D. Composition
Writing is a complex process that involves a range of skills and tasks. Students learn to express and communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. They apply their knowledge of oral language to create texts in various media, forms and genres, developing their ability to articulate their thoughts and ideas effectively.
Students build the skills to use the writing process to plan, research, draft, revise, edit, proofread, publish, and share their texts. They learn to consider their purpose and audience as they create original work that is coherent and interesting, that reflects independent critical thought, including topics connected to their lived experiences.
In Grade 3, if students have learned the basics of letters, sounds, and spelling, and have developed fluency in printing, they are often excited to write and share their ideas. As their encoding skills become more fluent, they can focus more on their thoughts and ideas instead of the effort of writing.
Writing Instruction
Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is a highly researched approach to teaching writing through learning, using and adopting the strategies used by skilled writers. It is a structured and explicit approach that provides students with strategies and deliberate skill practice while adding the element of self-regulation to strategy instruction for writing. It encourages students to monitor, evaluate, and review their writing, which in turn reinforces self-regulation skills and independent learning. SRSD is explicit, direct, and guided so that strategies become integrated into the overall learning process and students are empowered to be self-directed.
ThinkSRSD has created a collection of free instructional materials for narrative, informational, and persuasive writing and is linked here in the ONlit Resource Library.
Further Reading
- Is handwriting actually important for writing? (Joan Sedita)
- The importance of teaching handwriting (Dr. Spear-Swerling)
What are the two stages of revising writing? (Joan Sedita)
Reading Road Trip: How to Teach Writing with Dr. Steve Graham
Teaching Text Structures (Reading Rockets)
Foundations for Literacy: An Evidence-based Toolkit for the Effective Reading and Writing Teacher
- The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita (book);
- The Writing Rope – webinar (Joan Sedita)
- The Writing Revolution by Natalie Wexler and Judith Hochman (book)
- Powerful Writing Strategies for All Students by Karen R. Harris, Ed.D., Steve Graham, Ed.D.,Linda H. Mason, Ph.D., and Barbara Friedlander, M.A. (book)
How Can We Take Advantage of the Reading-Writing Relationship? (Dr. Tim Shanahan)
The Connections Between Writing, Knowledge Acquisition, and Reading Comprehension
What are mentor texts and how should I use them to help students improve their writing
Reading Comprehension Revisited: Now They Had Something to Write About
Suggested Resources
- Daily Pen Review
- How to teach letter formation
- An Overview of handwriting and letter formation
- Letter formation desk cards
- thinkSRSD Writing Resources
- Writing with thinkSRSD (ONlit in partnership with thinkSRSD)
- Looking at Writing: Third Grade (Reading Rockets)
