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WRITING MODELS: STRATEGIESFOR WRITING COMPOSITION ININCLUSIVE SETTINGSLaura A. StaalPublished online: 07 Jan 2011.

To cite this article: Laura A. Staal (2001) WRITING MODELS: STRATEGIES FOR WRITINGCOMPOSITION IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS, Reading & Writing Quarterly: OvercomingLearning Difficulties, 17:3, 243-248, DOI: 10.1080/10573560121054

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FOCUS ON INCLUSION

WRITING MODELS: STRATEGIES FOR

WRITING COMPOSITION IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS

Laura A. Staal

University of New Mexico

Expressive written language is considered one of the most difficult areas ofacademic achievement for children, especially those with learning dis-abilities. This difficulty has been attributed to the fact that writing isconsidered the highest level of language development and a skill that iscontinuously refined and impacted throughout life (Smith, Dowdy,Polloway, & Blalock, 1997). Students with learning disabilities may not onlyhave problems organizing and composing writing, but they may also have ahard time remembering and employing strategies that could help them withthis process (Englert & Raphael, 1988). This can inhibit their ability to usea variety of strategies to aid in prewriting activities, composing, structuring,revising, and editing (Graham, Harris, MacArthur, & Schwartz, 1998).Therefore, an important goal in writing instruction for all students exhi-biting difficulty is to support them in the development of skills and effectivestrategies (Graham et al., 1998) and at the same time foster confidence andmotivation for writing (Graham & Harris, 1994).

Calfee, Chambliss, and Beretz (1991) have suggested that reluctantwriters may feel more confident in their abilities if they are given a templateto write from and definitive models of the writing requirements. Writingmodels come in various forms and have been used with students of dif-fering abilities. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of writingmodels used to enhance children’s writing when composing poetry (Koch,

Focus on Inclusion is edited by Michael E. Skinner. Prospective contributors should send 5

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Address correspondence to Laura A. Staal, 4207H E. Muledeer Drive USAF Academy, CO

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Reading & Writing Quarterly, 17: 243–248, 2001

Copyright # 2001 Taylor & Francis

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1973, 1997; Noethe & Collom, 1994), stories (Goette, 1989; Greene, 1994;Sipe, 1993; Stewig, 1987; Vilscek, 1990), and reports (Charney & Carlson,1995; Freeman, 1991) with students with and without disabilities. Twonarrative writing models are addressed in this article: the story frame andthe story pyramid.

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE STRATEGIES

The Story Frame

The story frame strategy provides a scaffold for narrative writing compo-sition. It is a cloze procedure (in which words, sentences, or entire parts ofstories are deleted from a passage that students must fill in) that utilizesphrases such as ‘‘In this story,’’ ‘‘The problem starts when,’’ ‘‘After that,’’‘‘Next,’’ ‘‘Then,’’ ‘‘The problem is solved when,’’ and ‘‘The story ends’’(Oja, 1996; Vacca, Vacca, & Gave, 1995). Other story frames are adaptedspecifically from a storybook. For example, Figure 1 illustrates an adaptedstory frame modeled after ‘‘The Three Little Pigs.’’ This frame was com-pleted by a fourth grade student diagnosed with learning disabilities afterlistening to several different renditions of the same tale. A story frameadapted specifically from an already existing story provides more structurethan the generic one, as described above.

The Story Pyramid

The story pyramid is a lesser-known writing model that also provides aframework for writing stories (B. Waldo, personal communication,February 1993). This strategy prompts students to complete an outlinein the shape of a pyramid in order to generate ideas. The outline consistsof the following: 1) name of the main character, 2) two words that describethe main character, 3) three words that describe the setting, 4) four wordsthat state the problem, 5) five words that describe a main event, 6) sixwords that describe another main event, 7) seven words that describeanother main event, and 8) eight words that state the solution to theproblem. Not only does the story pyramid emphasize content knowledge,but it also challenges students to select a specific number of words tocomplete each line. It should be noted that the number of lines utilizeddirectly corresponds to how many events are present in a particular story(see Figure 2 for an example of a completed story pyramid).

Narrative writing models are widely used as tools to assess the com-prehension of story elements (Cudd & Roberts, 1987; Fowler, 1982;Kuldanek, 1998; Oja, 1996; Walton & Hoblitt, 1989) or to generate ideas forcomposition as this article addresses. However, they can also be used to

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teach specific lessons on grammar. For example, the story frame is an idealvenue for teaching about nouns as persons, places, and things, since arequirement is that students generate main characters and a setting.Similarly, the story pyramid provides an ideal opportunity to teach orreteach the grammatical concept of adjectives, since lines two and threerequire words describing the main character and setting.

GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF WRITING MODELS INAN INCLUSIVE SETTING

In her book, Tompkins (1990) outlines specific steps on how to teachchildren to write when following a specific form. The steps include:

The Three Little senoritas and the Big Bad nino.

Once upon a time in New Mexico

(setting)there were three little

senoritas

(main characters)and a

Big Bad nino

(main characters).

The first little(problem)

senorita built a house of candy. Then along came the

Big Bad nino and ate it all up .

The second little(first event)

senorita built a house of pizza. Then along came the

Big Bad nino and ate it all up .

The third little(second event)

senorita built a house of red chili peppers. Then

along came the

Big Bad nino and burned his mouth so bad that he ran to the Rio

Grande for a BIG drink and never bothered the three little senor-

itas again.

So, the three little(solution)

senoritas lived happily ever after.

FIGURE 1 Adapted story frame modeled after ‘‘The Three Little Pigs.’’

Writing Models 245

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1. Explain the model. The teacher introduces and identifies all the ele-ments of the model using a visual display, such as an overhead projectoror chart.

2. Share examples. The teacher shares examples that utilize the model.Collaboratively, the students and teacher analyze the examples forsimilarities and differences.

3. Review the model. The teacher reviews the model and may share moreexamples. The teacher asks the students to freewrite about the model inorder to enhance their understanding of its elements.

4. Compose collaboratively. With the teacher as a scribe, the studentsbrainstorm ideas about a story they will collaboratively compose usingthe model. This provides an opportunity for the students to review themodel, gather ideas of their own, and review conventions of punctuationand the writing process.

5. Compose individually. The previous four steps provide students withenough background experience to write a composition of their own.After composing individually, students are encouraged to share theirwriting with a partner or the rest of the class. Once the students havemastered a particular model, teachers are encouraged to teach themadditional models for generating ideas or to suggest creating their own.

1. Se•orita #3(name of main character)

2. smart clever(2 words describing main character)

3. dry hot sizzling(3 words describing setting)

4. ni•o eats se•orita #1’s house(4 words stating problem)

5. se•orita #2 builds house of pizza(5 words describing one event)

6. se•orita #3 builds house of red chilis(6 words describing another event)

7. ni•o burns mouth and never returns again(7 words describing another event)

8. the three little se•oritas live happily ever after(8 words describing the solution)

FIGURE 2 Story pyramid based on the ‘‘Three Little Senoritas and the Big Bad

Nino.’’

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JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PRACTICAL USE OF THE STRATEGY

Using story models has many advantages. First, the instructional approachmoves from a very teacher-directed activity to a student-directed one thatencourages students to use the strategy independently. Second, indepen-dent mastery of the strategy allows for the possibility of generalization toother independent writing situations. Third, utilizing a story model strategyprovides opportunities for students of all abilities to be successful. Andfinally, when students have successful writing experiences, it builds theirself-confidence and motivation for writing (Graham & Harris, 1994).

CONCLUSION

Writing models are effective interventions for students of all abilitiesexhibiting difficulty with writing. The story frame and the story pyramid arespecific writing strategies that provide students with scaffolds for narrativecomposition and necessary skill development. Such development has beenassociated with increases in confidence and motivation, conditions thatdirectly impact learning success, academic achievement, and a strongersense of self efficacy.

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