VIEWPOINT

Creating a Classroom Vision for

Teaching Writing
Steve Graham

I
t is the first week of school. Ms. Howard is meeting Similarly, when students read and discuss stories, we will
with parents or other guardians attending her “Back-­ discuss why authors used specific words or devices such
to-­School” gathering. After everyone briefly introduces as a cliff hanger. I will encourage them to use these same
themselves, Ms. Howard tells the assembled guest that procedures in their own writing.
she has taught third grade for the last 5 years, and she is At this point, Ms. Howard catches her breath, looks at
looking forward to the coming year. She provides a brief her audience once again, smiles, and says:
introduction to the subjects she will teach and encour-
Each day I will devote at least one hour to writing and teach-
ages those assembled to ask more detailed questions.
ing writing. Your children will write more than this, as some of
One of the parents, who is a teacher herself and whose their homework will involve writing and they will write about
child is new to the school, ask Ms. Howard to share how what they are learning in other subjects. I will support stu-
she plans to teach writing this year. This elicits a smile dents as they write by providing them with clear directions
from Ms. Howard, who tells her guests: and goals, feedback that is constructive and not overwhelm-
ing, and time to plan and improve what they write. My goal is to
Writing is central to everything I do in my classroom. Your
create a positive and enthusiastic writing environment where
children will write frequently and for many different purpose.
your children are encouraged to try hard and do their best,
They will write to sharpen their understanding of what they
feel comfortable taking risks, and work together in a positive
read. They will write to extend their thinking about the mate-
manner. I promise to be sensitive to the needs of each child,
rial they are learning in social studies and science. They will
adapting writing assignments and writing instruction so that
write to communicate with each other and students in other
all of my students, your children, can become strong writers.
classrooms and schools. They will write to persuade and
I encourage you to help me make this happen. If possible,
argue, gather information, explore the meaning of events,
visit my class when I teach writing, and do not hesitate to give
chronicle personal experiences, and create imaginary
me constructive feedback. I believe the capability to write
worlds. They will write about their own experiences and cul-
thoughtfully and purposefully is a gift. It is a gift that we must
ture and use writing to explore the experiences and culture
help our children acquire. I hope this answers your question.
of others. They will share the writing they create with you,
and they will ask you to share things you have written with While there is no single best way to teach writing,
them. I will make sure they know why writing is important. and some may quibble and others disagree with Ms.
Ms. Howard pauses for a few seconds, looks around Howard’s approach, it is clear that she devoted consider-
the room to see if everyone is still with her, and continues: able thought to develop a coherent and thoughtful vision
for how writing will be taught in her classroom. Imagine
I will also teach students in my class how to write. As we
the alternative where a parent, guardian, or student asks
explore new forms of writing, we will discuss the purpose of
a teacher, principal, or district superintendent to present
each type of writing and explore its basic features. Students
will be encouraged to use these same features in their own their vision for teaching writing, and they are unable to
writing. I will teach spelling, handwriting, grammar, and sen- answer this question or they provide a vague or muddled
tence construction skills. This will make it easier for stu- answer (Graham, 2019).
dents to do their very best writing. Writing is thinking. Your
children will learn new strategies for planning, assessing,
and revising what they write. These strategies will facilitate Developing a Vision for Teaching Writing
the brainwork of invention, speculation, deliberation, reflec- In this article, I illustrate how Ms. Howard created her
tion, and evaluation. Students will read each other’s papers vision for teaching writing1. Such an approach, or one like
and provide constructive feedback. I will teach them how to
do this, and it will help them develop a stronger conceptu-
alization of what constitutes good writing. I will constantly Steve Graham is the regents and warner professor at
use reading to reinforce learning to write and vice versa. For Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; email steve.
example, when I teach phonics, I will also teach spelling. [email protected].

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 Viewpoint

it, can be used by other teachers to create their own vision with instructional practices supported by research. They
for teaching writing. Ms. Howard’s approach was based need to weigh the benefits and limitations of using these
on three assumptions. First, the development of a vision methods. They need to contextualize the use of evidence-­
for teaching writing should be guided by a theory of writ- based knowledge with their own knowledge about teach-
ing or writing development. This provides a framework for ing writing, their students, and the context in which they
thinking about how writing and writing instruction should operate.
proceed. Of course, if the theory is too narrow, it will likely
limit the resulting vision. Personal Knowledge of How to Teach Writing
Ms. Howard further assumed that her vision for teaching
Theory writing should be informed by the considerable experi-
As a framework for developing a vision of writing, Ms. ence, knowledge, and expertise she has acquired as a
Howard drew upon a model of writing that offers a teacher. While she values evidence-­based writing prac-
broad perspective. It emphasizes the role of social as tices, she recognizes that such knowledge is incomplete
well as cognitive views of writing. The Writer(s)-­within-­ (see Graham et al., 2016). It is complete enough to provide
community model (WWC; Graham, 2018, in press) is a general roadmap to effective practices for teaching writ-
based on the assumption that writing and the teaching of ing. Evidence-­based practices support the development
writing is simultaneously and interactively shaped by the of writing programs where students write frequently, they
community in which writing takes place and the cognitive are supported as they write, essential writing skills and
capabilities and resources of those who teach, create, or strategies are taught, students use word processors to
consume writing in this community. write, writing occurs in a positive and motivating environ-
According to the WWC model, what students write, ment, and writing, reading, and learning are connected
how they write, and how they learn to write are influ- (Graham & Harris, 2016). Evidence-­based writing prac-
enced by the purposes for writing within a classroom; tices are also complete enough to provide support for
roles and responsibilities of classroom members; tools using specific writing methods such as providing feed-
available for writing; established practices for writing; back, engaging students in pre-­writing activities, setting
products or materials available to teachers or students; goals for writing, and sentence-­combining instruction to
social and physical environment; and the collective his- provide a few examples.
tory of the class developed over time. These are, in turn, Even so, evidence-­b ased writing is not complete
shaped by cultural, social, institutional, political, and his- enough, and it highly unlikely that it will ever be, to
torical forces operating outside the class. The cognitive prescribe exactly how writing should be taught to
resources and capabilities students (and teachers) bring all children. As a result, Ms. Howard believes that
to the classroom for writing include relevant knowledge evidence-­b ased writing practices play a valuable role
and beliefs held in long-­term memory, production pro- in creating a vision for teaching writing, but they need
cesses for creating text, and control mechanisms (atten- to be thoughtfully used in conjunction with theory and
tion, working memory, and executive control) for directing teachers’ own knowledge and experiences about how
and regulating the act of writing. The application of these to teach writing.
cognitive processes by students is influenced by their
emotional state, personality traits, and physiological Approach
conditions.
How did Ms. Howard develop the vision for teaching writ-
ing shared at the “Back-­to-­S chool” meeting? Using the
Evidence-­based Writing Practices WWC model (Graham, 2018), her knowledge of evidence-­
Ms. Howard also assumed that a vision for teaching writ- based writing practices drawn from several sources
ing should be informed by the best scientific evidence (Graham & Harris, 2016; Graham et al., 2016) and her own
available on how to teach this skill. This approach is knowledge of how to teach writing, she developed sev-
encapsulated in the evidence-­based movement. The basic eral worksheets to help her create a coherent and well-­
premise underlying this approach is that teachers should constructed vision for teaching writing. Her approach is
apply the best available evidence to make informed, judi- just one example of how a vision for teaching writing can
cious, and intelligent decisions about teaching (Sackett unfold. I hope it provides you with useful ideas as you
et al., 1996). This premise has several implications for cre- design your own vision for how to teach writing. Such
ating a vision for teaching writing (see Graham & Harris, visions are necessary if students are to receive the writ-
2016; Graham et al., 2016). Teachers need to be familiar ing instruction they need and deserve.

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 Viewpoint

Ms. Howard’s Vision for Teaching students in various forms of writing, (3) treating writing as
a process, (4) teaching foundational writing skills as well
Writing as strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing
Creating a Vision for Teaching Writing text, (5) encouraging students to act in a self-­regulated
As she began thinking about how to teach writing to her fashion, (6) setting high expectations, (7) creating a posi-
upcoming class of third graders, Ms. Howard considered tive and motivating writing environment, (8) encouraging
the type of writing community she hoped to create. This student effort, and (9) using writing to support learning
was not Ms. Howard’s first rodeo so to speak, as she had across the curriculum. The value of most of these writing
taught third grade for 5 years. She had learned that stu- practices is supported by empirical intervention studies
dents make more growth if they like to write, enjoy the demonstrating their effectiveness with elementary grade
writing period, and see their teacher as a writer too. students (Graham et al., 2015, 2020).
To help her think more systematically about how to
develop a writing community in which her students would Envisioning What Students Need to Progress as Writers.
thrive and grow, she drew on the WWC model (Graham, 2018) When using the worksheet in Table 1 to create her vision of
presented earlier. This model views writing as an inherently writing, Ms. Howard also drew on a second premise in the
social activity, which is situated in specific contexts, such WWC model (Graham, 2018). What and how students write
as a third-­grade classroom. The community within which are shaped by the cognitive resources they bring to the
writing takes place shapes what students write, how they act of writing. Writers apply control mechanisms (atten-
write, and how they acquire needed writing skills. tion, working memory, and executive control) that enable
them to use writing production processes (e.g., planning,
Envisioning a Writing Community. According to the drafting, revising, and editing) in conjunction with knowl-
WWC model, writing communities share a common set of edge about writing held in long-­term memory to regulate
purposes and assumptions for how writing is used. This the process of writing and create text. These cognitive re-
includes the goals writing is intended to achieve, the value sources are fueled, enabled, and even hindered by writers’
of writing to the community, norms for what constitutes beliefs about writing, emotional reactions to writing, per-
good writing, social practices writing supports, motiva- sonality traits, and physical states.
tions for writing in the community, audiences that read As she developed her vision for teaching writing, Ms.
what is written, and the projected writing identity of the Howard placed special attention on enhancing writing
community. Writing communities are also composed of strategies involving planning, revising, and editing. These
members who have different roles and responsibilities, serve as executive control schemas that help students
power, identities, and commitment to the community. direct and organize their attention and cognitive resources
Writing communities employ various tools to accomplish while writing. She also emphasized improving translation
their writing tasks, including tools for writing, assisting and transcription processes involved in converting writing
writers, and sharing writing. Communities further cre- plans and ideas into text. She focused specifically on sen-
ate typical practices for meeting its writing goals. This tence construction, handwriting, spelling, and grammar.
includes typified actions for carrying out the processes She further concentrated on amplifying students’ long-­
of writing, structure the writing environment, and manage term memory resources including their knowledge about
the social, motivational, and emotional aspects of writ- good writing and specific types of text as well as students’
ing. The social environment is particularly important to beliefs about writing, specifically their attitude toward writ-
the health of the writing community because it can differ ing, perceived competence as a writer, and writing identity.
in terms of how pleasant, supportive, inclusive, and coop- Ms. Howard selected these aspects of writing as especially
erative it is. Finally, some of the features described above important for her third-­grade students because empiri-
are more privileged than others or become increasingly cal intervention studies demonstrated that the quality of
privileged over time. elementary grade students’ writing can be improved by
To help her envision her new writing community and teaching writing strategies, knowledge about good writing,
create a vision for teaching writing, Ms. Howard devel- the characteristics of different types of text, sentence con-
oped a worksheet (see Table 1) using most but not all of struction, handwriting, spelling, and motivational beliefs
the components of a writing community described in the (Graham et al., 2015, 2016).
WWC model. She also drew on evidence from qualitative
studies of how highly effective literacy teachers teach Ms. Howard’s Vision. The vision of how to teach writ-
writing (see Graham et al., 2016). This included (1) dedi- ing that Ms. Howard created in Table 1 is consistent with
cating time to writing and writing instruction, (2) involving the description she provided at the “Back to School”

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 Viewpoint

Table 1
Creating a Vision for My Writing Classroom

Time Devoted to Writing and Writing Instruction

■ Create a writing class that meets 5 days a week for 1 hour.
■ Devote an average of 30 minutes to writing and 30 minutes to teaching writing each day.
■ Extend students’ writing by having them write about things they read at school.
■ Extend students’ writing by having them write about content in science and social studies.
■ Extend students’ writing by assigning writing homework.
Goals for Writing and Writing Instruction in My Class
■ Improve students’ informative writing (compare/contrast, summaries, and explanations).
■ Improve students’ persuasive writing (opinion essay).
■ Improve students’ story writing
■ Improve students’ personal narrative writing.
■ Use writing as a tool for communication (in class and outside).
■ Use writing so students can explore their own and other cultures.
■ Use writing so students can better understand what they read.
■ Use writing so students can better understand material and ideas presented in science and social studies.
■ Use writing to gather, organize, and analyze a critical social issue, creating a report as an end of the year project.
■ Teach students the purposes, elements, and characteristics of strong informative, persuasive, and narrative text.
■ Teach students strategies for planning, drafting, revising, editing, and sharing their writing when creating informative,
persuasive, and narrative text.
■ Teach students foundational writing skills of spelling, handwriting, sentence construction (including grammar).
■ Help students develop positive attitude toward writing and perceived competence as a writer.
■ Help students develop positive identities as writers.
Valuing Writing
■ Each time a new genre of writing is introduced, discuss why it is important.
■ Help students see the value of writing about what they read.
■ Help students see the value of writing about science and social studies materials.
■ Help students see how writing is used and differs across cultures.
■ Help students see how writing can address social issues.
■ Help students see how writing keeps us connected to each other.
Norms for Good Writing
■ Emphasize that writing is easier to read when ideas are clearly presented.
■ Emphasize that writing is easier to read when ideas are presented in an organized manner.
■ Emphasize writing is more engaging when students use a variety of sentence types to present their ideas.
■ Encourage students to students to use words that makes their text more interesting.
■ Emphasize that writing is easier to read when writing is legible and there are few spelling or grammar errors.
■ Emphasize that we do not need to worry about legibility or spelling and grammar errors when creating a first draft or
writing something just for ourselves.
Audiences for My Students’ Writing
■ Students share their writing with each other
■ Encourage students to share their writing with their parents or guardians
■ Establish opportunities for students to share their writing with one or more first grade classes at our school
■ Set up a pen pal program with a third-­grade class at another school
Students’ Identity as Writers
■ Provide students opportunities to assume different roles as writers (e.g., information gather, scribe, evaluator, reviser,
editor, sharer, publisher, reader)
■ Ask students to identify the types of writing, in school and outside, they do best and to share this with the class
■ Highlight several students’ writing each week (all students will receive this recognition several times during the school year).
■ Create a classroom writing identity with students’ help.

(continued)

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Table 1
Creating a Vision for My Writing Classroom (continued)

Creating a Positive and Enthusiastic Writing Class

■ Set high but realistic goals and expectations for my students’ writing.
■ Prominently display students’ writing in the class.
■ Make books from students’ writing to share with other classes, parents, and with at least one class at another school
(pen pal project).
■ Be enthusiastic about writing.
■ Encourage students to be positive about other students’ writing.
■ Praise students’ efforts and accomplishments.
■ Provide students with opportunities to choose what they write about.
■ Provide feedback on students’ writing that stresses its positive attributes and provides constructive feedback on two
or three things that can be improved.
■ Be flexible.
■ Encourage students to take risks in their writing.
■ Make instructional adaptations and modifications to ensure all students are successful.
Social Practices for Supporting Writing in My Class
■ Collaborate with students to create rules for the writing period.
■ Students provide each other feedback on their writing.
■ Students occasionally work together to plan and/or draft compositions.
■ Students share their writing with each other.
■ I share my own writing with the class.
■ Use conflict resolution to solve classroom conflicts.
Sharing Responsibility with Students in My Class
■ Provide students with assistance when needed, but encourage them to act in a self-­regulated fashion whenever possible.
■ Recognize and reinforce students’ ownership of their writing (e.g., feedback provides suggestions that a writer may or
may not decide to apply).
■ Students help establish classroom rules
■ Collectively review classroom rules every 3 months.
■ Students create a writing portfolio where they place their very best writing (as determined by them).
Writing Tools Available to Students in My Class
■ Primary writing tools are paper and pencil.
■ Two computers in class mostly used to (1) create books or anthologies of students’ writing and (2) extra practice for
learning new writing skills (e.g., spelling) using computer-­assisted instruction.
■ Students are expected to create several text using word processing (at home or in the school computer laboratory).
This includes the report on a social issue, a narrative story, an informative text, and a persuasive paper. At least one of
these writing assignments should be multi-­modal.
Typical Writing Practices I Will Establish
■ Establish a process approach routine where students plan, draft, revise, edit, share, and sometimes published.
■ Make sure this process approach routine is applied flexibly. For example, when introducing a strategy for planning a
specific type of text (opinion essay), revising, editing, and publishing are temporarily suspended until students can
use the strategy effectively.
■ Once students are familiar with process approach routine, apply the routine more recursively (e.g., develop plan and
receive feedback from a peer before drafting text).
■ When teaching writing skills or strategies, apply the following routine: skill or strategy introduced, its importance
established, I model how to use it, and students practice applying it until they can use it correctly and effectively.
■ Each writing period begins with a brief introduction to the day’s lesson, its connection to prior lessons, and homework is collected.
Each class ends with a wrap-­up where students can ask questions, the writing lesson is summarized, and homework is assigned.
■ Specific types of writing (e.g., opinion essays) are presented as units. Units may range from 1 to 4 weeks long.
■ A typical week involves students writing every day during writing period (25–­30 minutes). Strategy instruction for how
to plan and draft specific types of text is taught within the context of this writing processes. Writing skills are taught
in mini-­lessons that occur from 3 to 5 times a week (15–­20 minutes long). In a typical week, three mini-­lessons are
devoted to spelling/handwriting and two to sentence construction.

(continued)

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Table 1
Creating a Vision for My Writing Classroom (continued)

Create Writing School and Home Connection

■ Students read writing produced at school to their parents or guardians.
■ Parents or guardians are encouraged to ask questions and give advice about writing at an open house meeting held
after school every 2 months.
■ Parents or guardians are encouraged to contact me if there are concerns about their child’s writing.
■ Parents or guardians are encouraged to visit my class when writing is taught.
■ Students create a portfolio of their best writing to share with parents or guardians.
■ Invite parents or guardians to my class to share something they wrote.
■ Students complete at least one writing assignment about an important person in their life.
■ Students asked to share in class writing created at home.
■ Writing homework is accompanied by clear written instructions for both students and parents/guardians.
Writing and Reading Connections
■ When introducing a new type of writing (e.g., compare and contrast), read examples of such texts to identify its
purposes, attributes, and characteristics.
■ When students read text, frequently ask them to write about it to help them better understand it. This includes
answering in writing questions about the text, writing a summary of it, and writing a narrative or opinion about it.
■ When reading, students asked to read with a writers’ eye to see what the author did, and write with a reader’s eye to
make sure they write text addressing readers’ needs.
■ Spelling and phonics instruction connected when possible.

gathering, but is even more complete, providing a fuller and modifications to ensure all students are success-
and richer plan. Like guidelines for teaching writing from ful” (see Table 1). She decided it would be wise to devote
the What Works Clearinghouse (Graham et al., 2012), she special attention to this objective for two reasons. One,
plans to spend at least one hour a day in teaching writ- students who experience difficulties learning to write
ing. Her vision establishes goals for writing and writing in- need extra help to maximize their success as writers.
struction, valuing writing, determining the characteristics Two, she placed too little emphasis on this objective in
of good writing, specifying writing audiences, and support- previous years.
ing students’ identities as writers. Ms. Howard describes To help her think about the types of adaptations
how her writing classroom will operate. She specifies the she might make, Ms. Howard developed a second work-
procedures she will use to create a positive and enthusi- sheet listing 33 instructional modifications for teach-
astic writing environment, create social practices to sup- ing writing. These were drawn from a study examining
port students’ writing, ensure shared responsibility with the types of instructional writing adaptations primary
her students, and establish routines to facilitate the pro- grade teachers make (Graham et al., 2003) and her own
cess of writing and teaching writing in her class. She fur- experiences in teaching writing. These adaptations
ther describes practices for establishing home and school are listed in Table 2. Ms. Howard checked the adapta-
connections as well as writing and reading connections. tions for teaching writing she plans to focus on at the
These overlapping and interconnected objectives provide beginning of the year. This includes allowing students
a roadmap for how she plans to teach writing. to modify writing assignments with teacher approval,
Ms. Howard views her vision for teaching writing as assigning alternative writing tasks, and providing extra
a flexible set of objectives that is open to change. She conferencing, encouragement, and praise as needed.
plans to revisit this roadmap at multiple points during the For any student experiencing unusual difficulty with
year, making adjustments depending on her own evalua- writing, Ms. Howard plans to conference with the child’s
tion of how students are progressing and through feed- parents or guardians to discuss how best to help him
back from them as well as their parents/guardians. or her.
Once Ms. Howard becomes more familiar with her
students’ strengths and needs, she plans to reexamine
Adapting Writing Instruction the adaptation checklist. At this point, she plans to recon-
One of Ms. Howards’ objectives when creating a vision sider what adaptations are likely to be most effective with
for teaching writing is to “Make instructional adaptations her students.

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Table 2
Possible Adaptations for Teaching Writing

Adaptations
■ Student modifies writing assignments ■ Extra handwriting instruction
■ Student selects own writing topic ■ Reduce number of spelling words taught
■ Student works at own pace ■ Extra planning instruction
■ Alternate writing assignments ■ Extra revising instruction
■ Extra conferencing ■ Extra editing instruction
■ Student receives help from classmate ■ Extra grammar instruction
■ Extra help writing from teacher ■ Extra practice learning on a computer
■ Extra encouragement ■ Extra instruction on genre elements
■ Extra praise ■ Additional modeling when teaching
■ Assistance with preparing to share writing ■ Increase small group instruction
■ Modify amount of homework ■ Increase individual instruction
■ Extra conferencing with parents ■ Additional practice during instruction
■ Student writes at home with parents help ■ Computer-­assisted instruction
■ Student uses word processing at school ■ Extra typing instruction
■ Extra feedback on writing ■ Extra sentence writing instruction
■ Student’s grade based on effort ■ Student’s writing is not graded
■ Student uses invented spellings for final draft

OTHER IDEAS: Periodically revisit this checklist as I become more familiar with my students to determine what
adaptations are needed by which students.

Scope and Sequence

Ms. Howard’s vision for teaching writing provides a record taken from Graham and Harris (2016), a resource a col-
of her intentions. To actualize this vision, Ms. Howard league shared with her.
developed a third worksheet where she provides details In Table 3, Ms. Howard also laid out her scope and
of what she plans to do (see Table 3). This scope and sequence for teaching sentence construction, handwriting,
sequence first describes the types of writing students are spelling, and grammar skills. For the first three writing skills,
to be assigned during specific periods of time. For exam- she established specific objectives for what to teach in each
ple, stories are introduced and practiced during weeks unit. To establish this scope and sequence, she consulted
7–­10 and opinion essay during weeks 17–­20. State guidelines and benchmarks for writing, examined the
In each unit, she decided the best way to proceed writing skills taught in grades 2–­4 in a popular basal read-
was for the class to first read and analyze represen- ing series, and drew on her own teaching experience to cull,
tative compositions to determine the purpose, impor- select, and organize the sentence construction, spelling,
tance, elements, and characteristics of the type of and handwriting skills she planned to teach.
writing practiced. To help students produce such texts, For grammar skills, Ms. Howard applied a different
she decided to teach genre-­specific writing strategies approach. She indicated when grammar lessons would
for planning and drafting such compositions. To help occur, but she did not specify what grammar skills were
students refine and polish their initial and subsequent to be taught. Instead, she decided to make such deci-
drafts of papers, she determined students would pro- sions a few days before each grammar lesson by exam-
vide each other with feedback using a peer-­r evising ining students’ compositions to identify a grammar skill
strategy. This peer revising strategy was to be modified her students found challenging.
and upgraded at multiple points during the school year, The scope and sequence Ms. Howard developed
as students became better writers. All the writing strat- further indicated when she would address other objec-
egies Ms. Howard decided to use with her class were tives identified in her vision of how to teach writing (e.g.,

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Table 3
Scope and Sequence for Writing Vision

Writing Activity Writing Strategy Writing Skills** Other

Weeks 1–­3 Introduce Peer-­ Sentences: Using describing and action Set class rules
Personal narrative: Revising Strategy* words Importance of writing
A story about me Paragraph Spelling: Review plurals and blends Identify writing done in and out of
A time I had fun Writing Strategy* Review cursive handwriting: i,u,w,t,r,s school
n,m,v,x Establish characteristics of good
writing
Introduce process writing routine
Set rules for sharing writing
Share a personal narrative about
myself
Weeks 4–­6 Teach Strategy Sentences: Compound sentences Begin to establish class and student
Summary Writing for Summary (connectors and, but, or) writing identity
Writing* Spelling: Review long and short vowels Expand possible writing adaptations
(particularly in multiple syllable words)
Review cursive handwriting:
e,l,b,h,k,f
c,a,g,d,q
Weeks 7–­10 Story Planning Sentences: Varying sentence beginning Start writing portfolio for each student
Story Writing Strategy* Using transition words Teach purpose and characteristics of
(student choice) Grammar lesson depending on students’ stories
needs Share a story I wrote
Spelling: Diagraphs ch,tch,wh Update writing portfolio
Review cursive handwriting:
o,p,j
y,z
C,A,E
Weeks 11–­12 Modify Peer-­ Sentences: Using precise word choice Discuss writing a story for younger
Stories about other Revising Strategy Grammar lesson depending on students’ students
cultures (student needs Share selected stories with grade
choice) Spelling: Long /u/ sound 1 class
Short /u/ sound Revisit ideas about good writing
Review cursive handwriting: N,M,P,R,B, Create Class Anthologies of Stories
D,U,V,W,K,
H,X
Weeks 13–­16 Teach Planning Sentences: Subject verb agreement Teach purpose and characteristics of
Compare/contrast Strategy for Grammar lesson depending on students’ compare/contrast
Compare/ needs Reexamine possible writing
Contrast* Spelling: Review “ed” and “ing” endings adaptations
(doubling rule) Review classroom rules with students
Sounds in Bought, draw, because, talking Share a compare/contrast text I wrote
Review cursive handwriting: Revisit class and student writing
S,G identity
T,F,Q,Z,L
O,I,J,Y

(continued)

develop writing portfolio, share writing with first graders, reading, social studies, and science. This was specified
revisit writing adaptation checklist). It did not, however, when she developed a vision for teaching each of these
indicate when or how writing was to be integrated into subject areas.

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Table 3
Scope and Sequence for Writing Vision (continued)

Writing Activity Writing Strategy Writing Skills** Other

Weeks 17–­20 Teach TREE Sentences: Complex sentences Teach purpose and characteristics of
Opinion writing Planning (adverbial clauses with connecting words opinion essays
Strategy* (final because and after) Share an opinion I wrote
draft of one essay Spelling: Sounds in found and clowns Ask parents to share an opinion they
to be typed) Sounds in joy and oil wrote
/s/ sounds –­s,ci,ce Revisit types of writing students do at
home (they share something wrote)
Create class book of opinions
Weeks 21–­24 Teach Sentences: Correct tense Teach purpose and characteristics of
Writing an Explanation Grammar lesson depending on students’ explanations
explanation Planning needs Share an explanation I wrote
Strategy* (final Spelling: r controlled vowels Update writing portfolio
draft of one
explanation to be
typed)
Weeks 25–­26 Modify Peer-­ Sentences: Complex sentences Reexamine possible writing
Stories about the Revising Strategy (adverbial clauses with connecting words adaptations
different cultures (final draft of one until and when) Share a cultural story I wrote
in our community story to be typed) Spelling: Word endings /er/ and /est/ Share selected stories with grade
(student choice) Contractions 1 class
Revisit ideas about good writing
Week 27 Teach Semantic Sentences: Complex sentences Examine examples of ineffective
Communicating Webbing Strategy (relative clause using who) communication
clearly with others Spelling: Set up pen pal program
(writing topics /qu/ and /squ/ sounds Review classroom rules with students
decided by Ask parent to share a written
students) communication that went wrong
Weeks 28–­33 Report Writing Sentences: Grammar lesson depending Teach purpose and characteristics of
Report addressing Strategy* (report on students’ needs reports
a social issue to be typed) Spelling: Schedule trips to school library for
(student choice) Possessives sources
Unusual plurals (e.g., geese, mice) Continue pen pal program
Week 34 Sentences: Grammar lesson depending Invite parents to sharing reports
Sharing Report on students’ needs Revisit types of writing students do at
Spelling: /dg/ and /dge/ words home (share something they wrote)
Revisit class and student writing
identity
Update writing portfolio
Weeks 35–­36 Create class anthology of students’
Students’ write on papers from weeks 35–­36
topic of choice Share something I wrote
*
From Graham and Harris (2016)
**
Words used in spelling lessons mainly from Graham et al. (1993)

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 Viewpoint

Concluding Comments ENDNOTE

1
 s. Howard is not a real person. She is a rhetorical avatar cre-
M
Ms. Howard developed a vision for teaching writing that ated to illustrate the creation of the example vision for teach-
is clear, specific, relatively comprehensive, theory and ing writing presented here.
evidence based, and contains a scope and sequence
for what is to be done. For everyone who teaches writ- REFERENCES
ing, including teachers who use a commercial writing Ball, D.L., & Cohen, D.K. (1999). Developing practice, developing
program, it is important to develop your own vision for practitioners: Toward a practice-­based theory of professional
teaching writing so that you, your students, and their par- education. In L. Darling-­Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching
as a learning profession: Handbook for policy and practice (pp.
ents know what you plan to do during the school year. 3–­31). Jossey-­Boss.
It is also important to keep in mind that developing Graham, S. (in press). Writer(s)-­within-­community model of writing
a vision for teaching writing is only the start. The vision as a lens for studying the teaching of writing. In R. Horrowitz
(Ed.), The Routledge handbook of international research on writ-
must be put into action. This includes monitoring and ing, vol. II. Routledge.
evaluating the vision as it is enacted, engaging in prob- Graham, S. (2018). The writer(s)-­within-­community model of writ-
lem solving when things are not going according to ing. Educational Psychologist, 53, 258–­279.
Graham, S. (2019). Changing how writing is taught. Review of
plan, making adaptations as needed, and modifying the Research in Education, 43, 277–­ 303. https://doi.org/10.3102/​
vision as new information and ideas become available. 00917​32X18​821125
Please keep in mind the words of Joel Arthur Barker, the Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D’Aoust, C., MacArthur,
C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012). Teaching elemen-
American futurist, in the 1991 video The Power of Vision: tary school students to be effective writers: A practice guide.
Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vi- National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assis-
tance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of
sion just passes the time. Vision with action can change the Education.
world. Graham, S., & Harris, K.R. (2016). A path to better writing: Evidence-­
based practices in the classroom. Reading Teacher, 69, 359–­
What individual teachers do makes a difference 365. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1432
(Ball & Cohen, 1999), but unfortunately it is not enough. Graham, S., Harris, K.R., & Chambers, A. (2016). Evidence-­based
To make even more dramatic changes in how writing practice and writing instruction. In C. MacArthur, S. Graham,
& J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of Writing Research (Vol. 2, pp.
is taught requires a more concerted effort on the part 211–­226). Guilford.
of teachers and administrators working together to Graham, S., Harris, K.R., & Loynachan, C. (1993). The basic spelling
develop school-­and district-­w ide visions for teaching vocabulary. Journal of Educational Research, 86, 363–­368.
Graham, S., Harris, K.R., MacArthur, C., & Fink-­ Chorzempa, B.
writing. As I have argued elsewhere, “The goal should (2003). Primary grade teachers’ instructional adaptations for
be to have a coherent, well-­c onstructed, and consis- weaker writers: A national survey. Journal of Educational Psy-
tent vision for teaching writing on as many levels as chology, 95, 279–­293.
Graham, S., Harris, K.R., & Santangelo, T. (2015). Research-­based
possible” (Graham, 2019, p. 14). This includes at the writing practices and the common core:Meta-­ analysis and
federal, state, district, school, and classroom levels. meta-­synthesis. Elementary School Journal, 115, 498–­522.
Such visions must be flexible. Not everyone needs to do https://doi.org/10.1086/681964
Graham, S., Kiuhara, S., & MacKay, M. (2020). The effects of writ-
exactly the same thing, but it is important that everyone ing on learning in science, social studies, and mathematics: A
is rowing in the same direction. meta-­analysis. Review of Educational Research, 90, 179–­226.
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(1996). Evidence based medicine: What it is and what it isn’t.
Conflict of Interest British Medical Journal, 312, 71–­ 72. https://doi.org/10.1136/
None bmj.312.7023.71

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