Designating Time for Writing and Writing instruction Across the School Day

Writing: The Forgotten "R" in Literacy Instruction

Writing is critical to the educational and academic success of students. Throughout K-12, teachers ask students to compose texts to demonstrate, support, and deepen their knowledge and understanding of themselves, their relationships, and their worlds (Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004; Graham & Perin, 2007a, 2007b; Keys, 2000; Shanahan, 2009; Sperling & Freedman, 2001). Students’ competence with such writing tasks aids their performance on statewide assessments, such as CMAS, in writing and other learning domains (e.g., Graham & Hebert, 2011; Jenkins, Johnson, & Hileman, 2004; Reeves, 2000). Even in postsecondary, colleges and universities use student writing to evaluate applicants’ qualifications for admission, and proficient writing is expected for completion of a college degree (National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges, 2003, 2004, 2005; Smith, 2000). Therefore, teachers and school and district leaders in Colorado should pay particular attention to the skills identified in Grade Level Expectations (GLE) in Standard 3: Writing and Composition in the Colorado Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, and Communicating.  Our younger writers will benefit from direct or explicit instruction in conventions to develop a written vocabulary, command over syntactical structures and rich sentences, logical ordering of sentences in paragraphs, and effective paragraphing. Our older writers will benefit from building upon foundational knowledge and skills in writing to convey thoughts and opinions, describe ideas and events, and analyze information. Writing instruction should move back and forth between “whole to part” and “part to whole”; that is, students should understand the concept of a larger piece of writing (e.g., a book, a brochure, an essay, a narrative) and the parts that comprise the piece of writing (e.g., word choice, varied sentence lengths and structure, order of ideas presented).

Providing Time for Writing in the Elementary Classroom

According to the CEEDAR Center, "When students spend more time in sustained writing activities and/or write more frequently, they have greater opportunities to practice their writing skills and strategies for composing. Such massed and distributed practice occasions can lead to improvements in writing performance, especially when accompanied by strong writing instruction (Troia, 2014, p.13). Given that it is often the case that too little time is devoted to writing in school, any effort to increase the overall time students engage in writing in and out of school is likely to be beneficial (Knudson, 1989; Raphael, Englert, & Kirschner, 1986). 

The IES What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide for Teaching Elementary School Students to be Effective Writers offers the following recommendation: 

Recommendation: Provide daily time for students to write.

The panel recommends a minimum of one hour a day devoted to writing for students, beginning in 1st grade. The hour should include at least 30 minutes dedicated to teaching a variety of writing strategies, techniques, and skills appropriate to students’ levels. The remaining 30 minutes should be spent on writing practice, where students apply the skills they learned from writing-skills instruction. Time for writing practice can occur in the context of other content-area instruction. In science, for example, lab reports require detailed procedural writing and clear descriptions of observations. Students also can write imaginary diary entries of people from the time period they are studying in social studies. Additionally, students can write before, during, and/or after reading, to articulate what they already know, what they want to know, and what they learned. When teachers integrate writing tasks with other content-area lessons, students may think more critically about the content-area material.

*For students in kindergarten, at least 30 minutes each day should be devoted to writing and developing writing skills. 

Potential roadblocks and solutions: 

There is not enough time in the school day to devote an hour each day to writing instruction. Therefore, teachers should integrate writing and content-area instruction wherever possible in order to maximize instructional time and give students more writing practice. The panel recognizes that educators face limited time and a number of conflicting priorities in each school day; however, it is important for teachers to provide as much time as possible for writing instruction and in-class composing. In fact, teachers can use writing to augment instruction in other subject areas. For example, if students are learning to interpret graphs in math, teachers can present students with a graph from a recent newspaper and ask them to write a paragraph about what the graph is trying to convey. This exercise encourages students to think carefully and critically about how effectively the graph conveys information, and at the same time, it gives students an opportunity to apply and practice writing strategies and skills. 

Providing Time for Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Writing in the secondary classroom poses challenges due to the variations in bell schedules (e.g., 45, 58, 75, 90 minute classes) and classroom sizes; however, research does indicate that a consistent commitment to writing across the curriculum and in all content/subject areas increases student literacy achievement. Similar to the recommendation for elementary students, increase in daily time for secondary students to write should occur throughout the day. In a research study conducted by the Learning Agency Lab, the findings, which includes an analysis of NAEP data, state the following: 

• Students are not spending enough time on persuasive writing. The ability to write persuasively is critical for students as they move through college and into their careers. What’s more, understanding how to craft an argument is an essential part of engaging with other people,and argument-based discourse is highly common (i.e. social media debates, opinion articles, politics, etc.). Additionally, many of the elements of persuasive writing are present in other forms of writing. Consider research papers, where the writer is asked to form a hypothesis and explain how their research proves or disproves their hypothesis. This form of writing is inherently an argument. Despite this fact, 15 percent of eighth-grade students and 13 percent of twelfth-grade students reported writing persuasively every week. In comparison, more than a quarter of eighth-grade students, and more than a third of twelfth-grade students said that they write to explain every week. This is corroborated by teacher reports on how often they ask students to write persuasively. Only 13 percent of eighth-grade teachers ask their students to write persuasively weekly. In comparison, 38 percent ask their students to write to explain, and 39 percent ask their students to write to convey information every week. This data displays a large gap in the types of writing teachers assign to their students. While writing for different purposes is crucial for students to become more effective.
• Most students don’t write enough on other subjects like social studies. Historically writing and writing instruction are primarily associated with English language arts courses, even though most disciplines require writing in some form. Whether it is to inform, explain, or persuade, writing pushes students to sort through their thoughts and clearly present them. For this reason, writing across the curriculum can serve as an effective way for students to display their knowledge on a topic. It can also serve as a way for teachers to assess any gaps that may exist for their students. This is especially true in subjects like science and math. A student can memorize multiplication tables and still not have a conceptual understanding of what is multiplication. If students are asked to explain multiplication in writing, this could provide the teacher with insights into a student’s understanding. Despite this fact, it appears that little time is spent writing in other subjects.

In math classes, 84 percent of eighth-graders and 68 percent of twelfth graders spend less than 30 minutes writing per week. 82 percent of eighth-graders and 68 percent of twelfth graders write less than 30 minutes a day in their social studies class. In science classes, 86 percent of eighth-graders and 60 percent of twelfth graders spend less than 30 minutes writing. As mentioned before, writing requires a lot of practice, but that practice should not be limited to students' English language arts classes or a designated reading or writing block. If students are writing across the curriculum, they learn to write for different contexts and audiences. This is referred to as disciplinary literacy, which not only anchors the Colorado Academic Standards, but is also an evidence-based practice that improves outcomes in writing as well as reading, speaking, listening, and critical thinking and increases the amount of time students spend writing daily. Essentially, there should be more consistency in how much time is spent writing for various purposes. The disparity seen in the recent release of CMAS, PSAT, and SAT state assessments is not indicative of our students' ability or inability to read at grade level solely, but to read and write at grade level, and a limited amount of time that students spend writing overall limits their their literacy and language proficiency as measured by standards. 

• Research has established that grammar instruction does not improve writing outcomes; still, Black and Hispanic students are more likely to be graded on grammar. There is a large body of research that shows that formal, isolated grammar instruction has little impact on student writing and can even negatively affect student writing. Most experts agree that grammar is essential to writing, but when taught in a vacuum, it does not help students become better writers. The NAEP data reflects that writing instruction is less focused on grammar instruction. 

Overall, a quarter of eighth-graders report that a majority of their English instruction is focused on mechanics and conventions, and only 20 percent of eighth grade teachers report grading mainly on mechanics and conventions. For Black and Hispanic students, there is a significant difference in the emphasis placed on grammar. Over a third of Black eighth-graders and a quarter of Hispanic eighth-graders report that most of their writing instruction is focused on mechanics and conventions. Additionally, 25 percent of Black and Hispanic students are graded mainly on mechanics and conventions compared to 18 percent of white students. Therefore, writing that occurs in the secondary classroom should focus more on the expression of thoughts and ideas, allowing students to creatively apply their knowledge and understanding of content, concepts, and skills learned as they navigate back and forth through the writing process. Grammar and mechanics have its place, but should not be the sole focus of the writing instruction nor the feedback students receive. 

Admittedly, the amount of research on how to teach writing is limited compared to research on teaching other fields, like math and reading. A 2019 review of research on teaching writing found only 14 studies that met rigorous standards of research. In comparison, they found 69 studies in a review of research on reading programs. While writing and reading are often viewed as interconnected, there is an apparent disparity in the amount of research about teaching writing. Moreso, many teachers report not feeling prepared to teach writing in their classrooms, and this lack of confidence can seep into their teaching (Learning Lab, 2019). 

The Colorado Framework for Writing Instruction Committee has done its best to assemble and use the existing body of research to support Colorado districts, schools, and classroom practitioners in the literacy of writing. As the framework dives further into high quality instructional practices, it will provide guidance on building a community of writers and readers, routines, explain the why and how of writing through the lens of the writing process, gradual release through mentor text, and providing feedback. 

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