Lara Literature Review 1

Literature Review
Brittney Lara
North Carolina State University
ECI 523
March 25, 2016
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Abstract

The goal of our classroom today is to ensure that our 21st century learners become

college, career, and life ready. In order to build this foundation of readiness, students are

exposed to rigorous curriculum starting in Kindergarten. Classroom teachers are expected

to work within the parameters of the Common Core State Standards to ensure students

gain essential skills in all components of their education. A huge chunk of this focus is

geared toward English Language Arts. Students should be literate in both reading and

writing with exposures of challenging texts and writing tasks that aid students in

acquiring habits that are essential for their success in the future. Reading as well as

writing appears to be where a significant portion of time is allotted inside the classroom,

especially in the primary grades. Both areas require teachers to employ authentic tasks

where the student feels there is a purpose for learning. Individually, both reading and

writing require a teachers investment of time on modeling, facilitating and

differentiating based on student needs.

This literature review will discuss the aspects of Writers Workshop in primary

grades, differentiation instruction in the workshop model, strategies to help writers self-

regulate their learning, digital and media technologies used in literacy instruction, and

how digital tools specifically can support the writing process. Therefore, the overall

purpose of this study is to explore what happens when a digital component is added to the

Writers Workshop to promote student understanding and production of written products.

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Review of the Literature

Writers Workshop

Writers Workshop is a methodology that engages students to participate in

writing in a meaningful manner. Literature suggests that Writers Workshop is an

interactive way to help students develop skills, stay engaged, meet diverse needs, and

develop motivated writers. Writers Workshop is defined by Jasmine and Weiner (2007)

as, an interactive approach to teaching writing in which students learn and practice the

importance of rehearsal, drafting/revising, and editing their own work (p. 1). Writers

Workshop is divided into different segments to help students achieve desired outcomes.

These segments include mini lessons, conferencing, and sharing. According to Carroll

and Feng (2010), The teachers responsibility in Writers Workshop is to meet with

students individually to help them with the mechanics of writing based on what each

student needs at the moment. (p.3).

Teachers begin Writers Workshop with a mini-lesson on an essential writing skill

or concept. A mini-lesson is a short lesson taught either at the beginning or the end of a

Writers Workshop session that focuses on a specific skill to help improve components of

the writing piece. A classroom teacher may focus on strategies for delivery, word

choices, framework of specific writing genres, or the revision process. Conroy,

Marchand, and Webster (2009) suggest that The most effective mini-lessons are those

that are interactive and that those interactive lessons are the most powerful tool in

improving childrens writing (p.25).

In the Writers Workshop process, students are expected to transfer the knowledge

gained from the mini-lesson and make it applicable to their writing pieces. The pace in
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which this is accomplished varies student to student based on their current level of

knowledge and skills. Students who struggle with writing are expected to attain skills

taught in the mini-lesson segment through the continuous process of writing and

conference with their teacher and peers (Jasmine and Weiner, 2007).

Following the mini-lesson, students typically will conference with others about

their work. Frequently, they conference with their teacher who helps them evaluate their

work and set goals for improving writing pieces. Students may also confer with peers, to

help get inspiration, to brainstorm, or to add relevant details to writing pieces (Jasmine

and Weiner, 2007). The result of conferring is a written product that can then be shared.

In sharing, students are encouraged to verbally share their written work with other

students and adults. The entire process of Writers Workshop is based on individual

student needs. In essence this can be considered a form of differentiation.

Differentiation

Researchers Subban and Round (2015) found that, Differentiated instruction,

essentially means that teachers are responding constructively and proactively to student

needs (p.117). Writers Workshop enables teachers to address the varying instructional

needs of students as they teach each component of the writing process. Today, teachers

around the world are expected to differentiate instruction to support student diversity and

learning needs. Dixon, Yssel, McConnell, and Hardin (2014) noted that the due to the

extreme differences in student learning needs, teachers have a difficult time designing

and implementing focused learning activities specifically tailored to each childs needs.

Essentially, this simply means that one size does not fit all and it is difficult to create an

individual learning path for each child. Everyday teachers are faced with this dilemma.
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They work with children that range in skills and abilities from academically gifted level

to those who struggle daily to meet grade level standards. With an understanding of this

challenge, Dixon (2014) emphasizes that it is difficult and complex for teachers to adjust

instruction and modify curriculum to adequately meet the varied needs of each student in

their classrooms. Differentiation in writing instruction plays an important role in Writers

Workshop because an initial mini-lesson is taught whole group and then a differentiated

portion of the instruction comes into play when teachers confer with individual students.

While the teacher is conferring with individual students, the remainder of the class needs

to be working independently on their writing. This requires a level of self-regulation by

individual students. Teachers frequently have to teach students these self-regulating

behaviors as well as writing itself if students are to become managers of their own

learning.

Self-Regulated Strategy

In order for students to take on the roll of an independent writer, teachers need to

equip students with approaches on how to manage their time, behavior, and their writing

pieces. The Self-Regulating Strategy Model has been used by teachers to help

students become independent writers. According to Zumbrunn and Bruning (2012), The

Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of writing instruction involves

teaching students strategies for planning and organizing their writing, as well as self-

regulation procedures, such as monitoring and goal-setting (p. 92). The authors go on to

explain that this model has been proven to be highly effectively in teaching elementary-

aged students the writing process. In the primary grades, writing can be an especially

challenging task for emerging writers (Helsel and Greenberg, 2007). Students who are
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new to the exposure of Writers Workshop often struggle to meet the demands of

composing a writing piece without one-on-one assistance. It is imperative that students

learn to work through this process without direct guidance, so teacher is able to confer

and meet the differentiated needs of the students in the writing group. SRSD is helpful

when teaching primary students because you can use this model of instruction and

combine it when teaching writing strategies in Writers Workshop. (Helsel and

Greenberg, 2007) Much like Writers Workshop, SRSD is developed in stages and is a

continuous process where previously taught strategies are reinforced through discussions,

modeling, and support. Research from Helsel and Greenburg (2007) suggests that,

SRSD also seeks to increase the characteristics of good writing found within students

compositions, such as effective organization, adequate detail, and meaningful

revisions.(p.754) To help students become successful in SRSD throughout Writers

Workshop, it is imperative to take into account the authentic learning experience that is

being provided. In efforts to achieve these authentic learning experiences we offer our

students the importance of why and what we are doing.

Writers Workshop and Digital Learning

In the world we live in today, teachers are expected to wear many hats and

provide students with instruction that is tailored to their needs. Teachers have to examine

a multitude of factors that enable students to receive this type of instruction. One driving

component for teachers is that our students walk into our classrooms each day with

exposure to multi-media tools and rich experiences that shape their desire to learn. It is

becoming a way of the past to think that instruction without the use of digital media tools

is effective or engaging for these learners. When thinking about our 21st century learners,
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it is evident that we must begin to consider how technology can be selected to assist

students in learning curriculum content. When examining the literature on the impact of

technology on literacy, Hitchinson and Woodward (2014), supported the idea that digital

tools can be a valuable asset in the classroom and help support differentiated learning

opportunities.

Integrated technology enables teachers to more effectively address the varied

learning needs of students. Integrated technology has great promise for enhancing

writing instruction with young learners. Teachers can tap into the technological skills of

students to help them learn the writing process. Researchers have already started to

examine the instructional value of technology on literacy instruction and the writing

learning process. More specifically, educational researchers are looking at what influence

technology could have on writers in primary grades and during Writers Workshop?

Researchers Anderson and Mims (2014) discovered that When digital tools traditionally

used outside of the classroom are invited into the classroom, there is potential not only to

motivate students and connect with their interests and experiences, but also to enhance

key components of effective writing instruction, such as idea development and writing for

authentic purposes and audiences (p.609). Teachers have claimed that technology

promoted writing performance among their students (Barone and Wright, 2008;

Saulsburry, Kilpatrick, Wolbers, and Dostal, 2015). Further research that compares

technology-enhanced vs. non-technology approaches to the teaching of Writers

Workshop with primary elementary students appears to be needed in order to provide

teachers with the most effective methods for teaching writing to our future students

(Kilpatrick, Saulsburry, Dostal, & Wolbers, 2014).

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References

Barone, D., & Wright, T. (2008). Literacy instruction with digital and media technologies.

The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 292-302.

Carroll, S., & Feng, J. (2010). Writer's Workshop vs. Writing Prompts: The effect on first

graders' writing ability and attitude towards writing. 1-25.

Conroy, M., Marchand, T., & Webster, M. (2009). Motivating Primary Students to Write

using Writer's Workshop (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Saint Xavier

University.

Dixon, F. A., Yssel, N., Mcconnell, J. M., & Hardin, T. (2014). Differentiated Instruction,

Professional Development, and Teacher Efficacy. Journal for the Education of the

Gifted, 37(2), 111-127. doi:10.1177/0162353214529042

Helsel, L., & Greenberg, D. (2007). Helping struggling writers succeed: A self-regulated

strategy instruction program. The Reading Teacher, 60(8), 752-760.

Hutchinson, A., & Woodward, L. (2014). A planning cycle for integrating digital

technology into literacy instruction. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 455-467.

Jasmine, J., & Weiner, W. (2007). The effects of Writing Workshop on abilities of first

grade students to become confident and independent writers. Early Childhood

Education, 35(2), 131-139.

Kilpatrick, J., Saulsburry, R., Dostal, H., & Wolbers, K. (2014). The integration of digital

tools during strategic interactive writing instruction. In R. Anderson & C. Mims

(Authors), Handbook of research on digital tools for writing instruction in K-12

settings (pp. 608-627). Information Science Reference. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-

5982
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Saulsburry, R., Kilpatrick, J., Wolbers, K., & Dostal, H. (2015). Incorporating digital

tools to support the writing process. Odyssey, 30-34.

Subban, P. K., & Round, P. (2015). Differentiated Instruction at Work. Reinforcing the art

of classroom observation through the creation of a checklist for beginning and

pre-service teachers. AJTE Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(5).

doi:10.14221/ajte.2015v40n5.7

Zumbrunn, S., & Bruning, R. (2012). Improving the writing and knowledge of emergent

writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Read Writ Reading

and Writing, 26(1), 91-110. doi:10.1007/s11145-012-9384-5