What is guided writing?
Guided reading is an essential context for scaffolding the development of a writer's processes within the Workshop Model Guided writing is a small group approach where teachers meet with a group of students with similar writing needs. It can be a mini group conference or small group lesson to focus on similar learning or challenges faced by our learners. There may be students who need more support or more time to develop a particular part of their writing and with the small group, we can observe closely and provide specific guidance. The small group interaction offers teachers and learners more open discussion where we can provide our students specific feedback for improvement as we monitor their progress as they expand their word knowledge, writing processes and metacognitive strategies. Why is guided writing important? Guided writing offers an opportunity for personalized learning as our students develop their individual writing processes in a more comfortable setting. During the small group conferences or targeted mini-lessons, we are providing explicit teaching that is tailored to individual needs at that particular point of time. The instant feedback we provide allows for our students to make real time adjustments to their writing and we can monitor their progress as they move forward with writing processes and metacognitive strategies as they move toward independent writing. The environment of the small group limits the large group distractions and the more comfortable setting is a safe place for our reluctant sharers to celebrate their progress. |
For more information, look for Jennifer Serravallo's Teaching Writing in Small Groups in the DRC |
For writing strategies, please see Jennifer Serravallo's book in the DRC |
What does guided writing look like?
Through various forms of formative assessment, identify some common needs and challenges our students are experiencing. Almost all writers will occasionally need support and personalized instruction to develop an aspect of their writing process. Plan a min-lesson or conference based on these common needs. Teach the single principle identified as a challenge, depending where your learners are at within the development process, the common skills you may want to focus on will differ. Some examples may be: finding a topic, developing ideas, using literary devices or elements, refining texts, exploring audience and purpose or paragraphing and referencing sources. It is recommended that the shared experience be brief (10-15 minutes) and allow for student exploration and practice the application of the new competency. Provide the students with a piece of writing where they can apply the new thinking and support them as they engage with the new learning. The next step is to encourage your writers to try out the new competency in their own writing and offer support as they observe and participate to deepen their understanding of the new principle or skill. It is important to engage the students in conversation during the conference or mini lesson and share what they noticed and learned during the time together. Reinforce the principle and encourage students to share their next steps or goals for implementation into their future writing. |
Useful Videos
Please watch the videos below. They will provide some examples on how you could approach a guided write in your classroom.
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Learning together on the ancestral, unceded territory of the syilx Nation.
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