Self-Regulated Strategy Development

In Writing

Kristin Crawford

May 2020

Kristin Crawford is currently a First Grade general education teacher at Conte Community School, where she has taught since 2018. Prior to that, Kristin was a special education paraprofessional in both fifth grade and preschool in the Pittsfield Public School District.

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Teaching Philosophy: Teaching embodies developing students as a whole person; creating relationships and providing all opportunities for success through a safe and nurturing environment.

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Kristin studied Early Childhood Education and Psychology at Elms College, graduating in 2012; obtaining with her MA license in Early Childhood PreK-2, with and without Disabilities in 2017. Currently, Kristin is pursuing her M.Ed. with a Reading Specialist Licensure through Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, to be completed in May 2020.

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When she is not teaching, Kristin enjoys reading psychological thrillers, the beach, and above all, spending time with her husband, three children, and their dog, Rex.

What is

Self-Regulated Strategy Development?

• 2018- I did my STUDENT TEACHING in a 2nd grade class of 15 students at a Title I school with with no writing block or curriculum.
• WHAT I HAD BEEN SEEING:
• Extremely reluctant writers
• No stamina
• Work avoidance
• Performing under grade level

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• AFTER INTRODUCING SRSD
• Students BEGGING for “10 more minutes” of writing!!!
• creating their own stories
• EXCITED and MOTIVATED and PROUD of themselves AND their writing
• Increased CONFIDENCE- sharing ideas, help each other
• After researching and observing first hand how SRSD encourages students I decided to begin implementing some of the research based strategies in my current first grade classroom
• It is the hope that this introductory professional development workshop can be utilized in my building next year in order to give my colleagues opportunities to see their students achieve as much success as writers as possible.

“An individual’s conceptualization of his or her own competency.”

(Schraw et al, 2006, cited by Tanner, 2012)

SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

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Adapted from Barak, 2010

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObbD-RP_iw

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• Writing - significant form of communication that is used throughout every aspect of one’s life
• includes the needs to plan, create, analyze, edit, revise

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According to studies done by the

National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP)

• Only ⅕ of high school seniors acquire the writing knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in adulthood

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• Poor results from the studies lead to
• educational reforms as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004
• Required teachers to use validated, research based instructional practices
• Such as SRSD

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(Tanner, 2012)

Receptive

Expressive

Oral Language

Written Language

Listening

Speaking

Reading

Writing

(Adapted from: CCSS, Appendix A. p. 26)

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While all language abilities are interconnected, writing is often taught independently before being integrated in classroom lessons.

• David B. Yaden studied kindergarteners (5 & 6 yr. olds)
• Findings:
• Some students were unable to distinguish letters from numbers or drawings from writing
• Students were very concerned with perfecting skills like how to hold the pencil, proper finger spaces, writing inside the lines, letter formation, and being neat.
• Students were less focused or interested in the content of their writing or what the answer to the question was.
• These findings are important because it shows students are not thinking about expressing or communicating their ideas.

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(Larkin, 2012)

RESEARCH:

I.

• Annette Karmiloff-Smith- empirical research in toddlers
• Pre-literate children are capable of distinguishing between markings such as drawings and letters.
• Most could explain which of their scribbles represented a drawing and which represented a name.
• It was also noted that children lifted their pencils more often when they “wrote” names.
• This is important to note because until children need to understand what the symbol represents- letters, sounds, words, ect.

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(Larkin, 2012)

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II.

• Metacognition (Karmiloff-Smith cont’d)
• Theory- Representational Redescription- 3 levels- “knowledge becomes more specific as a child progresses.” (Larkin, 2012)
• Level 2- Children are aware of what they know but they are unable to verbalize it
• Level 3- Children are both aware of their knowledge and are able to express it.

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• Shows students’ abilities to reflect on their use of the writing process, strategies, or self-monitoring.

III.

(Larkin, 2012)

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• According to John R. Hayes and Linda Flower suggested that writing is a 3 step process that occurs over and over.
• Planning - goal setting for purpose, generating ideas, organizing
• Translating - transforming ideas to written text
• Reviewing - evaluating, revising, rewriting
• Carl Bareiter and Marlene Scardamalia, authors of The Psychology of Written Composition built on Hayes and Flower’s ideas.
• Students often lose sight of their goal.
• Novice writers tell what they know, plan by making lists, and write in a linear fashion.
• Expert writers transform what they know and plan with a purpose and audience in mind.
• Important to use methods that allow for writers to be aware of the cognitive processes - such as think alouds.

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(Larkin, 2012)

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IV.

“The process of reflecting on our own thinking and keeping track of how our thinking is getting us closer to or further away from our goal.”

-John Flavell

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Metacognition and Writing

• Direct correlation between improved metacognition and academic success.

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• Metacognitive knowledge
• knowledge about different strategies, different cognitive tasks, and particularly accurate knowledge about themselves (Pintrinch, 2002, as cited by Tanner, 2012)
• Metacognitive experience
• a cognitive experience obtained from metacognitive knowledge that a person already has; such as being able to remember a problem-solving strategy. (Larkin, 2010)
• Metacognitive realization
• When students understand and can express how their learning has changed. (Tanner, 2012)

Effect Sizes

(Nickelsen & Nickelsen, 2019)

• Self- Regulation Strategies -

.52

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• Metacognitive Strategies -

.60

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J. Hattie, 2017

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• Self-Regulation Strategy Development-

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Average effect size of

1.4 or greater

on quality of students’ writing

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Santangelo, Harris, & Graham, 2008

• Model, Model, Model
• VTAK-
• Visual
• Tactile
• Auditory
• Kinesthetic

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• Reminders about self-talk and self-regulation
• Gradual release
• Purpose is for students to become good, independent writers

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The role of the teacher is to provide the instruction and tools but the goal is for students to learn how to go through this process independently and to have it become automatic.

Stages of Self-Regulation Strategy Development

Stage 1

Activate and Develop Background Knowledge (1-2 lessons)

1. Hype the genre- GET THEM EXCITED!!

2. Pre-assessment, develop background knowledge (skills, vocabulary)

3. Read and discuss models

4. Introduce strategy (mnemonic)

5. Introduce self-regulation (self-talk, goal-setting)

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Pre-Assess Gr. 3

• Anchor Charts
• Use What Students Already Know
• Mentor Texts
• Videos
• spencerauthor.com/10-video-writing-prompts/
• TedEd
• Flocabulary
• TV Commercials
• Current events
• NewsELA
• Scholastic News
• Classroom/School/Community events/issues

(Srsdonline.org)

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Stages of Self-Regulation Strategy Development

Stage 2: Discuss It (2 Lessons)

1. Use graphic organizers with models

2. Review and fix poor models

3. Build collaborative partnership

4. Discuss benefits of strategy use

5. Begin graphing student progress

6. Develop goals and self-talk statements

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TIDE Graphic Organizer

Goal Setting

Goal Setting Menu

(Srsdonline.org)

Stages of Self-Regulation Strategy Development

Stage 3:

Model It (2 Lessons)

1. Planning and writing using think-alouds

2. Collaboration

3. Personalization of self-talk statements

4. Practice self/peer scoring with rubrics

5. Practice graphing routines

6. Support goal-setting

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Go Beyond a Model

T.A. Recording Sheet

Think Aloud Ex.

(Srsdonline.org)

Stages of Self-Regulation Strategy Development

Stage 4:

Memorize It

1. Make sure strategy is memorized

2. Utilizing personalized self-statements

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Six Types of Self-talk Statements

KINESTHETIC MOVEMENTS

(Srsdonline.org)

Stages of Self-Regulation Strategy Development

Stage 5:

Support It (5-10 Lessons)

1. Continue collaborative writing experiences

2. Gradual release and differentiation of strategy and self-regulation (self-talk, goal setting, checking off steps in strategies, etc.) moving toward independence for those ready

3. Continued feedback on writing, self-regulation

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One on One

Small Group

Peer Review

(Srsdonline.org)

Stages of Self-Regulation Strategy Development

Stage 6:

Independent Performance (2-4 Lessons)

1. Independent use of strategies and self-regulation

2. Transition of goal-setting and self-assessment from external to internal

3. Recognizing the use of strategies and self-regulation in other situations

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(Srsdonline.org)

• POWer
• Pick topic/Pick apart a writing piece
• Organize thoughts and notes
• Write
• Edit
• Revise

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• WWWWhatHow
• Who? Where? When?
• What happens?
• How does it end?

This is for Narrative writing-- I typically begin by having them Pick Apart a Writing Piece so they have a model before moving into their own writing process.

First Grade and Second Grade (and up) rubric for Narrative Writing.

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• The difference is the 2 added steps in the 2nd Grade rubric--

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• What does the character want?
• How does the character feel?

Student Work

Writing personal narratives using SRSD in Second Grade!

My 2nd grade student teaching class!

2018

Writing personal narratives using SRSD in First Grade!

Unfortunately this year’s class only had one opportunity to utilize this writing process- it took a long time because it was important for them to be able to be successful in each step.

2019

2019

Student work- Pre-assessments, picking apart a writing piece, and graphic organizers

https://www.thinksrsd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Gr-1-WWWE-landscape-with-images-v2.pdf

Picking apart a story and

brainstorming ideas

Organizing ideas into WWWWhatHow Graphic Organizer

First teacher conference after writing the first draft.

Lots of conversation and question asking-- this particular conference was amazing because as she was telling me her story--it was expanding and the excitement in her kept growing --her hand couldn’t write as fast as her ideas were coming-- it was amazing!!

Second draft and revision- she self corrected first, then conferenced again with a teacher.

Final Product and Author’s Chair

This was our first (and sadly our last) Author’s Chair. This process was difficult and long but extremely rewarding! They were so proud to share their stories! Some students chose to not read in front of the class but they allowed me to read it instead-- everyone was beaming with pride and accomplishment!!

Next Steps:

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• Can you visualize SRSD in your classroom?
• Do you find that you already use some of these techniques or strategies?
• Try to implement this process for in your classroom. When we come back for the next session you will collaborate with other teachers about your observations.
• How did the students respond to these strategies? What is their feedback?
• How comfortable do you feel delivering them?
• What is the overall atmosphere during writing like? Has it changed? How?

References

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Barak, Moshe. (2010). Motivating self-regulated learning in technology education. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. 20. 381-401. 10.1007/s10798-009-9092-x.

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Boekaerts, M., & Corno, L. (2005). Self-Regulation in the Classroom: A Perspective on Assessment and Intervention. Applied Psychology,54(2), 199-231. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00205.x

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Common Core Standards Initiative. (2010). Common core state standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Appendix A, pg. 26.

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Free Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thinksrsd.com/free-resources-to-share/

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Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Writing better: Effective strategies for teaching students with learning difficulties. Baltimore: P.H. Brookes Pub.

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Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Mason, L. H., & Friedlander, B. (2008). Powerful writing strategies for all students. London: Paul H. Brookes.

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Larkin, S. (2010). Metacognition in young children. London: Routledge.

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Nickelsen, L. A., & Nickelsen, L. A. (2019, October 17). Relationship Game Changers: 8 Tools to Maximize Connections with All Students. Retrieved from https://maximizelearninginc.com/2019/10/7-powerful-actions-to-improve-relationships-with-your-students-2/

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Posey, A. (2018). Engage the brain: How to design for learning that taps into the power of emotion. Alexandria USA: ASCD.

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Santangelo, T., Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (2008). Using Self-Regulated Strategy Development to Support Students Who Have “Trubol Giting Thangs Into Werds”. Remedial and Special Education,29(2), 78-89. doi:10.1177/0741932507311636

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Schraw, Gregory & Crippen, Kent & Hartley, Kendall. (2006). Promoting Self-Regulation in Science Education: Metacognition as Part of a Broader Perspective on Learning. Research. 36. 111-139. 10.1007/s11165-005-3917-8.

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Tanner, K. D. (2012). Promoting Student Metacognition. CBE—Life Sciences Education,11(2), 113-120. doi:10.1187/cbe.12-03-0033

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“Writing to Learn.” SRSD Online, srsdonline.org/.

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YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/.

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