writing

1. Writing: A Collaboration of
Teachers, Families and Children
Danielle L. DeFauw, Ph.D.
daniellp@umich.edu
Michigan Reading Association 58th
Annual Conference
March 16, 2014

2. Items of Discussion
• Background
• Extensive Course Description
• Mentor Text
• Case Study
• Next Steps
• Questions

3. Background
• Need to prepare preservice and inservice teachers
to teach writing to students of all ages (National
Commission on Writing, 2003)
• 27% of 8th
graders and 12th
graders performed
proficiently on the NAEP writing assessment
(National Center for Education Statistics, 2012)
• Personal Experience
– Course Work
– Oakland University’s Reading Clinic

4. Course Description
• Writing Workshop
– Teacher-writers
• (Graves, 1983; Murray,1985)
– 7 weeks
• Writing Clinic
– Implement writing instruction
– 6 weeks

5. CAEP (2013)
• Standard 1:
– CONTENT AND PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
• The provider ensures that candidates develop a deep
understanding of the critical concepts and principles of
their discipline and, by completion, are able to use
discipline-specific practices flexibly to advance the
learning of all students toward attainment of college and
career-readiness standards.

6. CAEP (2013)
• Standard 2:
– CLINICAL PARTNERSHIPS AND PRACTICE
• The provider ensures that effective partnerships and high-
quality clinical practice are central to preparation so that
candidates develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions
necessary to demonstrate positive impact on all P-12
students’ learning.

7. Required Reading
Anderson, C. (2000). How's it going?: A practical guide to conferring with
student writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Dorfman, L. R., & Cappelli, R. (2009). Nonfiction mentor texts: Teaching
informational writing through children’s literature K-8. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
Portalupi, J., & Fletcher, R. J. (2004). Teaching the qualities of writing:
Ideas, design, language, presentation. Portsmouth, NH: Firsthand.
Heard, G. (2002). The revision toolbox: Teaching techniques that work.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rief, L. (2003). 100 quickwrites: Fast and effective freewriting exercises that
build students’ confidence, develop their fluency, and bring out the
writer in every student. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Young, J. (2010). R is for rhyme. (Illus. V. Juhasz). Chelsea, MI: Sleeping
Bear Press.

8. Online Lectures & Articles
Session I
•Teach writing! But I hate to write!
•Writing Workshop: The what, how, when, and why
– DeFauw, D. L. (2011). A challenge to write. The Reading Teacher, 64(5),
374. doi: 10.1598/RT.64.5.11
– Engel, T., & Streich, R. (2006). Yes, there is room for soup in the
curriculum: Achieving accountability in a collaboratively planned writing
program. The Reading Teacher, 59(7), 660-679.

9. Online Lectures & Articles
Session II
•The Heart of Reading Workshop: The Writing Conference
•Writing Details for Fiction Using Mentor Text
– Sturgell, I. (2008). Touchstone texts: Fertile ground for creativity. The
Reading Teacher, 61(5), 411-414. doi:10.1598/RT.61.5.5
– Rickards, D., & Hawes, S. (2006). Connecting reading and writing through
author's craft. The Reading Teacher, 60(4), 370-373.

10. Online Lectures & Articles
Session III
•The art of supporting unmotivated writers
•Revision! It’s hard enough to get my students to complete a rough
draft!
– Graham, S., Harris, K. R., Fink-Chorzempa, B., & MacArthur, C. (2003).
Primary grade teachers’ instructional adaptations for struggling writers: A
national survey. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 279-292.
– Smede, S. D. (2000). Interior design: Revision as focus. English Journal,
90(10), 117-121.

11. Online Lectures & Articles
Session IV
•The Details of Poetry
Session V
•Writing Details for Nonfiction Using Mentor Text
– Morgan, D. N. (2010), Writing feature articles with intermediate students. The Reading
Teacher, 64(3), 181-189. doi:10.1598/RT.64.3.3

12. Online Lectures & Articles
Session VI
•Authentic Writing for Test Preparation – Is that even possible?
– DeFauw, D. L. (2013). 10 writing opportunities to “teach to the test.” The
Reading Teacher 66(7), 569-573. doi:10.1002/TRTR.1161
– Duke, N. K., Purcell-Gates, V., Hall, L. A., & Tower, C. (2006). Authentic
literacy activities for developing comprehension and writing. The Reading
Teacher, 60(4), 344-355.
– Graves, D. H. (2004).What I’ve learned from teachers of writing.
Language Arts, 82(2), 88-94.

13. Online Lectures & Articles
Session VII
•Writing Rubrics: Inform Your Teaching
– Andrade, H. L. (formerly Andrade, H. G.), Du, Y., & Wang, X. (2008). Putting
rubrics to the test: The effect of a model, criteria generation, and rubric-referenced
self-assessment on elementary school students’ writing. Educational
Measurement: Issues and Practice, 27(2), 3-13.
– Jonsson, A., & Svingby, G. (2007). The use of scoring rubrics: Reliability, validity
and educational consequences. Educational Research Review, 2(2), 130-144.
– Hamp-Lyons, L. (2002). The scope of writing assessment. Assessing Writing, 8(1),
5-16.
– Romeo, L. (2008). Informal writing assessment linked to instruction: A continuous
process for teachers, students, and parents. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 24(1),
25-51.
– Ruttle, K. (2004). What goes on inside my head when I'm writing? A case study of
8-9-year-old boys. Literacy, 38(2), 71-77.

14. EXPS 498/598 Course Schedule
• Exploring Writing with Children & Adolescents
– Writing Workshop
• 60 minutes
– Focus / Mini Lesson
» Mentor Text
– Independent Writing (Conferencing)
– Share
– Writing Clinic
• 6:10 – 7:30

15. Writing Clinic
• 15 students invited from an elementary school
– Academic Service Learning
• EXPS 498/598 students teach the elementary
students
• Family members of the elementary students
work with the professor
– Writing Tips to support home – school connections

16. Theoretical Framework
• Social Learning/Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977)
– Modeling
• Teachers & Families
– Self-efficacy (Graham et al., 2001)
• Modeling writing (Atwell, 1998, Graves, 1983,
Murray, 1985)

17. Research Design
• Case Study (Merriam, 1998)
– Particularistic
– Descriptive
– Heuristic
– Comparative
• Constant Comparative Method (Lincoln & Guba,
1985)
• Consistently Reflective Stance & Comparative
Description (Stake, 2005)

18. Teachers

19. Literature Review
• Few universities require teachers complete a writing
methods course (National Commission on Writing,
2003)
– Examples (Grisham & Wolsey, 2011; Morgan, 2010)
• Secondary teachers’ experiences (Street & Stang, 2008)
• Elementary teachers’ experiences (Fearn & Farnan, 2007;
Pardo, 2006)
– Three preservice teachers completed a field experience (Stockinger,
2007)

20. Questions
• What understandings and perceptions do preservice
and inservice teachers have about themselves as
writers and teaching writing prior to engaging in
EXPS 498/598, Exploring Writing with Children &
Adolescents?
• How will preservice and inservice teachers’
understandings and perceptions change by the end
of the course?

21. Data Sources
• Surveys (Gallavan, Bowles, & Young, 2007)
– EXPS 498/598 Students (pre & post)
– Student Teachers (April 2013 & Dec. 2013)
• Interviews (Street, 2003)
• Video & Audio Recordings
– Class Sessions
• Documents

22. Surveys
• Feelings toward writing process
– Personal
– Students
• Agree/Disagree: Teacher educators express
concerns that teacher candidates are not
proficient in their knowledge, skills, and
dispositions to [the following writing concerns]:

23. Survey: Writing Concerns
1. Write correctly and clearly
2. Communicate effectively through various
writing formats.
3. Teach writing appropriately to preK-12
students.

24. Survey: Writing Concerns
4. Integrate writing authentically across the
curriculum.
5. Guide preK-12 student writing supportively as
essential for learning and living.
6. Reflect personally and professionally through
writing.

25. Survey: Items III & IV
• Give a rationale for your response of agree or
disagree and/or a reaction to the writing
concern.
• Give suggestions to improve this writing-related
concern.

26. Interviews
• Writing History Essay (Morgan, 2010)
• Semi-structured questioning (Merton, Fiske, &
Kendall, 1956)
• Open-ended nature of questioning (Yin, 1994)

27. Interview Questions
(Street, 2003)
• Describe
– yourself as a writer
– positive / negative writing experience
– easiest / hardest part of writing
– kind of writing do you do just for you?
• What makes a piece of writing excellent?
• Professional contributions
• How do you think you will most help writers?

28. Documents: Graded Assignments
*Assignment EXPS 498 EXXPS 598
Writing History Essay No Grade No Grade
*Writer’s Notebook with Try-It Tasks 5% 5%
*Group Unit of Study / Focus Lessons /
Mentor Texts
20% 10%
Publishing Opportunities 5% 5%
Conferencing Notebook 20% 10%
LibraryThing.com 5% 5%
*Narrative Piece 5% 5%
*Expository Piece 5% 5%
*Poetry Piece 5% 5%
Model Focus Lesson NA 5%
*Field Note Journal 10% 5%
M-Portfolio / Reflection 20% 10%
Final Project NA 30%

29. Documents
• Formative Assessment Freewrites
– Concept Mapping
– Personal Letter
– Top Ten Points Learned

30. Results
• Pre- & Post-Study Surveys
• Pre- & Post-Study Interviews
• Audio & Video Recordings – transcribed
• Documents
• Student Teacher Surveys

31. Survey
• Data for Item I: Teacher Candidates’ Feelings
About Writing and the Writing Process
– How do you feel about writing and the writing
process? (pre/post); (50 student teachers)
• Highly Value (5/5); (90%) Somewhat value (1/0); (10%);
Do not value (0/0); (0%)
– How do you feel about writing and the writing
process for your students? (pre/post); (50 student
teachers)
• Highly Value (5/5); (94%) Somewhat value (1/1); (6%); Do
not value (0/0); (0%)

32. Survey Continued
Data for Items II & III
•Write correctly and clearly. (pre/post); (50 student
teachers)
– Agree (2/3); (72%); Disagree (4/2); (28%)
A: “Educators are continuously progressing their
knowledge and skills…PD, PLC, etc.”
D: “I feel like there is not enough preparation for
teachers to teach writing.” “There are no courses
related to writing – to teaching it.”

33. Survey Continued
Data for Items II & III
•Communicate effectively through various writing
formats. (pre/post); (50 student teachers)
– Agree (1/3); (64%); Disagree (5/2); (36%)
• A: “Teachers communicate effectively daily with their…
instruction.” “Teachers are able to communicate through
various formats.”
• D: “Teachers are not provided enough information on
teaching writing and…[so they] teach how they were taught.”
“The candidates may not be familiar with the formats or may
misinterpret the directions.” “I have received many emails…
poorly written.”

34. Survey Continued
Data for Items II & III
•Teach writing appropriately for preK-12 students.
(pre/post); (50 student teachers)
– Agree (3/1); (45%); Disagree (2/4); (55%)
• A: “Teachers are able to teach writing…they may not feel…
prepared for it.” “Depends on the subject area and grade…”
“You can’t sum all teachers in one summary.”
• D: “Some teachers have learned to lecture instead of model.”
“We are simply thrown ‘the latest and greatest’ new tool
without much instruction in how to use it.” “…not enough
training in how to teach writing and/or do not write enough for
themselves.

35. Survey Continued
Data for Items II & III
•Integrate writing authentically across the
curriculum. (pre/post); (50 student teachers)
– Agree (1/1); (45%); Disagree (5/4); (55%)
• A: “…through their various forms of informal assessments,
writing notebooks, letters to the community…”
• D: “time consuming”
• D: “We’re told to do it and not how.”

36. Survey Continued
Data for Items II & III
•Guide preK-12 student writing supportively as
essential for learning and living. (pre/post) (50
student teachers)
– Agree (2/3); (54%); Disagree (4/2); (46%)
• A: “All of us stress the importance of…writing as a key…of
survival in the world.” “…connecting real-world concepts…”
“Writing goes to the wayside when teachers get busy.”
• D: “Writing can seem like…a dueling task…to many teachers
who are not comfortable with it.”
• D: “Teachers tend to ‘grade’ writing instead of offering
guidance.”

37. Survey Continued
Data for Items II & III
•Reflect personally and professionally through
writing. (pre/post); (50 student teachers)
– Agree (3/4); (78%); Disagree (2/1); (22%); No
response (1/0)
• A: “I write 2 weekly blogs reflecting on my personal and
professional experience.” “There is not a lesson that I am not
expected to reflect on.”
• D: “Teachers view writing as busy work rather than an
opportunity to reflect (as witnessed at PDs).”
• D: “Some may write ‘robotically’ in a dry manner as to appear
professional.”

38. Survey Continued
Data for Item IV
•Give suggestions to improve this writing-related
concern.
– Provide professional development and courses on
writing workshop & professional communication.
– Teach writing strategies
• Integrate across the curriculum
– Writing assignments for reflection and in various
genres
– Allow for more collaboration

39. Pre-Interview
Participants Attitudes Toward
Writing
Self-Confidence
Regarding Writing
School Writing
Experiences
Shelly improving but
reluctant
developing generally poor until
college
Elizabeth improving but
reluctant
developing generally poor until
college
Megan improving but
anxious
developing positive
Debbie improving with
excitement
developing generally poor until
this course
Avery positive high generally poor
Julie positive high positive

40. Positive & Negative Experiences
• Only 1 student shared positive high school
writing experiences, which focused on teachers’
perceptions of her writing ability.
• 4/6 students shared positive college writing
experiences, all in narrative genres.

41. Easy & Hard Aspects
• Easy aspects included personal expression,
organization for some, and idea generation.
• Hard aspects included grammar, format, topic
interest, voice, and lack of time.
– “…allowing [my] voice to come through and…
grabbing [my] reader’s attention.”

42. Personal Uses of Writing
• Reflection on personal matters
• Letters to parents, administrators
• College assignments
– “I think that one of the reasons that I like to write
personally is because I write about things that move
me, things that I’m passionate about, things that I
care about….when I’m writing for an assignment…I
lose some of that emotion…passion and…rawness.”

43. Strengths & Weaknesses
• Strengths included feeling they could motivate
students to write through free topic choice and
patience.
– “I have positive energy and great topic ideas that
spark their interest.”
• Weaknesses included teaching the writers and
not the writing, grading, knowing what to teach
and how to teach.
– “I struggle with helping them generate their own

44. Documents
Points to remember Percentage of comments
Mentor Text 20
Supporting Writers 17
Conferencing 13
Modeling 13
Poetry 6
Writing workshop 3
Nonfiction writing 3
Publication Opportunities 2
Handwriting 1

45. Themes
• Writing Workshop
• Mentor Text
• Teacher as Model
• Personal Writing

46. Writing Workshop
1. “I have realized that a writing workshop does
not seem impossible like I once thought.”
2. “Any writing issue can be made into a focus
lesson.”
3. “I need to perfect the length of my focus
lessons…most of the time should be devoted
to independent writing.”

47. Mentor Text
4. “Never did I think to use great reading to teach
great writing!”
5. “Whenever you read new material read it like a
writer. Think of ways you can use the
material to teach your students about writing.”
6. “Teaching non-fiction doesn’t always have to
involve stale books.”

48. Teacher as Model
7. “So in a way just me writing more has opened
my eyes to helping kids just letting them write.”
8. “You need to model and show your students
how a good writer revises.”
9. “Keeping [a writer’s notebook] for myself is
extremely valuable…my students’ eyes light
up…[when] I ask them ‘Do you mind if I
share some of my writing with you?’”

49. Teacher as Model
10.“Modeling is extremely important especially in
my writer’s notebook with my personal stories.
Sharing these personal moments really
helps…writing [come] ‘alive’ and draws my
students in.”

50. Personal Writing
11.“[Mentor texts] play an important role in my
writing, students’ writing, and teaching.”
12.“Write. Write to improve your writing and to be
an example to your students.”
13.“I want…to share my writing so [my students]
will be encouraged to write.”

51. Implications
• Preservice and inservice teachers need to learn
writing instruction methodology.
• University instruction must challenge and
positively influence students’ writing attitudes.

52. Families

53. Literature Review
• Writing clinic for parents of teens
– (Fleischer & Pavlock, 2011)
• Writing clinic for parents of middle school
students
– (McClay et al., 2012)
• Reading Clinic with Elementary Students
– (DeFauw & Burton, 2008-09)

54. Questions
• What understandings and perceptions do families of
the children participating in the writing clinic have
about their children’s writing development?
• How will families’ understanding and perceptions
change by the end of the focus group sessions?

55. Data Sources
• Field Note Journal
• Video & Audio Recordings
• Documents
– Lesson Plans
– Family Writing Samples

56. Session Topics
• Dialogue journals
• Writer’s notebooks
• Handwriting
• Library visits
• Reading aloud
• Mentor text
• Writing

57. Session I
• Introduction
• What do you hope to get out of this experience?
• What are your questions?
– Surprises
• Writer’s Notebooks
• Dialogue Journals
• Mother & Daughter Connection

58. Session II
• Shannon, D. (2008). Too many toys. New York,
NY: The Blue Sky Press.
– Freewrite
– Discussed connections to various genres
• (i.e., narrative, informational, how-to, opinion, persuasive)

59. Session III & IV
• Lloyd-Jones, S. (2011). How to be a baby…by
me, the big sister. (Illus. S. Heap). New York,
NY: Dragonfly Books.
– Shared writing
• How to be a kid
• Read, Reread, List, Compose
– Strategy to support nonfiction writing from sources

60. Session V
• Nonfiction writing tips
– Review various nonfiction books
– Discuss nonfiction text features
– Discuss opinion vs. fact

61. Session VI
• The stories that bind us (Feiler, 2013)
– Write letters to our children
• Author Celebration

62. Implications
• Families are their children’s first teachers.
– Modeling
• Supporting home – school connections
• Families want to help their children
– Provide strategies & support

63. Students

64. Literature Review
• Writing process approach (Atwell, 1998;
Graves, 1983; Murray, 1985)
• Mentor text (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2009)
• Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977; Pajares, 1996)

65. Writing Clinic for Students
• EXPS 498/598 students select two genres to
explore:
– Poetry or narrative
– Nonfiction
• Explanatory / informational
• opinion / persuasive

66. Questions
• How will children’s writing abilities change from
participating in the writing clinic?
• How will students’ understanding and perceptions
change by the end of the writing clinic?

67. Data Sources
• Writing Attitude Survey (Kear et al., 2000)
• Writing Interview (Atwell, 1998)
• Video & Audio Recordings
– Writing Celebration (April 18, 2013)
– After session discussions with EXPS 498/598
students
• Documents
• EXPS 498/598 Field Note Journals

68. Learning From Our Students
• “I was so nervous to work with them, but with
the books, it’s not nearly as hard as I thought it
would be.”
• “She’s so quiet and won’t even talk to me. But
she did read me her poetry.”
• “There’s so much that’s hurting her that she
needs to write.”
• “She can’t wait to read her writing to her mom.”

69. Next Steps

70. EXPS 498/598
• Continue this study
– Course offerings
• Preservice teachers’ attitudes toward writing measuring
tool (Hall & Grisham-Brown, 2011)
– Student teachers (Hall & Grisham-Brow, 2011;
Street, 2003)
– New teachers
• Focus on nonfiction writing
• Quantitative writing studies
– (Newell et al., 2013)

71. More Questions than Answers
• How do we impact children’s writing attitudes?
• How will student teaching and the first years of
teaching be impacted by writing assessment?
• Do teachers have to identify themselves as
writers to teach writing?
• Questions & Comments?

72. References
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Fearn, L., & Farnan, N. (2007). The influence of professional development on young writers’
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73. References
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74. References
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76. References
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