Research

This is the research that has informed or confirmed the strategies that we use at Reimagine Writing.

Cultivating Student Independence:

Process-First Instruction Creating Independent Writers By Utilizing Teacher-Created Writing Goals

We will show you how to teach your writing block with a “process-first” framework that will effortlessly create student independence. By creating a set of teacher-created goals for students to achieve on each step of the writing process, your students will know exactly what is expected of them.

Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D’Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012).

Teaching elementary school students to be effective writers: A practice guide (NCEE 20124058). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/ wwc/publications_reviews.aspx#pubsearch.

Graham, Steve; Perin, Dolores, Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools

Motivating + Engaging Reluctant Writers Motivating Writers By Utilizing Choice and Authentic Writing Assignments Research points to the power of allowing students to exercise choice when writing. Choice paired with authentic writing assignments is the perfect way to get students engaged and motivated. When students feel that their writing efforts will go beyond the basket on the teacher’s desk and actually be read and enjoyed  by people in the world, engagement and motivation will increase. Our strategies will walk you through tons of ideas to accomplish this.

Boscolo, P. & Gelati, Carmen. (2013). Best practices in promoting motivation in writing. Best Practices in Writing Instruction. 284-308. Analyzing Mentor Texts Leading With Mentors: Examining Examples of Exemplar Writing Without vision, the writers perish.

One of the most effective ways to get students to improve the quality of their writing is to provide students with exemplar pieces of writing to study. We provide students with a process for studying a particular genre, craft move, or strategy that they will be encouraged to try in their own writing. 

Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D’Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012). Teaching elementary school students to be effective writers: A practice guide (NCEE 20124058). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/ wwc/publications_reviews.aspx#pubsearch. Glover, M. (2014). Vision and choice in the K-3 writing workshop. In K. Ganske (Ed.), Write now! Empowering writers in today's K-6 classroom. International Reading Association.

Grammar + Syntactic Awareness

Applying Grammar + Syntactic Awareness to the Revision and Editing Phases of the Writing Process Research from a period of nearly 90 years has shown that traditional grammar instruction (hours spent diagramming sentences and memorizing parts of speech) hasn’t really helped and in some cases may have even hindered students’ efforts to become proficient writers. While students do need instruction in grammar, our strategies help students apply syntactic awareness to their writing through explicit instruction. Students are provided with opportunities to improve their syntactic awareness both during the revision phase of the writing process and through daily exercises.

Dyson, A.H. and Freedman, S.W. (1991). Writing. In J. Flood, J.M. Jensen, D. Lapp, and J.R. Squire (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (pp. 754-774). New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company. Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D’Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012). T

Teaching elementary school students to be effective writers: A practice guide (NCEE 20124058). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/ wwc/publications_reviews.aspx#pubsearch.

Mastering Writing Instruction

Providing Daily Writing Time for a Solid Writing Lesson and Independent Writing Plus Writing For Content Area Learning Two major roadblocks for many educators when it comes to writing is time and feeling confident about teaching writing well. Research shows us that we need to provide as much time as possible, but that can be a challenge. We offer a solid process for allocating daily time for writing by including content area writing. We will walk through research-based practices for a solid writing lesson and take away strategies that will allow for content area writing routines throughout the entire day. These strategies not only improve writing, but also reading skills. Reading and writing are intricately connected and when students are given time to practice both, their literacy skills improve all around. We’ll show you how to implement writing into math, science, social studies, and any other subject area you may teach.

Graham, Steve & Hebert, Michael. (2011). Writing to Read: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Writing and Writing Instruction on Reading. Harvard Educational Review. 81. 710-744. 10.17763/haer.81.4.t2k0m13756113566. Data-Driven Instruction

Data-Driven Writing Instruction + Consistent Feedback Effective feedback

According to research, allows students to improve their writing craft with the use of a rubric or checklist. We coach educators on developing rubrics and checklists that empower students to meet the expectations of the writing genre, task, or strategy that has been taught. We also believe that students should receive opportunities to show their understanding during individual lessons so that educators may collect data on students that will inform instruction.

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Milton Park, UK: Routledge. Hattie, J. (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximising Impact on Learning. Milton Park, UK: Routledge Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Wiggins, G. (2012). Seven keys to effective feedback, Educational Leadership, 70(1), 10-18.