Research Behind Writing the Four Blocks Way

1. Research Behind Writing the Four Blocks Way James W. Cunningham Professor Emeritus, UNC-Chapel Hill

2. Reviews of Experimental Research on Teaching Writing Hillocks, G., Jr. (1986). Research on written composition: New directions for teaching. Urbana, IL: National Conference on Research in English/ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills. Hillocks, G., Jr. (1995). Teaching writing as reflective practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

3. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

4. Six Focuses of Writing Instruction That Have Been Investigated Free writing—Students write whatever they have on their minds in journals Grammar—Students learn to identify parts of speech, parts of sentences, and kinds of sentences Inquiry—Students explore a set of data to prepare to write about it Models—Students are shown good examples of writing to exhibit what their characteristics are Sentence combining—Students learn how to merge two or more short sentences into one longer sentence Writing scales—Students learn to use specific criteria to evaluate and revise or edit a piece of writing

5. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

6. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

7. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

8. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

9. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

10. Focus of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

11. Average Effect Size The effect size is how much of a standard deviation on the dependent measure did the experimental treatment move the participants beyond the control group. The average effect size is the average of the effect sizes of all the studies that investigated a particular treatment.

12. Focus of Writing Instruction (Average Effect Size) Grammar = -0.29 Free Writing = 0.16 Models = 0.22 Sentence Combining = 0.35 Writing Scales = 0.36 Inquiry = 0.56

13. Interpretation “It is interesting to note that the [three] treatments with the largest gains all focus on teaching procedural knowledge, knowledge of how to do things. . . . [Free writing] does not help students learn new . . . procedures. Both grammar and models focus on learning . . . declarative rather than procedural knowledge” (Hillocks, 1995, p. 223)

14. Research-Based Writing Instructional Principle #1 Students learn how to write better when the focus is on teaching them procedural knowledge, knowledge of how to do things in writing, rather than on declarative knowledge

15. Mode of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

16. Three Modes of Writing Instruction Presentational/Traditional—The teacher explains how to write well, takes students through the language book, shows them good models, gives specific writing assignments, and grades their papers Natural Process—Self-selected writing, mini-lessons, peer conferencing, revision, editing, and publishing Environmental—The teacher engages students in small-group activities that prepare them to succeed with each focused writing assignment, and teaches them to evaluate and revise their own papers in line with specified objectives

17. Mode of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

18. Mode of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

19. Mode of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

20. Mode of Writing Instruction (Hillocks, 1986/1995)

21. Mode of Writing Instruction (Average Effect Size) Presentational/Traditional = 0.02 Natural Process = 0.19 Environmental = 0.44

22. Research-Based Writing Instructional Principle #2 Students learn procedural knowledge in writing better when they are actively engaged in relevant activities rather than when they are listening or reading about how to write

23. Research-Based Writing Instructional Principle #3 Students learn procedural knowledge in writing better when the relevant activities they are actively engaged in are designed and supervised by the teacher

24. Research on Marking Students’ Papers “Teacher comment [written on students' compositions] has little impact on student writing. None of the studies of teacher comment ... show statistically significant differences in the quality of writing between experimental and control groups. Indeed, several show no pre-to-post gains for any groups, regardless of the type of comment.” [emphasis is the author's] (Hillocks, 1986, p. 165)

25. Research-Based Writing Instructional Principle #4 It is necessary to grade students’ writing and mark their papers in order to give them grades on their report cards and to be able to defend those grades, but grading and marking their papers teaches them little or nothing

26. Research on Writing Fluency Graham, S., Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Abbott, S., & Whitaker, D. (1997). Role of mechanics in composing of elementary school students: A new methodological approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 170-182.

27. Research on Writing Fluency Rate of writing predicts later writing disability. Transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) uniquely predict writing fluency throughout the elementary grades

28. Research-Based Writing Instructional Principle #5 We build students’ writing fluency when we teach them how to: • spell words phonetically when they write • spell high-frequency words correctly when they write • handwrite legibly when they write

29. Writing the Four-Blocks Way is Research-Based Because It: • Emphasizes self-selected writing in K-2 • Emphasizes focused writing in 3-5 • Makes self-selected writing more environmental than whole language does • Teaches transcription (handwriting and spelling) skills systematically

30. Now is the time for all good four-blocks teachers: To teach writing the four-blocks way instead of the “Write from the Beginning” way or the “teach to the writing test” way

31. How to Make Self-Selected Writing More Environmental • Make mini-lessons more environmental • Make conferencing more environmental • Make revision and editing more environmental

32. How to Make Mini-Lessons More Environmental • Have fewer different kinds of mini-lessons and provide sufficient repetition on each kind of mini-lesson • Have each mini-lesson focus on a single teaching point • Actively involve the students in each mini-lesson

33. How to Make Conferencing More Environmental • Teach your students how to conference effectively with each other in partners and small groups • Have students revise in pairs before teaching them to revise alone • Do teacher conferencing with each student before allowing him or her to revise alone

34. How to Make Revision and Editing More Environmental • Teach students to use a writing scale (editor’s checklist) to proofread and correct their own papers during editing • Require students to have your approval on revisions before editing, and on edits before recopying