Monthly Archives: April 2012

Latest Writing Research

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Ready or not, Common Core and lots of writing opportunities are headed our way!!  I love it, but also realize there are many out there that don’t see the need for all the hoopla surrounding writing.  After looking at the latest research I am including here, maybe there will be more believers.

I won’t really discuss the research per se,  but  I will list it and the authors  as food for thought for the readers. It is my hope that we will embrace it and make the necessary changes to our curriculum and instruction to ensure success for our students.  As we implement Common Core,  let’s base all that we do on the research, best practices, and the standards.

National Commission on Writing, 2004, 2005 

Writing directly affects hiring and promotion decisions.

NAEP, 2002

Many adolescents need interventions to help them become better writers–some require more help than others.

Saddler & Graham, 2005 ;Anderson, 1997

Traditional grammar instruction is unlikely to help improve the quality of students’  writing. In fact, it can have a negative affect.

Judy Willis, doctor and teacher

Writing can help the brain develop the logical functions required for sucessful math and science learning. When writing is embedded throughout the curriculum,  it boosts long-term memory and can be a source of conceptual development.

Nancie Atwell

Writers learn mechanics in context. Writers need response to their writing, conferencing used as formative guidance. Writers need to read.

Dan Kirby in Inside Out

“When developing writers are required to focus on forms, they learn to plug lifeless words and mundane ideas into the formula…”

CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING REFERENCES FOR MORE INFO:

Effective Literacy Instruction: Building Successful Reading and Writing Programs by J.A. Langer

Inside Out by D. Kirby

Guiding Readers and Writers by Fountas and Pinnell

National Commission on Writing in America’s Schools and Colleges

http://www.ncte.org/prog/writing/

Graham and Perin, 2007

Effective Programs for Students at Risk by Slavin, Madden, and Karweit

MORE TO COME…