Words of Wisdom: Elementary Writing Instruction Within a Knowledge Building Core Curriculum

“You cannot write about what you do not know, and the more you know about a topic the better your writing is likely to be”. - Hochman and Wexler, 2019

For adults and students alike, writing proves to be one of the most challenging aspects of literacy that we are faced with daily. As outlined in the Writing Rope Model developed by Joan Sedita, writing is not just a skill in and of itself; rather, it is a set of skills involving critical thinking, knowledge, language syntax, text structure, writing craft, and even transcription skills like handwriting or keyboarding. Striving writers, particularly those at the elementary level, cannot be expected to absorb writing skills by simply practicing writing alone. Nor can we expect the development of complex writing - rich with ideas, vocabulary and language - if writing instruction solely focuses on the instruction of conventions and rules. Rather, all aspects of writing must be taught explicitly and systematically, much in the same way that other literacy skills must be taught.

An Integrated Approach

The vast majority of direct and explicit writing instruction for students K-8 in Pentucket is taught through the core knowledge building ELA curriculum, Wit & Wisdom. There are numerous benefits to an integrated approach such as this. First and foremost is the important role that background knowledge plays in the writing process as it does in reading comprehension (Hochman and Wexler, 2019). Research has shown us for decades that there is “a strong and consistent relationship between topic-specific background knowledge and the quality of student writing” (Langer, 1984). All of the writing that students do in ELA is anchored in some capacity to their knowledge, gained from repeated wide reading of complex, grade level texts centered around topics such as Undersea Life or Western Expansion.

Third grade writing on a Didactic Wall Panel that explains why and how scientists study sharks.

The relationship of knowledge acquisition and its application is reciprocal; as we gain more knowledge, our writing gets better, and as we become better writers, it helps us consolidate new information. This, too, is supported by research that shows that students’ comprehension improves when they write about what they read (Graham and Hebert, 2010). Comparative research by Graham and Hebert shows that students who wrote about text outperformed those who read, read and reread, read and studied, or read and discussed without writing (2010). Through Wit & Wisdom, though all forms of writing are taught at every grade level (narrative, informative, and opinion/argumentative), there is a heavy emphasis on informative writing as students learn to communicate information to others, integrating text evidence and information as they write. The shift to an emphasis on informative writing and citing textual evidence is reflective of the shift in the College and Career Readiness standards and in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress Writing Framework.

Writing connected to text is a shift away from the traditional Writers’ Workshop Model, in which students spent a significant amount of time working on a singular piece of writing that may or may not connect to academic text. In the past, where students may have written informational pieces about a “random” topic or constructed long form writing pieces about their personal experiences, students now write informational pieces summarizing a text or delivering specific information related to what they are reading and learning about in class. This is reflective of how we write as we move through our schooling; rarely are we asked to generate writing about something we are not actively engaged in learning about.

Guided Instruction

Nearly every lesson in Wit & Wisdom has explicit writing instruction built in in the form of Craft Stages, which are repeated, transferable stages that scaffold the writing process and students’ skill-building. The Craft Stages are Examine, Experiment, Execute, and Excel, and essentially reflect the Gradual Release of Responsibility model of instruction as students gradually become more independent in using various skills within their writing. These stages repeat for each writing skill taught and for each writing piece, using familiar language and routines for instruction each time. Further, the vertical alignment presented in the curriculum from K-8 gives students the opportunity to master the language and the routines. With predictability and alignment comes ownership, and students come to expect similar structures as they develop as writers.

In the Examine Stage, students use an exemplar or model to analyze a specific writing skill. This may be anything from learning about how to execute the use of a sentence frame in grade 1 to developing a thesis statement in grade 5. These targeted writing skills are focused and specific; no longer are students practicing all writing skills at once. In contrast, they are working to mastery on these writing skills as they apply to a greater writing piece.

In the Experiment Stage, students practice the skill with a discrete, often scaffolded task, such as sorting or arranging sentences in paragraph order or refining various given statements to make them better. In the Execute Stage, students use the skill at a higher level and in their own writing. Finally, in the Excel Stage, students evaluate their effectiveness and determine steps for revision.

Experiment Stage with I-OREO model for opinion writing in second grade.

Oral Language

As James Britton once said, “reading and writing float on a sea of talk.” Oral language, and the skills involved in being a proficient oral communicator, is the foundation upon which writing - and all literacy - sits. Though models such as Gough & Tunmer’s The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope do not specifically address writing, they point to oral language playing an integral role in the development of reading comprehension which is then inextricably linked to writing. Further, the Massachusetts Reading and Writing Standards are closely linked to the Speaking and Listening Standards. They are also intertwined with the Language Standards, which include the conventions of written and spoken English and aspects of vocabulary development, but also approach language as a matter of craft and style.

The importance of oral language and its function in proficient writing cannot be overstated. If a student cannot generate a sentence orally, they cannot be expected to put the same sentence into writing. By kindergarten, we should hear many complex sentences in a child’s spoken language that go beyond a kindergartner’s capacity for writing. However, as children progress through elementary school, writing should begin to contain sentences with distinctly written syntactic structures that are more formal than the spoken word. From late elementary school into middle and high school, students’ written language should continue to become more differentiated from spoken language and should demonstrate greater complexity. In fact, we generally expect that by age 12, a child should write sentences that are at least as long as spoken sentences, and sometimes longer (Scott & Balthazar, 2013).

For this to be achieved, students need direct and explicit instruction on writing that is grounded in their capacity for oral language production and begins at the sentence level. Integration of oral language practice and oral language rehearsal of writing is commonplace within Wit & Wisdom, especially in the earlier grades. Where it is not, teachers have found that specifically integrating oral rehearsal of writing into writing instruction has fostered student independence when it comes to writing and has allowed more students to be successful.

Left - Sentence fragments on an evidence organizer to facilitate oral rehearsal of a paragraph in grade 2.

Right - Grade 2 writing on a graphic organizer using a word bank following oral rehearsal of the paragraph.

Sentence Level Instruction

Sentences are the building blocks of writing. As Natalie Wexler recently discussed, “when students can’t understand what they’re reading, it may be because they’re unfamiliar with the complex syntax of written sentences. Teaching them how to write complex sentences about what they’re learning can help.” This once again highlights the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing, but mounting research leads to the idea that explicit instruction at the sentence level can help develop both reading and writing skills.

Credit: Ascend Learning Center

This blog post from Ascend Learning Center outlines why sentence-level writing matters, including a Research-Based Instructional Framework and some concrete strategies for working with students who need this type of instruction. Particularly during the first few years of implementing a high quality curriculum focused on complex texts, it is likely that all students need this type of instruction, and undoubtedly all students will benefit from it. Sentence level instruction includes instruction in sentence combining, sentence cohesion, and sentence expansion. This sentence-level instruction can and should be embedded into general reading and writing instruction as students learn to construct and deconstruct sentences into their meaningful units. If students do not understand the components of a complex sentence, they cannot be expected to write complex sentences.

First Grade sentence building activity connected to Wit & Wisdom.

Striving Writers

As with any new curriculum, transitioning to a new format of writing instruction via Wit & Wisdom has not been without challenges. Primarily, we see that the rigor and complexity of the expectations for student writing tend to go beyond the writing production we see from our students. This is expected; any time we transition to a new curriculum, it takes a few years for students to move through the curriculum at the earlier grade levels to really acquire the skills necessary to apply them at their current grade. The expectations are different, the language is different, and the support we give to striving writers looks differently as well. No longer are students writing opinion pieces on their favorite animal, or “would you rather?” pieces. Instead, they are crafting opinion pieces based on academic text, answering questions such as Would you like to have been an astronaut on the Apollo 11 mission? or Who best demonstrates American Spirit in Woods Runner [by Gary Paulsen]? Students are learning new language as it pertains to writing, such as evidence and elaboration, and organizing their thinking onto OREEO models or To-SEEC models for informative writing.

Left - Anchor chart for writing a ToSEEC paragraph in grade 4.

Right - Grade 4 ToSEEC graphic organizer

Last year, with all of this being new to both students and teachers, the task of not only getting students to write these complex pieces but actually teaching them the language and structures embedded in Wit & Wisdom was a daunting one. This year, as we grow more familiar with the nuances of the curriculum, we can begin to take more ownership of the lessons and understand how to best use the tools to teach the students in front of us. Not only this, but the students themselves are more comfortable. A To-SEEC paragraph is no longer new; elaboration is a familiar friend. Still, we are working to find the balance between supporting striving writers and fostering a sense of independence and learning. As one teacher put it, we are struggling with “striking a balance with providing support for students, while not ‘spoon feeding’ them.” This dance is a delicate one that is not easy to navigate, changing with each day, student and task at hand.

Within our first few years, teachers have been working with a literacy coach to analyze the writing tasks and determine the final goal and product. We have brought in formal writing professional development for all K-6 teachers through Wit & Wisdom, followed up with by the literacy coordinator, who meets with grade level teams and individual teachers to offer support on how to appropriately scaffold writing tasks so that all learners can be successful. Sometimes, this means adapting a graphic organizer or simplifying language; other times, this looks like explicit modeling of the task or providing students additional resources from which to draw text evidence.

Teachers are also building in intentional supports for students in addition to oral language, such as working with students in small groups to support writing, checklists for revision, and sentence starters to support sentence construction. The key to these supports is transference; teachers need to design support with the Goldilocks theory in mind. Too much support that is too narrowed or siloed to the task results in a lack of independence and internalization of the skill, as well as a lack of transference to the next writing task. Too little support, and too few students may be successful - also resulting in a lack of true learning and transference. When we build in the right level of support or scaffolding and gradually remove it, this increases student learning, independence, and transference of writing skills to other tasks and formats. This is no small feat for the teachers, as students need varying levels of support to be successful. While some of these strategies are built into the curriculum, others are added in as teachers plan to support all students in their classrooms.

Transferable sentence starters posted in grade 2.

Building competent writers is a work in progress for Pentucket across K-6, as both teachers and students adjust to a new, complex way of writing connected to text, in addition to a new core curriculum. However - as you walk the halls of each of our elementary schools, the level of academic writing and volume of knowledge conveyed through the words of students is impressive.