by Steve Graham and Dolores Perin
Highlights specific techniques for teaching writing and identifies 11 elements of writing instruction found to be effective for helping students learn to write well and to use writing as a tool for learning. Recommendations include the following:
- Teach writing strategies for planning, revising, and editing
- Teach summarization strategies
- Use collaborative writing
- Set specific product goals for students
- Use word processing as instructional supports for writing assignments
- Teach sentence combining, which teaches students to construct more complex, sophisticated sentences
- Teach prewriting, which helps students generate or organize ideas for writing
- Use inquiry activities, which helps students in analyzing concrete data so they can develop ideas and content for a particular writing task
- Use a process writing approach that provides extended writing opportunities, writing for authentic audiences, personalized instruction
- Have students study models of good writing
- Use writing as a tool for learning across content areas
Visit our About TEAL page to learn more about the project and our participants. Look for new materials under Project Resources and visit Links to learn more about specific topic areas that are part of this adult literacy professional development project to improve teacher quality.