POWER WRITING Building Writing Fluency Patronella Koster KentISD Literacy Consultant

Are you a fluent writer? Are your students fluent writers? What stops students from being fluent writers?

“Once they have words on the page, developing those words into longer pieces is not as intimidating as facing a blank sheet of paper.” Romano 2004

“The more we write and talk, the more we have to write and say.” Elbow 2004

Make a Foldable

Write as much as you can, as well as you can on the topic of WRITING Write one minute Count the number of words written Circle any words you think you may have misspelled and any grammatical errors Repeat two more times in succession recording the number of words written

Write as much as you can, and as well as you can. Start your Power Write with the phrase, “Once upon a time...”

Write as much as you can, and as well as you can. Use the word EARTH in your Power Writing.

Self-Assessment Record best result on a graph Graph serves as an incentive Effective tool for promoting student’s motivation and interest

KEY POINTS: Using Power Writing Three one-minute timed writing cycles A cue encouraging students to “Write as much as they can, as well as they can” Time for students to reread their writing and circle or underline errors The opportunity for students to graph their progress

Talk about using Power Writing in your classroom.

Focus Lesson on Power Writing Daily writing exercise Explain purpose and procedure Use “Think Aloud” modeling how it’s done Students do writing

Guided Instruction Small group of students who need additional guided practice Teacher assists students who are stuck. Discusses errors they notice and makes note of those that have escaped their attention.

Collaborative Learning Students work in pairs or small groups to write Critical-Students use the language of writers to make meaning Use oral language to explain, negotiate, clarify, and question one another Writers try ideas on for size by telling a peer, or work together on a writing Collaborative Writing Task Read some of your Power Writing samples to one another and select at least one to expand into a longer piece. 1. Read your Power Writing samples to your partner 2. Listen as your partner comments on your samples. Look for ideas that are interesting, funny, or surprising. 3. With the help of your partner, choose one Power Writing sample that you are going to turn into a more polished piece. (This is a great place to apply some of the six trait strategies the students have been taught, ie. thoughtshots, snapshots, great leads)

Independent Writing Ask students to expand a Power Writing sample into a longer piece. Students select and refine ideas and apply composition skills learned Teacher uses pieces to evaluate progress and pinpoint areas for reteaching

Background on Research Fluency in reading critical to comprehension (1974 LaBerge & Samuels; Rasinski 2003) Fluency critical to writing (1980 Hayes & Flower; Peter Elbow 1981) Writing Fluency improved expressiveness, increases in concrete detail, dialogue, sentence complexity (Kasper-Ferguson & Moxley 2002; Moxley, Lutz, Ahborn, & Armstrong, 1995; Fisher, Frey, Fearn, & Petersen, 2004)

We don’t believe that writers are born. Instead, we believe that writers are created. They’re created when teachers nurture their development and provide focused instruction and feedback. (Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey) Traditional Writing Process Model Real Writing 1. Writers follow a single, linear process 2. Publication is always a goal 3. Process is neat, organized into five progressive steps 1. Writers use many processes to achieve different goals 2. There are many goals for writing, including but not limited to publication 3. Process is recursive and flows in many directions as writers go back and forth between prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.

How can you provide students with opportunities to develop their writing fluency?