuss potential problem words further along in
for our weekly parent newsletter. Together we settled the sentence as the writer continued on his own. We
on a topic and then composed our class news article clapped out the syllables in different and discussed
sentence by sentence. I selected students to write the type of punctuation needed after rocks, finally
settling on a colon after considering a dash and an
each sentence as their classmates helped with com-
ellipsis. We used resources around the room to help
position, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. As the
with the spelling of the types of rocks and used our
teacher, I served as the “more knowledgeable other”
knowledge of commas in a series to punctuate the
(Vygotsky, 1978) and supervised the discussion, di-
final section. While this seems as if it might have
recting students’ attention to potentially more sophis-
taken quite a while to complete, the process went
ticated revisions. We wrote on a large whiteboard to quickly as conversations overlapped. The class re-
facilitate correction of errors. An interactive writing port shown in Figure 1 was written in approximately
session often began this way: 25 minutes.
Mrs. Wall: OK, we’ve settled on writing about our Although in the beginning students’ attention
study of rocks and minerals. Who has spans and sentence variety were minimal, as the
a suggestion for how we can begin? year progressed we incorporated various grammati-
cal concepts as we learned them, and our class news
Remember, we need a lead that will help
became more sophisticated as students were able to
the parents understand our topic right
attend for longer periods of time. We applied com-
away.
pound sentences, indention for paragraphs, capi-
Dora: How about “We’ve been studying rocks talization rules, punctuation rules (use of hyphens,
this week”? colons, parentheses, commas in a series), spicy verbs,
Todd: No—“We learned about igneous, sedi- specific nouns, complete and incomplete sentences,
mentary, and...” contractions, possessives, pluralization rules, plural
possessives, and onomatopoeia.
Abraham: Metamorphic.
When writing about our study of caterpillars, I
Todd: Yeah! We need to tell the kinds of rocks. had the chance to introduce the concept of depen-
Mrs. Wall: Can we combine these sentences in some dent clauses at the beginning of sentences and talk
way? about comma placement. Anderson (2005) simplified
150 The Reading Teacher Vol. 62, No. 2 October 2008


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Figure 1 Figure 2
Breaking News Early in the School Year Breaking News Later in the School Year
this concept for students by describing these clauses

as sentence openers or closers. We used an opener
with our comparison of live and “pinned” butter-
flies: “When our caterpillars mature, they will be as
pretty as Ivan’s dead butterfly.” A dependent clause Interactive Writing for Special
was used as a closer in a report on math: “We finally Needs Students
learned our last multiplication song, which is the 9s While our class news article was a weekly whole-
song.” group routine, I also found interactive writing to be
As the year continued, our interactive writing
helpful in small-group settings throughout the year
reports become longer and more complex as illus-
with my English-language learners (ELLs) and main-
trated by the excerpt in Figure 2. As the students
streamed special education students. I pulled needs-
became comfortable with our interactive writing
based groups and worked with them on interactively
routine, they internalized the process and concepts
writing summaries of previously read texts, complet-
and began to include them in their own writing.
During the year, students shared their use of com- ing poster-sized versions of graphic organizers, and
mas in a series, compound sentences, and specific composing signs describing hall displays of student
nouns and verbs during writers’ workshop confer- work. Working with these students in small groups
ences. During partner-editing sessions, students allowed me to tailor writing instruction to their needs
referred back to our interactive writing to refine plu- and resulted in an increase in these students’ level
ral possessives and the use of more sophisticated of participation and application of concepts during
punctuation. whole-group interactive writing sessions.
Interactive Writing Beyond the Primary Grades 151


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While I used interactive writing with a third-grade Button, K., Johnson, M.J., & Furgerson, P. (1996). Interactive
writing in a primary classroom. The Reading Teacher, 49(6),
class, this approach can easily be adapted for older
446–455.
students. Whole classes can negotiate the creation of Craig, S.A. (2003). The effects of an adapted interactive writing
short articles, reports, or narratives involving more intervention on kindergarten children’s phonological aware-
difficult grammatical concepts such as comma splic- ness, spelling, and early reading development. Reading
Research Quarterly, 38(4), 438–440. doi:10.1598/RRQ.38.4.1
es, adverb clauses, and introductory phrases. For Cramer, R. (2004). Language arts: A balanced approach to teach-
older students, initial instruction might take place in ing reading, writing, listening, talking, and thinking. Boston:
a large-group setting, with smaller break-out groups Allyn & Bacon.
Dorfman, L.R., & Cappelli, R. (2007). Mentor texts: Teaching writing
then constructing a text on agreed-upon guidelines through children’s literature, K–6. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
such as inclusion of imperative sentences or specific Mariage, T.V. (2001). Features of an interactive writing discourse:
adverbs. Conversational involvement, conventional knowledge, and
internalization in “Morning Message.” Journal of Learning
Interactive writing can also be a particularly valu-
Disabilities, 34(2), 172–196. doi:10.1177/002221940103400206
able approach to teaching English to ELLs in small- McCarrier, A., Pinnell, G.S., & Fountas, I. (1999). Interactive writing:
group situations at any grade level. By including the How language and literacy come together, K–2. Portsmouth,
interactive writing approach in guided reading or NH: Heinemann.
McKenzie, M.G. (1985). Shared writing: Apprenticeship in writing.
guided writing groups, teachers can help students Language Matters, 1–2, 1–5.
with similar needs experience the construction Patterson, N.G. (2001). Just the facts: Research and theory about
of grammatically correct text in a nonthreatening grammar instruction. Voices From the Middle, 8(3), 50–55.
Tompkins, G. (2002). Language arts: Patterns of practice (5th ed.).
context. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher
psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner,
Beyond the Primary Grades & E. Souberman, Eds. & Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
In my classroom, interactive writing served to pro- Weaver, C. (1996a). Teaching grammar in the context of writing.
vide a shared text around which class discussions The English Journal, 85(7), 15–24. doi:10.2307/820502
of grammar, punctuation, and writer’s craft revolved. Weaver, C. (1996b). On the teaching of grammar SLATE starter
sheet—Fact sheet series (pp. 7–8). Urbana, IL: National
Interactive writing can provide students in the upper Council of Teachers of English.
elementary grades a chance to apply and experiment
with new and more advanced writing concepts with Wall is an instructional coach for Hall County
the help and support of their peers. Interactive writ- Schools, Gainesville, Georgia, USA; e-mail
ing can easily and successfully be adapted for use Heather.Wall@hallco.org.
beyond the primary grades.
References
Anderson, J. (2005). Mechanically inclined: Building gram- For a related lesson plan, visit ReadWriteThink.org
mar, usage, and style into writer’s workshop. Portland, ME: and click Lessons to find
Stenhouse.
Brotherton, S., & Williams, C. (2002). Interactive writing instruc- 4 Teaching Audience Through Interactive
tion in a first grade Title I literacy program. Journal of Reading Writing
Education, 27(3), 8–19.
152 The Reading Teacher Vol. 62, No. 2 October 2008

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HING TIPS TEACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS T

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this concept for students by describing these clauses

Interactive Writing Beyond the Primary Grades 151

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