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The writing workshop is a block of instructional time in which students practice the writing process (Dorfman & Shubitz, 2019). Writing workshops can be used with young children and with adolescent students. This article provides a brief overview of instructional methods involved in the implementation of a writing workshop.
Conducting a Writing Workshop
Increased time to write with a focus on the strategies of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing are linked to increased writing quality (Graham & Harris, 2016). Unfortunately, students tend to demonstrate a decrease in enthusiasm for writing from early childhood to middle school and high school, due to less time to write and less engaging writing opportunities (Graham & Perin, 2007) so it is imperative to engage students in workshops that are personally and culturally meaningful. We recommend that it should be evident that multicultural literature is being read, enjoyed and analyzed across the curriculum. Writing workshops provide opportunities for lively inquiry and discussion about texts with diverse characters, settings, and cultures (Alexander, 2018).
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Harry
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New Author
The writing workshop is a block of instructional time in which students practice the writing process (Dorfman & Shubitz, 2019). Writing workshops can be used with young children and with adolescent students. This article provides a brief overview of instructional methods involved in the implementation of a writing workshop.
Conducting a Writing Workshop
Increased time to write with a focus on the strategies of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing are linked to increased writing quality (Graham & Harris, 2016). Unfortunately, students tend to demonstrate a decrease in enthusiasm for writing from early childhood to middle school and high school, due to less time to write and less engaging writing opportunities (Graham & Perin, 2007) so it is imperative to engage students in workshops that are personally and culturally meaningful. We recommend that it should be evident that multicultural literature is being read, enjoyed and analyzed across the curriculum. Writing workshops provide opportunities for lively inquiry and discussion about texts with diverse characters, settings, and cultures (Alexander, 2018).
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Harry
Since EBRI should have an impact on the phonemic awareness and decoding ability in students, the study used assessments that measured the skills of manipulating sounds and sight-reading of words. The study used the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing-2® (CTOPP-2) Elision test for measuring phonological ability and the Test of Word Reading Efficiency® (TOWRE) test to measure students’ efficiency in phonemic decoding and recognition of sight words. The study also utilized three PtR assessments to measure the same reading skills. Lastly, the researchers evaluated fluency with the DIBELS assessment to measure students reading rate, words per minute (wpm).
Literacy interventions must be implemented at a reasonable duration, or length (Wanzek et al., 2018). By the same token, the frequency of such should be closely examined, supporting daily instructional intervention whenever possible (Ankrum & Bean, 2008; Wanzek et al., 2018). Reducing the instructional group size for intervention has also been found to be effective, particularly in small group and individualized settings. Directed by students’ academic progress, exercising fluidity with grouping structures is likewise encouraged (Wanzek et al., 2018). Explicit and systematic instruction in support of learning is critical to steady, student progress, highlighting cornerstones of quality modeling and frequent think-alouds (Hanover Research, 2019; Kilpatrick, 2015; Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009; Wanzek et al., 2018).
Open dialogue rooted in rich and regular feedback has also been identified as a critical factor to the success of implemented literacy interventions (Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009). This practice can easily be imbedded within MTSS and through the support of multiple stakeholders as need(s) for intervention are found (Jones, Conradi, & Amendum, 2016; Scholastic, 2016; Wanzek et al., 2018). Moreover, MTSS should further be utilized to continuously monitor students’ degrees of intervention, while adjusting as needed based on systematic assessment data (Wanzek et al., 2018). As student-level assessment data is closely monitored, instructional scaffolding can be modified based on current learning need (Hanover Research, 2019; Kilpatrick, 2015; Stover, Sparrow, & Siefert, 2017).
Differentiated instruction is also a key pinnacle in the success of literacy interventions.
As cited by Hanover Research (2019), differentiation is a multi-faceted process that requires a significant commitment on the part of the teacher and true engagement from the learner. “Differentiation allows teachers to alter the instructional time, literacy content, and intensity of scaffolding that students receive based on their [current] reading level” (p. 5). Ankrum and Bean (2008) further propose necessary conditions for true differentiation and appropriate coaching to occur. “Differentiated instruction can only truly occur if the teacher possesses a deep knowledge of the reading process, an understanding of the strengths and needs of their students, and the ability to teach responsively” (p. 134). When differentiated instruction is closely aligned with learner need and the plan for intervention, “…skill sets and ability levels of diverse learners” are better met and supported (Hanover Research, 2019, p. 5).
Effective literacy intervention focuses on quality over quantity and owns the belief that less offers more. Jones, Conradi, & Amendum (2016) claim that “…too many interventions are inefficient and fail to accelerate readers’ progress” (p. 307). With measures in place to avoid the implementation of excess interventions, instruction can remain “…differentiated, efficient, and focused” (Jones, Conradi, & Amendum, 2016, p. 314). Extension of this idea again stresses a central theme that student need, determined by present achievement and assessment data, defines the plan for intervention. “Because not all striving readers need help in all areas of reading, we promote brief, systematic interventions targeting the students’ most pressing need” (Jones, Conradi, & Amendum, 2016, p. 307).
Early readers desire to feel competent, possess autonomy as new readers, remaining motivated to establish goals, and anticipate open communication and feedback (Harvey & Ward, 2017). They further want to avoid labels, similar to those that could be associated or linked with specific grouping structures and formats (Johnson, 2011). Desiring independence with all things reading, early readers further seek and appreciate opportunities for choice in both what they read and how (Walczyk & Griffin-Ross, 2007). As efforts are made to satisfy these specific needs among our striving, primary readers, research has highlighted tools and instructional frameworks that collectively support plans for effective literacy intervention.
Comprised of three, intervention levels of support, Response to Intervention (RtI) and MTSS are framed in prevention, “…aimed at improving outcomes for all students” (National Center on Response to Intervention, 2020). By screening all students, data-based decision-making processes can be activated to further determine which students require progress-monitoring to more closely track records of achievement under a more intensive intervention plan. Jones, Conradi, & Amendum (2016) encourage teachers and literacy professionals alike to utilize “…curriculum-based measures to [accurately] determine what [each striving] reader needs most” (p. 308). A variety of literacy assessments can be utilized to aid in making this evidence-based determination, including: Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP); Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE); Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS); Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST); and, Pathways to Reading (PtR).
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