SIM Writing Strategies Overview

for Charleston County Elementary Schools

Jocelyn Washburn

Director of Professional Development

University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning

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Debbie Higginbotham

SIM Professional Developer

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Pam Leitzell

SIM Professional Development Leader

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Session Objectives

• To participate in an overview of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM)
• To explore SIM Writing Strategies
• To consider connections to your current writing instruction and student needs

• University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning
• Strategic Instruction Model
• Evidence-based practices
• More than 40 years of research

The History of SIM

Goal: Students demonstrate appropriate achievement levels on state assessment tests and demonstrate real world content literacy

How does SIM Help Teachers and Students?

The Focus is on How to Learn

8 Stages of Instruction

Foundational to SIM Learning Strategies

•Pretest & Make Commitments

•Describe the Strategy

•Model

•Verbal Practice

•Controlled Practice and Feedback

•Advanced Practice and Feedback

•Post-test & Commitments

•Generalization

Progress Monitoring

Now, Let’s Talk About SIM Writing Strategies!

• What opportunities do students have to write in your class and what is the frequency?
• What are the various needs of your students?
• High achieving
• Average achieving
• Struggling with writing
• How is writing instruction differentiated to meet various needs?

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Meeting Students’ Needs

1. Spend more time writing.
2. Write on a computer.
3. Grammar instruction in isolation doesn’t work.

Education by the Numbers, 2014

Article summarizing research by Steve Graham

Three lessons from the science on how to teach writing…

SIM writing strategies series addresses these standards across the grade levels in a systematic and organized way.... one common approach

The sentence strategies mainly focus on the language (L) standards while paragraph and essay strategies focus mainly on Meaning, Context and Craft (MCC) standards. The whole series of writing strategies is broad and comprehensive enough to address it all.

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Connections to SC ELA K-8 Standards

South Carolina ELA K-8 Standards

Meaning, Context,

and Craft (MCC)

Language

(L)

• Standard 1: Write arguments to support claims.
• Standard 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information.
• Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.

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• Standard 4: Command of the conventions of standard English grammar.
• Standard 5: Command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

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Range and Complexity

(RC)

• Standard 6: Write independently, legibly, and routinely for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

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Start at the beginning …

Students use different types of words at a young age, but they need to learn the different roles that the words play in their sentences. They need to understand them.

INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE �FOR EACH LESSON

• Describe
• Model
• Verbal practice
• Guided practice
• Controlled practice & Feedback

Pam and Dan moved to the banana..

Pam and Dan moved to the new house..

S

S

V

Without effective instruction, many students continue to struggle with sentences throughout the grade levels.

They need to learn Fundamentals of Sentence Writing

They need to learn Proficiency in Sentence Writing

Sample Paragraph from 6th Grade Student.

We did lots of things on our vacation to Florida. They were a lot of fun. On the first day we went to the beach. We played in the waves and had a picnic. The next day we went shopping. We bought shirts and sandals and a pair of sunglasses. At the end we went snorkeling. We saw a lot of different types of fish. My vacation to Florida was fun.

Nine complete sentences:

all simple sentences with one subject and one verb.

Here is a paragraph using all complete, simple sentences.

Total Sentences = 8

Complicated Sentence = 6 (75%)

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The same paragraph using the types of complicated sentences that are taught in Proficiency in Sentence Writing.

Gradual Release

to Students

Step By Step Approach

Research has shown that students who receive instruction in the Sentence Writing Strategies

• Consistently produce 100% complete sentences.

• Include 40% more complicated sentences in their writing .

• Produce written products with more words and more sentence variety.

South Carolina ELA K-8 Standards

Meaning, Context,

and Craft (MCC)

Language

(L)

• Standard 1: Write arguments to support claims.
• Standard 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information.
• Standard 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.

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• Standard 4: Command of the conventions of standard English grammar.
• Standard 5: Command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

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Range and Complexity

(RC)

• Standard 6: Write independently, legibly, and routinely for a variety of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

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The Paragraph Writing Strategy

• Topic Sentences (3 Types)

Parts of a Paragraph

• Detail Sentences (2 Types)

Transitions

Point of View

Verb Tense

Paragraph Diagram

• Clincher Sentences (3 Types)

Concluding Transitions

• Whole Paragraphs

SCRIBE

Sequential

Descriptive

Narrative

Compare and Contrast

Teacher Manual

Table of Contents

Student Manual

Table of Contents

Detail Sentences

Detail Sentences

Tenses

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Whole Paragraphs

Posttest Sample

My Special Friend

Eric is very special to me. One reason Eric is special is that he is my best friend; he is always there for me. When I am upset, he listens and helps me solve my problems. In fact, Eric can always find a way to make me smile; he lifts my spirit when it is down. Another reason he is special is that he always shows me respect. He never forgets my feelings, and he often puts my feelings first. A third reason Eric is special is that he is a very kind person, and he spreads his kindness generously. He is always doing favors for people without being asked. To summarize, Eric is special because he is always there for me, respects my feelings, and is very kind.

Research has shown that students who

receive instruction in the Paragraph

Writing Strategy

• Consistently produce written products that contain Topic, Detail, and Clincher sentences

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• Sentences are written from a consistent point of view

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• Tense is consistent through-out

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• Ideas are logically sequenced

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• Appropriate transitions are included between ideas

How the Manual is Organized

STEPS OF THE EDIT STRATEGY

•Enter your first draft

•Do a SPELL Check

Select the correct option

Print out the document

Express each sentence

Look for homophone errors

Look for typos

•Interrogate yourself using the COPS questions

Capitalization questions

Overall appearance questions

Punctuation questions

Substance questions

•Type in Corrections and run the spellchecker

LESSONS 1 & 2

LESSON 3

Select the correct option

Print out the document

Express each sentence

Look for homophone errors

Look for typos

Research has shown that students who

receive instruction in the EDIT Strategy

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• Upon mastering the strategy,upper elementary and middle school students with learning disabilities were able to detect and correct 80 percent of the errors in a passage.

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• Prior to learning the strategy only 28 percent of the errors were detected and corrected.

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• Students who did not learn the strategy had five times more errors in their written work than students who learned the strategy.

• Demonstrate a lesson
• Class visit with feedback
• Group sessions
• One-to-one planning/problem-solving
• Electronic (email, videos…)

Instructional Coaching Options

Connections

If you decide to learn one or more of the SIM writing strategies, how will you implement the strategy with your current writing instruction?

What We Need for Our Journey

• Commitment
• Partnership Accountability
• Supportive Environment