Characteristics of Effective Writing Instruction

Marci Glaus, English language arts consultant at the Wisconsin Department of Public instruction, contributed today's post.

The second part of the new professional learning on writing from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction focuses on research related to 21st century expectations, characteristics of effective writing instruction, the writing process, and balanced assessment. It includes different resources in support of research and practice including example writing processes, videos, and handouts. 

It is important to note that writing is represented as composing, working through a process, as opposed to something like filling in a worksheet. This professional learning begins with the assumption that we require that all students write. Lessons and units are based on big ideas, and there is an emphasis on educators sharing their own writing process/es to explicitly teach strategies for writing, highlighting the recursive nature of a writing process. Discussion and inquiry are a major focus for teaching a variety of writing tasks as well. There is a video that works through some of the research and an example writing process if you prefer to use it for that portion of the presentation. You can find the presentation in PowerPoint and Google slides formats, along with the video and handouts through the following link: http://ela.dpi.wi.gov/ela_writing

This professional learning begins and ends with English language arts educators’ beliefs about the teaching of writing. The importance of first identifying beliefs so that we can build upon them with support from research and experiences is paramount in improving teaching and learning. The materials on the website include the presentation in PowerPoint and Google Slides formats, a brief facilitator’s guide, and a resources tab which includes all of the handouts.