Teaching writing for keeps.

Teaching writing for keeps. Abstract Proficiency pro��fi��cien��cy?n. pl. pro��fi��cien��ciesThe state or quality of being proficient; competence.Noun 1. proficiency - the quality of having great facility and competence with written expression is critical for students'academic success. Unfortunately, writing presents a challenge for bothstudents and teachers. Recent data suggest that many students in U.S.schools fail to meet even the most basic writing standards. And evenwhen students receive effective (i.e., evidence-based) writinginstruction, they often struggle with the generalization gen��er��al��i��za��tionn.1. The act or an instance of generalizing.2. A principle, a statement, or an idea having general application. (i.e.,transfer) of skills to other writing tasks, genres, and purposes andwith maintaining skills over time. This article provides teachers withstrategies for promoting generalization of writing skills in each stageof the writing process: prewriting pre��writ��ing?n.The creation and arrangement of ideas preliminary to writing. , drafting, revising, editing, andpublishing. ********** Proficient pro��fi��cient?adj.Having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning.n.An expert; an adept. writing is critical for accomplishing many importanttasks in and out of school and throughout adulthood. In school, studentsmust use writing skills to achieve success across curricula. Forexample, in addition to compositions and literary analyses required byEnglish teachers English Teachers (airing internationally as Taipei Diaries) is a Canadian documentary television series. The series, which airs on Canada's Life Network and internationally, profiles several young Canadians teaching English as a Second Language in Taipei, Taiwan. , students are often required to produce science labreports, biographies of historical figures, essays comparing governmentsystems, and explanatory ex��plan��a��to��ry?adj.Serving or intended to explain: an explanatory paragraph.ex��plan reports of mathematical answer derivations.Written language demands increase proportional proportionalvalues expressed as a proportion of the total number of values in a series.proportional dwarfthe patient is a miniature without disproportionate reductions or enlargements of body parts. to grade level(Christenson, Thurlow, Ysseldyke, & McVicar, 1989; Polloway, Patton,& Cohen cohenor kohen(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , 1981), making it critical that younger students masterfoundation skills and older students build on those skills. Beyond theacademic purposes of writing are its benefits as a means ofself-expression (Mercer mer��cer?n. Chiefly BritishA dealer in textiles, especially silks.[Middle English, from Old French mercier, trader, from merz, merchandise, from Latin merx , 1997). Pennebaker (1997) determined thatwriting about emotional experiences can have a beneficial impact onphysical and mental health, including a reduction in the number ofphysician visits and self-reports of distress and/or depression. In itsexecutive summary, the National Commission on Writing (2005) recognizedwriting not only as a tool for learning but as a skill critical to anindividual's--and indeed society's--success. In today's climate of high-stakes accountability (e.g., NoChild Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB (IPA: /ˈnɪkəlbiː/), is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 , 2001), it is important to identify interventionsthat yield the greatest outcomes in critical academic areas, includingwritten expression. Unfortunately, writing is a challenge for bothstudents and teachers. The most recent results from the NationalAssessment of Educational Progress The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2002)revealed that 14% of 4th graders, 15% of 8th graders, and 26% of 12thgraders were not able to write at the Basic level. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. theNational Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies , the Basic Level"represents partial mastery of prerequisite pre��req��ui��site?adj.Required or necessary as a prior condition: Competence is prerequisite to promotion.n. knowledge and skills... Proficient represents solid academic performance, and Advancedrepresents superior performance" (Plisko, 2003, p. 1). The majorityof students who participated in this assessment did not reach theProficient level. Clearly, this is an area that needs attention.Fortunately, research in the area of written expression has identifiedinterventions that produce improved results (e.g, Expressive Writing:Englemann & Silbert, 1983; Reasoning and Writing; Englemann &Grossen, 2001; procedural facilitation FacilitationThe process of providing a market for a security. Normally, this refers to bids and offers made for large blocks of securities, such as those traded by institutions. : Graves, Montague, & Wong,1990; goal-setting: Graham, MacArthur, & Schwartz, 1995; cognitivestrategy instruction: Graham & Harris, 1989). Unfortunately, evenwith "effective" writing instruction, students struggle withthe generalization (i.e., transfer) of skills to other writing tasks,genres, and purposes and with maintaining skills over time (Graham &Harris, 1989; Graham, MacArthur, Schwartz, & Page-Voth, 1992; Troia,2002). Clearly, generalization of writing skills will not happenautomatically; teachers must plan and teach for generalized gen��er��al��izedadj.1. Involving an entire organ, as when an epileptic seizure involves all parts of the brain.2. Not specifically adapted to a particular environment or function; not specialized.3. outcomes andmust base instructional decisions on the "big ideas" forteaching writing. Big Ideas Big ideas are "instructional priorities" (Kame'enui& Simmons, 1999, p. 9) that serve as "anchoring conceptsthrough which 'small' ideas ... can be understood ... Bigideas make it possible for students to learn as much as they can and ...as efficiently as possible" (p. 10). Gersten and Baker (2001)reviewed the literature on teaching expressive writing to students withlearning disabilities. Findings from this meta-analysis indicate thatwriting programs should include (a) explicit teaching of the conventionsof a writing genre or text structure, (b) guided feedback (from teachersor peers), and (c) explicit instruction of the critical steps of thewriting process. These three instructional features might be consideredthe "big ideas" for teaching written expression skills tostudents who struggle with writing. The biggest of those big ideas isteaching the writing process. The Writing Process Isaacson (1989) describes two roles involved in writing, author andsecretary. When in the author role, the student writer is concerned withoriginating ideas, organizing thoughts, and arranging selected words andphrases Words and Phrases?A multivolume set of law books published by West Group containing thousands of judicial definitions of words and phrases, arranged alphabetically, from 1658 to the present. appropriately or effectively. When in the secretary role, thestudent writer is more concerned with the mechanics of writing (e.g.,using correct spelling, capitalization capitalizationn. 1) the act of counting anticipated earnings and expenses as capital assets (property, equipment, fixtures) for accounting purposes. 2) the amount of anticipated net earnings which hypothetically can be used for conversion into capital assets. , and punctuation punctuation[Lat.,=point], the use of special signs in writing to clarify how words are used; the term also refers to the signs themselves. In every language, besides the sounds of the words that are strung together there are other features, such as tone, accent, and ). The writingprocess approach recognizes the importance of both the author andsecretary roles. In this approach, students choose their own topics, write for realaudiences and purposes, and assume ownership as the motivation fordeveloping skills needed to effectively communicate (Graves, 1994). Theprocess approach is manifested in the work Donald H. Graves andexemplified by the writing workshop model popularized by Nancie Atwell(1987). The writing process approach emphasizes writing fluency flu��ent?adj.1. a. Able to express oneself readily and effortlessly: a fluent speaker; fluent in three languages.b. ,including techniques that improve a student's ability to get wordsdown on paper (Graves). It promotes frequent writing in contexts thatare meaningful and authentic to the students. This usually translates tostudents choosing their own topics and genres for their writtenexpression and the provision of authentic audiences, perhaps pen pals pen paln.A person with whom one becomes acquainted through a friendly, regular correspondence.pen palNounInformal same as pen friendNoun 1. orother purposeful pur��pose��ful?adj.1. Having a purpose; intentional: a purposeful musician.2. Having or manifesting purpose; determined: entered the room with a purposeful look. letter-writing. The reader is emphasized as both peersand teachers provide feedback, either in writing or in conferences(Atwell). The process approach encourages the use of the students'own writing as the instructional text for teaching the conventions ofprint (Atwell). In the process approach, a teacher cannot teach writingin the absence of student writing. The stages of the writing process are prewriting, drafting,revising, editing, and publishing (Ray, 2001). Due to the recursive See recursion. recursive - recursion nature of writing, these stages may overlap (Hayes & Flower, 1986).In the prewriting stage students plan and organize for their writing(e.g., brainstorming and creating graphic organizers Graphic organizers are visual representations of knowledge, concepts or ideas. They are known to help relieve learner boredom enhance recall provide motivation create interest clarify information assist in organizing thoughts ). During thedrafting stage, students create drafts of their writing pieces, perhapsmany. In the revising stage, teachers encourage their student writers tomake substantial improvements to the piece (i.e., the author role).Peers and others often provide feedback to the author during this stage.The student writer assumes the secretary role during the editing stage,focusing on correcting mechanical errors such as punctuation, spelling,and capitalization. The publishing stage can take many forms, rangingfrom submission for grading to literal In programming, any data typed in by the programmer that remains unchanged when translated into machine language. Examples are a constant value used for calculation purposes as well as text messages displayed on screen. In the following lines of code, the literals are 1 and VALUE IS ONE. publication. Again, students mayprogress through the stages linearly or they may return to previous ones(e.g., even after "publishing," a piece could go throughrevision), alternating between the author and secretary roles fluidly. During each stage of the writing process, teachers can implementinstruction that will increase the likelihood of generalized outcomes.For the following generalization strategies, we provide suggestions forenhancing the effectiveness of process writing instruction. Technology of Generalization According to Baer (1999), "no one learns a generalized lessonunless a generalized lesson is taught" (p. 2). For example, inwriting, when students learn to write a friendly letter, they do notautomatically know how to write a business letter--without being taught.Similarly, a student who has mastered narrative writing does notautomatically transfer those skills to writing poetry--withoutinstruction. A student who successfully writes an expository ex��po��si��tion?n.1. A setting forth of meaning or intent.2. a. A statement or rhetorical discourse intended to give information about or an explanation of difficult material.b. essay inOctober may not maintain that ability through June--without deliberateefforts to provide opportunities for practice with feedback. Stokes Stokes, William 1804-1878.British physician. Known especially for his studies of diseases of the chest and heart, he expanded on the observations of John Cheyne in describing the breathing irregularity now known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration. andBaer (1977) identified six strategies for promoting generalizedoutcomes: (a) aim for natural contingencies Contingencies (ISSN 1048-9851) is the bimonthly magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries, providing a large and diverse readership with general interest and technical articles on a wide range of issues related to the actuarial profession. of reinforcement reinforcement/re��in��force��ment/ (-in-fors��ment) in behavioral science, the presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the frequency of subsequent responses, whether positive to desirable events, or , (b) teachenough examples, (c) program common stimuli, (d) teach loosely, (e)program indiscriminable contingencies, and (f) teach self-management.This article will provide teachers with specific strategies for teachinggeneralization of writing skills in each stage of the writing process:prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Aim for Natural Contingencies of Reinforcement Newly acquired behaviors will only be maintained if they contactreinforcement. If new skills are reinforced in a variety of settings andsituations, increased generalization is likely. However, it is verydifficult if not impossible to indefinitely in��def��i��nite?adj.Not definite, especially:a. Unclear; vague.b. Lacking precise limits: an indefinite leave of absence.c. reinforce a student in allthe settings where the target behavior is desired. For this reason, itis most efficient to target and reinforce behaviors that meet withnatural contingencies of reinforcement. Natural contingencies ofreinforcement are those that can be relied upon in common settings. Forexample, in many classrooms, frequent teacher praise is an availablereinforcer reinforcer/re��in��forc��er/ (-in-for��ser) any stimulus that produces reinforcement, a positive r. being a desirable event strengthening responses preceding its occurrence and a negative r. for academic performance and social competence. Even inclassrooms where praise is scarce, research demonstrates that studentsmay access a reliable source of teacher praise by recruitingreinforcement (e.g., Alber, Heward, & Hippler, 1999; Connell, Carta,& Baer, 1993). For example, Glenn is very proud of a sentence he hasjust written in his journal. He recruits teacher praise by raising hishand, waiting for his teacher, and asking her, "How do you likethis sentence?" Glenn's recruiting behavior prompts theteacher to provide him with praise and feedback. Even though providingpraise is not really natural, it functions as a natural contingency contingencyn. an event that might not occur. ofreinforcement in many classrooms. Naturally reinforced behaviors areusually functional, age-appropriate, and valued by self and significantothers. For some individuals, reinforcement contingencies can become sopowerful they seem to operate automatically to promote generalizationand maintenance. This is called a behavior trap (Baer & Wolf, 1970).The following example illustrates how a behavior trap operates topromote generalized responding across settings and over time. WhenAntoine's older brother first taught him how to play a video game,Antoine had some difficulty operating the controls. Even though it wasfrustrating frus��trate?tr.v. frus��trat��ed, frus��trat��ing, frus��trates1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: , Antoine continued practicing because he liked to play withhis older brother (i.e., a natural contingency of reinforcement). Healso liked being able to control the screen animation. As Antoine becamemore proficient, his own success continued to function as a naturalreinforcer. Now, one year later, Antoine enjoys video games See video game console. so much thathe plays a new game until he "beats" it. Then he finds anothergame to master. Antoine is proficient with a wide range of video gamesat home, at his friends' houses, and at the arcade. If only it werethis easy to teach generalized writing skills! Obviously, the natural contingencies of reinforcement for writingare considerably more difficult to access, especially for strugglingwriters. For this reason, teachers should consider contriving behaviortraps that provide sufficient motivation for students to practice andextend their writing skills. For example, if a student is naturallyreinforced by X-Men comic books comic bookBound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories. The first true comic books were marketed in 1933 as giveaway advertising premiums. , one activity for using that reinforcerto promote writing skills is to have the student write captions or adialogue to accompany X-Men pictures. As proficiency increases, thedemands of each writing activity should also increase. For suggestionsabout how to design and implement behavior traps to increase academicsuccess, see Alber and Heward (1996). Each of the following sectionsdescribes how teachers can build natural contingencies of reinforcementinto writing activities in each stage of the writing process. Prewriting. During the prewriting stage, students make decisionsabout their topic, purpose, and audience. Then they plan and organizewhat they want to say and how they want to say it. In order to aim fornatural contingencies of reinforcement in the prewriting stage, studentsmust be highly motivated mo��ti��vate?tr.v. mo��ti��vat��ed, mo��ti��vat��ing, mo��ti��vatesTo provide with an incentive; move to action; impel.mo by their writing topics. Teachers can increasemotivation by encouraging students to select topics that are personallymeaningful. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example,students can be encouraged to brainstorm ideas about their favorite popstars, TV shows, or movies. Students may want to write letters toactors, musicians, or athletes; scripts for a TV show; or stories andpoems about real or fictional heroes. Students can also plan a "howto" paper describing the procedures for their favorite activity,hobby A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. Origin of termA hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, , or sport. For a favorite book, students may write an alternateending, an additional chapter, or a letter to a friend A Letter to a Friend (written 1656; published posthumously in 1690) , by the 17th century philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne is a medical treatise full of case-histories and witty speculations upon the human condition. from the point ofview of a character in the story. If students are reluctant to talkabout their interests, they can be observed during free choiceactivities to determine possible directions for their writtenexpression. Providing students with high interest story starters (e.g.,"It was the craziest day ever!"), visual stimuli (e.g., afamous painting), or personally relevant connections may stimulate moreinterest in the writing task. For example, students who enjoy drawingmay be interested in writing stories about their art work. In order toaim for natural reinforcement and increase motivation, students shouldbe able to choose from a variety of writing topics. Other ways to make prewriting a naturally reinforcing activity isallowing students to use computer technology. For example,Kidspiration[R] (www.kidspiration.com) is a software program thatprovides students with a means to visually organize their planningideas. To make planning more engaging and fun, Kidspiration[R] alsoenables students to insert pictures, sound bites sound biten.A brief statement, as by a politician, taken from an audiotape or videotape and broadcast especially during a news report: "The box has been spitting forth maddening nine-second sound bites", and video clips A short video presentation. .Research demonstrates the positive effects of computer assistedinstruction for struggling writers (e.g., MacArthur, 1996; MacArthur,2000). Students can use computer programs to create semantic See semantics. See also Symantec. maps or usethe internet to research a particular interest. Additionally, peers mayenjoy collaborating on ideas, brainstorming, and organizing planningnotes. Drafting. During the drafting stage, students focus on clearexpression of their ideas as they translate their planning notes intodraft form. The natural contingency of reinforcement may already bepresent if students are writing about a topic that is of high interestto them. Other motivational activities for the drafting stage includeallowing students to compose com��pose?v. com��posed, com��pos��ing, com��pos��esv.tr.1. To make up the constituent parts of; constitute or form: their writing at the computer, use afavorite pen, or co-write with a peer. Revising/editing. Motivating students to revise and edit their workcan be a formidable challenge. For many students, working with peers isa natural reinforcement contingency. Additionally, peer editing hasproduced positive outcomes on the quality of students' writtenexpression, especially for students who struggle with writing (Ammer,1998; Graham, Harris, MacArthur, & Schwartz, 1991; Saddler &Graham, 2005; Whittaker & Salend, 1991; Wong, Butler, Ficzere, &Kuperis, 1996, 1997). Students may exchange papers with a peer andprovide feedback to one another about what they liked and suggestionsfor improvement. After students are comfortable with working with onepeer, they can transition to working with a peer-editing group. Figure 1illustrates an example of a peer revising/editing feedback form thatpeer editors can complete after they listen to the student author readhis or her work. Prior to implementing any peer-assisted strategy,teachers should use clear directions, modeling, role-playing, and guidedpractice to teach students how to appropriately give and receiveconstructive feedback (e.g.,. Heron, Villareal, Yao, Christianson, &Heron, 2006; Maheady, Mallette, & Harper, 2006). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Teach Enough Examples As a general rule, the more examples of a target skill providedduring instruction, the more likely students will generalize generalize/gen��er��al��ize/ (-iz)1. to spread throughout the body, as when local disease becomes systemic.2. to form a general principle; to reason inductively. to untaughtexamples. In addition to teaching many examples, it is also necessary toselect the right examples. Horner, Williams, and Steveley (1987) use theterm "general case strategy" to refer to the selection ofteaching examples that represent the full range of situations andresponse requirements under which the learner must perform the skill. Aset of effective teaching examples can be developed after examining allvariations of the target skill required in each generalization setting.When making decisions about writing instruction, teachers shouldconsider the full range of audiences and writing tasks students willencounter. Selected teaching examples should be prioritized in order ofrelevance or usefulness to the student while taking into considerationmastery of prerequisite skills and likelihood of student success. Thefollowing are suggestions for teaching enough examples during thewriting process. Prewriting. During the prewriting stage, students can be taught toplan and organize their writing using a variety of graphic organizers,such as semantic maps to explore a concept, story maps to plan a fictionpiece, or a Venn diagram A graphic technique for visualizing set theory concepts using overlapping circles and shading to indicate intersection, union and complement. It was introduced in the late 1800s by English logician, John Venn, although it is believed that the method originated earlier. for compare/contrast compositions. Onekinesthetic kin��es��the��sia?n.The sense that detects bodily position, weight, or movement of the muscles, tendons, and joints.[Greek k graphic organizer involves using an 8 1/2" x 11"sheet of lined or unlined paper for organizing prewriting (see Figure2). The student is taught to fold the paper into four squares, whichrepresent paragraphs. They then unfold unfold - inline the paper and in landscapeformat, fold down two small strips, one at the top of the page, theother at the bottom. These provide space for an introduction and aconclusion. Students are taught to write two, three, or four topics inthe resulting squares and jot down Verb 1. jot down - write briefly or hurriedly; write a short note ofjotwrite - communicate or express by writing; "Please write to me every week" potential supporting details for eachin the appropriate square. They then come up with an idea for startingtheir paper (i.e., the thesis statement A thesis statement is a focused selection of text that can be anywhere from just one sentence to a few pages in size that clearly delineates the argument that will be taken in a proposed paper to be written. ) and write it in the top stripand reword re��word?tr.v. re��word��ed, re��word��ing, re��words1. a. To change the wording of.b. To state or express again in different words.2. it in the bottom strip. Drafting. Using several examples of different graphic organizers,teachers can show students how to translate their planning notes intotext. As a whole class activity, teachers can use the chalkboard, chartpaper, overhead projector, or "smart board" to guide studentsin creating a graphic organizer. Then the teacher can demonstrate how towrite sentences and paragraphs from the graphic organizer. Whole-classplanning and drafting can be used to demonstrate a range of writingtasks, topics, and purposes. Hillocks (1984) concluded that using models in writing can havemoderate effects. If students know what they are "shootingfor" they may be better able to produce the desired product. Giventhat using only models without other writing instruction producedmoderate effects at best, for most favorable fa��vor��a��ble?adj.1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds.2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis.3. outcomes teachers shouldprovide writing models in combination with other empirically validated val��i��date?tr.v. val��i��dat��ed, val��i��dat��ing, val��i��dates1. To declare or make legally valid.2. To mark with an indication of official sanction.3. practices such as explicit instruction (e.g., Walker, Shippen Ship´penn. 1. A stable; a cowhouse. , Alberto,Houchins, & Cihak, 2005) and self-regulated strategy development(e.g., Graham, Harris, & Mason, 2005). It may be useful to showmodels of a correctly paragraphed paper or a paper with exemplary topicsentences and corresponding detail/support sentences. For example, whenteaching students to write interesting "hooks" (i.e., storybeginnings), choose several compelling first sentences from shortstories and/or novels and show them to students. Have students discusswhether they would want to keep reading after reading these firstsentences. Revising/editing. Provide brief and frequent direct instruction ofmechanics by teaching 5-10 minute mini-lessons (Atwell, 1987). This willhelp students acquire the range of complex skills required for effectivewriting. Examine students' writing samples to determine the typesof errors they are typically making. Then sequence the error types byhow frequently they occur. At the beginning of the writing period,provide direct instruction of the editing skill needed to address thoseerrors. After the mini-lesson, prompt the students to edit for thatparticular error during writers' workshop. The mini-lesson is anefficient way to teach a wide range of writing skills. In order todetermine mastery of a particular editing skill, assess generalizationusing untaught examples. This means assessing students' use of theskills in other parts of their essays or in subsequent writing. Program Common Stimuli Generalized responding is more likely to occur in settings andsituations that have similar features to the instructional environment.When programming common stimuli to promote generalization, teachers mustidentify the common features of each setting where the target skill isrequired. These common features should be incorporated into instructionso that they may function as cues for the target behavior. For example,when van den Pol et al. (1981) taught students with disabilities to makepurchases in fast food restaurants, the common features incorporatedinto instruction included a mock <noinclude></noinclude>Wikipedia does not currently have an encyclopedia article for .You may like to search Wiktionary for "" instead.To begin an article here, feel free to [ edit this page], but please do not create a mere dictionary definition. counter, signs with menu items, andphotographic slides of actual restaurant scenes. Common features ofwritten expression that can be programmed into writing instruction mayinclude the following: writing left-to-right and top-to-bottom, writingwithin the lines on the paper, and writing headings in the appropriateplace. In fact, teaching students to approach writing as a process(i.e., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) is ageneral case strategy. Teachers can also contrive con��trive?v. con��trived, con��triv��ing, con��trivesv.tr.1. To plan with cleverness or ingenuity; devise: contrive ways to amuse the children.2. a common stimulus for students to carryto a variety of settings. For example, a student who has difficultyremembering the algorithm for long division can tape a card to hernotebook that lists and illustrates each step. When she works on longdivision at home or in study hall, she may refer to the card as thecommon stimulus to prompt generalized computation Computation is a general term for any type of information processing that can be represented mathematically. This includes phenomena ranging from simple calculations to human thinking. skills. Teachers canprogram common stimuli for written expression skills in the followingways. Prewriting. Common stimuli can be programmed in prewriting byteaching students a consistent procedure for planning and organizingtheir ideas across a range of writing assignments (e.g., brainstorming,selecting and sequencing ideas, determining purpose and audience, etc.).In order to make the common stimuli transportable, students can make alaminated laminated/lam��i��nat��ed/ (-nat?ed) having, composed of, or arranged in layers or laminae. laminatedmade up of laminae or thin layers. card that illustrates the steps for planning and organizing awriting topic. The card can be taped to a journal or writing notebookthat the student carries among classrooms and between home and school.Table 1 shows examples of mnemonic Pronounced "ni-mon-ic." A memory aid. In programming, it is a name assigned to a machine function. For example, COM1 is the mnemonic assigned to serial port #1 on a PC. Programming languages are almost entirely mnemonics. strategies for planning, drafting,and revising/editing for different types of writing tasks. Thestrategies TREE (Graham & Harris, 1989), STOP (De La Paz La Paz, city, BoliviaLa Paz(lä päs), city (1992 pop. 713,378), W Bolivia, administrative capital (since 1898) and largest city of Bolivia. The legal capital is Sucre. &Graham, 1997), and PLAN (De La Paz, 1999) can be used as common stimuliduring the prewriting stage. Drafting. When students move to the drafting stage, the followingcommon stimuli may be useful: a dictionary or thesaurus, word banks ofcommonly misspelled words, and index cards with sample transition words Transition words allows one to write smooth changes in one's line of thinking; thus simple sentences give light to compound sentences, complex sentences and long paragraphs. and phrases (De La Paz, 1999). Students can also refer to a list ofsuggestions for creating a draft (e.g., use action verbs and adjectives,if you get stuck go to another part of the paper, write the introductionlast, etc.). WRITE (De La Paz, 1999) and DARE (De La Paz & Graham,1997) are writing strategies for the drafting stage that can function ascommon stimuli (see Table 1). Revising/editing. When students revise their work, they can beprovided with a check list indicating each type of error they look forwhen they edit (e.g., capitalization, punctuation, subject-verbagreement, use of commas). The checklist can be laminated and attachedto each student's writing folder In a graphical user interface (GUI), a simulated file folder that holds data, applications and other folders. Folders were introduced on the Xerox Star, then popularized on the Macintosh and later adapted to Windows and Unix. In Unix and Linux, as well as DOS and Windows 3. . Students can use an erasable e��ras��a��ble?adj.1. Capable of being erased: erasable ink.2. Capable of producing something that can be erased: an erasable pen. marker to check off each editing task, and reuse reuse - Using code developed for one application program in another application. Traditionally achieved using program libraries. Object-oriented programming offers reusability of code via its techniques of inheritance and genericity. the laminated checklistfor any writing assignment. Having a peer buddy help provide feedbackcan also function as common stimuli. Students can be taught the acronym acronym:see abbreviation. A word typically made up of the first letters of two or more words; for example, BASIC stands for "Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. COPS as a reminder to check for correct capitalization, overallapperaance, punctuation, and spelling). Teach Loosely When programming common stimuli, the intention is for criticalaspects of the environment to acquire functional control over targetbehaviors. However, sometimes non-critical stimuli will have the sameeffect. For example, if a student will not write because he has thewrong kind of paper, his generalization has become limited by anirrelevant stimulus. For this reason, it is necessary to teach loosely.Teaching loosely is systematically varying the non-critical aspects ofthe environment during instruction (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007).Examples of non-critical stimuli that can be varied across each stage ofthe writing process include noise level, lighting, aromas Aromas may refer to: Odors, particularly pleasant ones, or Aromas, California, or Aromas, Jura, one of the 545 communes of the Jura d��partement, in France , color andtype of materials, people present during instruction, and the time ofday for writing activities. Additionally, the following non-criticalstimuli can be varied for each stage. Prewriting. During prewriting, the media for planning writing ideascan be varied. For example, students may record their brainstormingnotes and graphic organizers on the chalkboard, chart paper, variouskinds of note paper, index cards, and the computer (e.g., Inspiration[R]software). Prewriting can also take different forms. For one writingactivity, students can create an outline. For another, students maycomplete a graphic organizer. For yet another, they may complete a webor idea map. The teacher can alternate leading the group in prewriting(e.g., organized brainstorming) or allowing the students to prewritewith partners or in group; and on some occasions, students prewritealone. Drafting. During the drafting stage, the writing instruments can bevaried. Students may use various kinds of pens and pencils, or they maywrite at different kinds of computers. The location of the room wherestudents write can also be varied. In addition to writing at their owndesks, students can write at a table with a group of students, or moveto a writing center that is set up in the classroom. Students should also become proficient at writing in differentgenres. Often times, young students become quite adept at writingnarratives because many of their writing opportunities involve writingabout their own experiences. Teaching students the different formswriting can take (e.g., letter, expository, compare-contrast,persuasive) allows them to move more fluidly among the differentpurposes of writing. Revision/editing. Students can work with different students in peerediting groups. After reviewing three studies, Hayes and Flower (1986)determined that writers have difficulty finding errors in their owntexts because their familiarity with their own writing prevented themfrom easily seeing the faults, whereas readers with little or no priorknowledge could more easily spot the problems. The size and members ofthe groups as well as group leaders should be varied. The type offeedback can be written or verbal. Another variation may be to assignsome proficient writers to provide individual assistance at an editingstation in the classroom. Program Intermittent intermittent/in��ter��mit��tent/ (-mit��ent) marked by alternating periods of activity and inactivity. in��ter��mit��tentadj.1. Stopping and starting at intervals.2. and Delayed Reinforcement Students often fail to generalize because the reinforcementcontingencies are different in the teaching and generalization settings.For example, when Rita is in the special education classroom, she getspraise after every sentence she writes and sometimes she gets a sticker.When she's in the regular classroom, the teacher praises her aftershe writes about five to seven sentences--but Rita often only writesthree or four. Rita's mother works in the evening, so when Ritacompletes her homework (which is about 50% of the time), sometimes hermother praises her the next morning, but sometimes she forgets. In orderto prepare students to function in a world of unpredictablereinforcement, teachers can program intermittent and delayedreinforcement into instruction. At first, when acquiring a new skill, students should be reinforcedcontinuously (i.e., after every response). After a predetermined pre��de��ter��mine?v. pre��de��ter��mined, pre��de��ter��min��ing, pre��de��ter��minesv.tr.1. To determine, decide, or establish in advance: levelof mastery is attained, the teacher should gradually begin to deliverreinforcement so that it is intermittent and unpredictable. Programmingdelayed rewards (e.g., getting a prize for behaviors emitted earlierthat day or week) may also promote generalization, as long as thestudent can make the connection between the behavior and the reward. Thefollowing are ways to program unpredictable reinforcement contingencieswhen teaching written expression. Prewriting. During prewriting, provide students with frequent andintermittent praise or tangible reinforcement (e.g., stickers, tokens)for engaging in and staying on task during planning time. Additionally,intermittent and delayed reinforcement can be provided for completingplanning sheets. In order to make the reinforcement unpredictable,teachers can randomly select names out of a hat to determine whichplanning sheets will be assessed for completion. Then either individualor group rewards can be delivered. When students are working with apartner, they can also be intermittently in��ter��mit��tent?adj.1. Stopping and starting at intervals. See Synonyms at periodic.2. Alternately containing and empty of water: an intermittent lake. reinforced for appropriateinteractions with peers, making good contributions, and collaborating onideas. Drafting. Rewards and tickets can also be delivered for on-taskbehavior during the writing stage. The following procedure can be usedto program for intermittent reinforcement. During writing time, play arecording of intermittent tones that sound every few minutes. Ifstudents have written a certain number of words each time they hear thetone, they receive a sticker or token. As students become more fluent fluent/flu��ent/ (floo��int) flowing effortlessly; said of speech. ,gradually extend the time between each tone so that students mustpersevere per��se��vere?intr.v. per��se��vered, per��se��ver��ing, per��se��veresTo persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. in the writing process in order to receive the reward. This isespecially useful for students with written expression disabilities whotend to write much less than their typical peers (Newcomer &Barenbaum, 1991). Revising/editing. Unpredictable reinforcement can be used duringthe editing/revision stage in the following way. Teachers can randomlyselect one skill to assess for each student's written expression.For example, if a teacher selects "transition sentences," thenstudents who appropriately used transition sentences in their paperswill earn a reward. This approach has the added benefit of increasedefficiency with teacher feedback. Using selective grading, teachers canprovide more writing opportunities without the onerous on��er��ous?adj.1. Troublesome or oppressive; burdensome. See Synonyms at burdensome.2. Law Entailing obligations that exceed advantages. task of so muchgrading (Heward, Heron, Gardner, & Prayzer, 1991). Teach Self-Management Teaching self-management is probably one of the most effectivestrategies for programming generalized outcomes. Students can learn toselect their own goals, self-prompt important behaviors in a variety ofsettings, and self-regulate their performance. Self-management enablesstudents to function more independently with a range of skills in avariety of situations and over time. One approach to teaching writing that incorporates self-managementis the self-regulated strategy development model (SRSD SRSD self-regulated strategy developmentSRSD Southern Regional School District , Harris, Schmidt,& Graham, 1998), which includes six instructional strategies: (a)develop and activate background knowledge, (b) introduce the strategy(see Table 1), (c) model the strategy, (d) have students memorize mem��o��rize?tr.v. mem��o��rized, mem��o��riz��ing, mem��o��riz��es1. To commit to memory; learn by heart.2. Computer Science To store in memory: thestrategy, (e) support students' strategy use, and (f) provideopportunities for independent performance. To date, there have been morethan 20 studies documenting the effectiveness of SRDS SRDS Symposium on Reliable Distributed SystemsSRDS Standard Rate and Data ServiceSRDS Shop Repair Data Sheets to teach writingstrategies (Harris et al.). The following are suggested ways to teachself-management throughout the writing process. Prewriting. Teach students to keep their writing ideas and goals ina binder binder:see combine. An earlier Microsoft Office workbook file that let users combine related documents from different Office applications. The documents could be viewed, saved, opened, e-mailed and printed as a group. or file folder. They can organize their ideas by category andsequence them according their interest level in the topic. Higherinterest writing assignments can be selected first. For bigger writingprojects (e.g., a term paper), students can create a time line thatshows the date for when they plan to complete each step (e.g., decide ona topic, research the topic, create an outline, write a first draft,etc.). Drafting. Students can be taught to self-monitor and record thenumber of words they write during each class writing session (e.g.,Moxley & Lutz, 1995). Teach students to record their writingperformance on a graph so they can clearly see their own progress. Aswriting fluency improves, students will see their own improvements andmay become more motivated to continue to increase their proficiency. Thewriting graphs can also provide students with a basis for goal setting.In addition to recording the number of words written per day or week,students can also record the amount of time spent on writing outside ofschool. Revising/editing. Students can self-monitor their revising andediting by using some of the strategies described above in programmingcommon stimuli, such as keeping a self-evaluation checklist. Studentscan also use a self questioning strategy to self-assess the quality ofthe content. For example, students may learn to ask themselves some ofthe following questions: Have I capitalized CapitalizedRecorded in asset accounts and then depreciated or amortized, as is appropriate for expenditures for items with useful lives longer than one year. the first word of everysentence? Did I remember to use a comma after every item in a series? Publishing In terms of promoting generalized outcomes, publishingopportunities can be a form of unpredictable reinforcement and cansample a range of venues. Ultimately, however, publication is a naturalcontingency of reinforcement. Publishing is the culminating experienceof the writing process in which students have an opportunity to see theeffects of their writing on real audiences. Publication is a celebrationof student success. Although it is not necessary for every writing piece to bepublished, students should learn to produce polished versions of theirwork. The emphasis in this stage of the writing process should be toimprove the appearance, ease of reading, and pride in authorship.Examples of ways to publish student writing include reading the storyaloud in an author's chair; constructing books complete withillustrations to display in the classroom; displaying compositions onclassroom or hallway bulletin boards; submitting student work tochildren's magazines or websites; and creating a classroomnewspaper, newsletter, or website. Many students, especially those with writing deficits, lackmotivation to write. Even students who like to write often have littleinterest in editing and revising their work. Reluctant writers can bemotivated to revise and polish their work by providing them frequentopportunities to be published. Publication is an effective way to givestudent writing a communicative com��mu��ni��ca��tive?adj.1. Inclined to communicate readily; talkative.2. Of or relating to communication.com��mu purpose and can be an excellent tool formotivating students to engage in the writing process (MacArthur,Schwartz, & Graham, 1991). When students with disabilities wereassigned as��sign?tr.v. as��signed, as��sign��ing, as��signs1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection.2. meaningful writing tasks which resulted in publication, theymade greater gains in their narrative and informative writing(MacArthur, Graham, Schwartz, & Schafer 1995; MacArthur et al.,1991). Many children may not like to write, but, in general, they liketo be published. Motivation Both teaching and learning writing skills require sustained effort.The strategies described previously, especially under "Aim forNatural Contingencies of Reinforcement," address studentmotivation. In the context of the big ideas in writing, teachingstudents the text structures influences their confidence whenapproaching a given writing task; facilitating collaboration among peersutilizes the already existing contingency of reinforcement available inthe classroom; and helping students see writing as a process thatculminates in a "published" piece may inspire perseverance PerseveranceSee also Determination.Ainsworthredid dictionary manuscript burnt in fire. [Br. Hist.: Brewer Handbook, 752]Call of the Wild, Thedogs trail steadfastly through Alaska’s tundra. [Am. Lit. tothe end product. Add to this voice in topic selection, and teachers haveat their command a variety of tools that may effectively motivatestudents to persist through the writing process. But what about teachers in this process? How do we sustain theirefforts? Writing instruction is as complicated a task as writing itself.Further, the guided feedback that is required for effective instruction(Gersten & Baker, 2001) can be time-consuming and tedious. Aswriting teachers know, grading every aspect of every student'spaper would leave little time for the other responsibilities required ofa busy classroom teacher. Heward et al. (1991) offer selective gradingas a strategy to address both of these issues. Selective gradingessentially allows for the assessment of either fewer students'pieces or only parts of all students' papers. For example, if Ms.Saguka is emphasizing topic sentences with her fourth grade languagearts language artspl.n.The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. class, she may choose to grade and provide feedback on allstudents' papers but only addressing whether students wroteeffective topic sentences. If Mr. Miguel is teaching his first gradershow to punctuate punc��tu��ate?v. punc��tu��at��ed, punc��tu��at��ing, punc��tu��atesv.tr.1. To provide (a text) with punctuation marks.2. sentences, he may randomly select a portion of hisclass' papers to assess whether they are using end punctuationmarks correctly. For an even more efficient process, these two forms ofselective grading can be combined, further reducing the aversive aversive/aver��sive/ (ah-ver��siv) characterized by or giving rise to avoidance; noxious. a��ver��siveadj. natureof grading by saving time and effort. Reducing grading time mightencourage teachers to provide more practice opportunities for studentsto write. Another practical assessment strategy is the use of short, timedwriting periods (e.g., 3-5 minutes). This not only helps studentsdevelop fluency, but it provides the teacher with a snapshot (1) A saved copy of memory including the contents of all memory bytes, hardware registers and status indicators. It is periodically taken in order to restore the system in the event of failure.(2) A saved copy of a file before it is updated. of writingperformance (Espin, de La Paz, Scierka, & Roelofs, 2005). Assessingshort writing samples is less time-consuming than assessing a productthat has gone through the entire process. However, students must alsohave ample opportunities to progress through the writing process. Assuch, students may choose from among these short writing samples and usetheir ideas as a launch into the prewriting stage for a more developedpiece. Conclusion Written expression is difficult to teach because it is the mostcomplex form of communication; however, it is critical because it is acommon mode of communication. Expressing oneself in writing requiressynthesis of a myriad Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 104 = 10000. In modern English the word refers to an unspecified large quantity.The term myriad is a progression in the commonly used system of describing numbers using tens and hundreds. of complex component skills. It is virtuallyimpossible to teach writing for every situation students will encounter;every writing task is a generalization task. Therefore, teachers mustdeliberately plan and teach for generalized outcomes. Using the sixstrategies for promoting generalization in combination with the writingprocess, teachers can increase the extent to which students generalizetheir writing skills. Acknowledgement The title was adapted from a course taught at The Ohio StateUniversity Ohio State University,main campus at Columbus; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1870, opened 1873 as Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, renamed 1878. There are also campuses at Lima, Mansfield, Marion, and Newark. by William L. Heward called "Teaching for Keeps." References Alber, S. R., & Heward, W. L. (1996). "Gotcha (jargon, programming) gotcha - A misfeature of a system, especially a programming language or environment, that tends to breed bugs or mistakes because it both enticingly easy to invoke and completely unexpected and/or unreasonable in its outcome. !"Twenty-five behavior traps guaranteed to extend your students'academic and social skills. Intervention in School and Clinic, 31,285-289. Alber, S. R., Heward, W. L., & Hippler, B. J. (1999). Teachingmiddle school students with learning disabilities to recruit positiveteacher attention. 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L., Butler, D. L., Ficzere, S. A., & Kuperis, S.(1997). Teaching adolescents with learning disabilities and lowachievers to plan, write, and revise compare-and-contrast essays.Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 12, 2-15. Sheila R. Alber-Morgan The Ohio State University Terri Hessler The Ohio State University, Newark Moira Konrad The Ohio State University Correspondence to Sheila R. Alber-Morgan, School of PAES PAES Positron-Induced Auger Electron Spectroscopy (also abbreviated PIAES), SpecialEducation Program, 305 W. 17th Ave., The Ohio State University,Columbus, OH 43210; e-mail: Morgan.651@osu.edu.IntroductionMy favorite pet is Sniffles, my dog.Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2- had since a puppy - eats special dog food- bought from the animal shelter - diabeticParagraph 3 Paragraph 4- lives in house- sleeps in my room- has a cageConclusionSniffles is a part of our family. I love Sniffles.Figure 2. Folding paper graphic organizer.Table 1 Mnemonic Strategies Across the Writing Process Revising/Mnemonic Strategy Prewriting Drafting EditingTREE (Graham & Harris, 1989) X XDevelop Topic sentenceNote Reasons to support premiseExamine the soundness of each supporting reasonNote an Ending for the paperSTOP (De La Paz & Graham, 1997) X XSuspend judgmentTake a sideOrganize ideasPlan more as you writePLAN (De La Paz, 1999) XPay attention to the promptList main ideasAdd supporting ideasNumber your ideasWRITE (De La Paz, 1999) XWork from your plan to develop your thesis statementRemember your goalsInclude transition words for each paragraphTry to use different kinds of sentencesExciting, interesting wordsDARE (De La Paz & Graham, 1997) XDevelop your topic sentenceAdd supporting ideasReject possible arguments for other sideEnd with a conclusionCOPS (Schumaker, Nolan, & Deschler, X 1985)CapitalizationOverall appearancePunctuationSpelling