Notice It, Practice It, Try It

Using Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing to Promote Independent Application

By Karren Colbert

Karren Colbert has a decade of teaching experience, both in and out of the classroom. She's been a fourth grade teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and most recently started Write Brained Learning, an educational consulting company. She also blogs at The Write Brained Teacher. (www.writebrainedteacher.blogspot.com) She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Curriculum and Instruction degree, also from the University of Missouri.  In 2005, Karren was recognized as the University of Missouri Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Professional.

"It feels like spoonfeeding," was the complaint of one teacher as we met to discuss her students' writing progress.  Her second graders had progressed tremendously since the last time we met, yet she was reluctant to celebrate and discouraged by the high level of support they required along the way.

Little did this teacher know that I was in the midst of spoonfeeding my youngest daughter and suffice it to say, it was not going well.  I thought about her comparison.  Spoonfeeding was a perfect metaphor for good instruction.  Just as no two classrooms are the same, so too were my experiences with spoonfeeding.  Natalie, my older daughter, eager for independence, could hardly wait to take matters into her own hands.  Emily, well let's just say that there were moments when I wondered if she would ever feed herself. 

"Is that such a bad thing?" I asked the teacher.

The problem, the teacher explained, was that most of her students had written their piece using complete sentences.  Since this had been the topic of our previous conversation, I was anxious to hear more.  She reflected that the strategies she had put in place were working well.  So far, so good, I thought.  I wasn't sure why this teacher was so disappointed.  Her students were successful as a direct result of her instructional changes.

"It just took so much time and I feel like they should be able to do it without so much help," was her reply.

And what could I say?  She was right, good teaching takes time and this can be frustrating.  As much as I wanted Emily to hold that spoon on her own, she couldn't.  But she did teach me that we have to meet learners where they are if we want to move them, step by step, toward independence.  We can't know when they will finally try to hold the spoon for themselves.  All we can do is follow their cues so that we know when it's time to let them try.  And when this happens, we should expect carrots to end up on the floor, ceiling, and everywhere in between.  If you like things nice and tidy, as I do, there's comfort in the fact that there is learning in the mess.

The gradual progression toward independence, with decreasing levels of teacher support, has a name.  The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model, first developed by Pearson & Gallagher (1993), is a research based instructional model that outlines the process necessary to promote independent application of a skill.  The teacher gradually decreases his or her support as students' demonstrate success.  If necessary, the teacher increases the level of support when students are struggling.

For some reason, writing is seems to be an area where we sometimes abandon the Gradual Release Model.  In my experiences, writing instruction often consists of a quick mini-lesson, followed by time to write independently, in hopes that students apply the learning to their own piece of writing.  This is a bit like showing a baby how to use a spoon, explaining why we use spoons, and then letting them fend for themselves.  We need all students to notice and practice what good writers do.  It is not enough to help them notice a craft or trait and send them back to their seats, hoping they will try it.

If we want to ensure that students begin to apply new crafts and skills, we can apply the Gradual Release Model to our writing instruction with the Notice It, Practice It, Try It framework.  We begin in the Notice It phase by helping students identify the qualities of effective writing.  The 6+1 Traits define what good writers do, but research tells us that our feedback is most useful it's focused on a particular skill. So when we Notice It, we pick one specific skill or craft and use mentor texts to help students identify how a writer does, or does not, effectively use the skill.

The next stage, Practice It, combines Guided Instruction and Collaborative Practice steps of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model.  During this phase, the teacher utilizes the strategies of Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing.  Let me first define what I mean by these terms, since they mean different things to different people and are sometimes used interchangeably.  We'll define Shared Writing as a class working together, with the guidance of the teacher, to create or revise a piece of writing.  Shared Writing encourages risk taking, provides students with feedback, and allows teachers to evaluate students' readiness for collaborative practice.  Based on student interactions, the teacher can confidently decide who is ready to move on, as well as which students would benefit from additional guided practice.  The next step, Collaborative Writing, is when students work in groups or pairs to practice the skill.  Together, Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing comprise the Practice It phase of our instructional framework for writing.

The final state, Try It, has students performing the skill on their own; often editing a piece that they have previously written.

The follow writing lesson provides an example of the Notice It, Practice It, Try It instructional framework.

Skill Focus: Using Specific Nouns (Word Choice Trait)

The purpose of this skill focus is to have students use specific nouns instead of more general ones. For example you would write, "I ate a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich" instead of, "I ate lunch."

Notice It (Mentor Text)

Students will analyze two writing samples using Word Choice Trait criteria to determine what each writer does effectively or ineffectively.  The proficient writing sample, 'A&W', demonstrates the writers' ability to use specific and precise nouns.  The other example, 'My Trip to Colorado', contains general nouns.  Both samples were written by students, but not the same students who will analyze them.  Students will work in pairs to revise 'My Trip to Colorado' in the Practice It step.

Practice It (Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing)

Shared Writing: The class has been working on a descriptive piece about their field trip to the Nature Center where they built bird houses.  They've created a complete draft and are now in the revising stage.  Together they will choose at least three nouns to replace with more specific nouns.  For example, they might replace tools with hammer and nails. 

Collaborative Writing: Students will work in pairs to revise a piece of writing by replacing at least three general nouns.  If necessary, the teacher will meet with a small group of students during this time to provide additional support and practice with the activity, but he or she may also move about the room and provide feedback to collaborative groups. 

Try It (Independent Application)

Students will revise their own piece of writing by replacing at least three general nouns with more specific nouns.

Why Collaborative Writing?

Sometimes we tend to think that older students don't need Shared or Collaborative Writing, but this couldn't be further from the truth.  In fact, I use Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing with learners of all ages, including teachers.  Time after time, teachers tell me how much fun it was writing collaboratively with their peers.   Not only does it make the learning more fun, but the end product is better. 

If we can provide our writers the same positive experiences and small successes, it won't be long before teachers hear the phrase, currently popular in our home, "I can do it myself!"

Resources:

1. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey (www.fisherandfrey.com) are recognized as experts on The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. 
2. The Writing Fix www.writingfix.com This site, sponsored by the Northwest Regional Educational Library, is a great place to find information about trait writing, mentor texts, and lesson ideas. 
3. At www.thetraits.org, also by Northwest Regional Educational Library, you'll find writing samples to use as Mentor Texts with students.