Improving Writing Skills Through Interactive WritingJamie Stief

Area of Focus0Will the use of interactive writing during cooperative

learning groups improve writing skills? 0Student achievement has been declining, especially in

the area of English Language Arts. Writing seems to be the weakest area in my district.

0A group of boys in the sixth grade have been identified as struggling writers. Their paragraphs are lacking complete sentences, correct spelling, correct conventions, and grade level vocabulary. These students are failing.

What is Interactive Writing?0 Small groups of students

work with the teacher to produce one writing sample. Groups are based on the needs of the students (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001).

0 This instructional practice significantly increases engagement and touches all ability levels (Patterson, Schaller, & Clemens, 2008).

0 Teachers assemble writing lessons based on the students’ needs which result in an increase in participation and application during whole group writing sessions (Wall, 2008).

0 It also is a way to meet the needs of diverse learners (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, & Stone, 2012).

Outcomes

0Students0 Increase scores on

paragraph writing assignments.

0 Increase scores on benchmark assessments.

Procedures0 Identify writing skills for mini lessons.0Develop writing prompts related to units of study in

the curriculum.0Meet once a week for 20 to 30 minutes with a small

group for an interactive writing activity.0Continue small group writing lessons for 6 weeks.0Take anecdotal records during writing activities for

assessment and lesson planning.0Evaluate paragraphs written independently with

regular classroom teacher using the rubric.0Graph scores with the students.

Research Based Strategies

According to Cole (2008), these strategies are supported by interactive writing and this project.0Teach reading and writing together.0Establish productive writing habits.0Use cooperative learning.0Use rubrics as a tool for formative assessment.0 Involve students in the evaluation process.

Progress Monitoring

Work Sample

Writing prompt for this paragraph: television is no more.

References

0 Cole, R. W. (2008). Educating everybody's children diverse teaching strategies for diverse learners (Rev. and expanded 2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

0 Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E., Pitler, H., & Stone, B.J. (2012). Cooperative Learning. Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies

for increasing student achievement (2nd ed., pp. 60-71). Alexandria, VA.: ASCD.

0 Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2001). Guiding readers and writers, grades 3-6: teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

0 Patterson, E., Schaller, M., & Clemens, J. (2008). A closer look at interactive writing. Reading Teacher, 61(6), 496-497.

0 Wall, H. (2008). Interactive writing beyond the primary grades. Reading Teacher, 62(2), 149-152.