How to Teach Writing Strategies + Run a Guided Writing Session

Summary

In this video, Mariana, a Grade 3 and Grade 4 teacher from Alberta, Canada, shares her approach to teaching writing strategies in the classroom. She walks through a week of lessons, including how she uses guided writing, the COPS strategy for editing, and Daily 5 rotations. She emphasizes the importance of repetition, individualized support, and the use of writing notebooks for referencing key strategies. Mariana also offers a free guided writing strategies download and shares her language arts notebooks, which help cover essential language arts outcomes. The video provides valuable tips for educators to improve writing instruction.

Takeaways

• 😀 Mariana is a grade 3 and 4 teacher in Alberta, Canada, and shares helpful YouTube videos for educators.
• 😀 Last week’s video covered the importance of guided writing groups and how to address common writing struggles in students.
• 😀 The video includes a free guided writing strategies list, available for download from Mariana's website.
• 😀 The guided writing strategy for the current unit is editing fictional narratives, focusing on spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• 😀 On Monday, students create a mini poster in their notebooks about editing using the 'COPS' strategy (Capitalization, Organization, Punctuation, Spelling).
• 😀 On Tuesday, the class reviews the poster and practices editing a paragraph together, followed by group practice in pairs.
• 😀 On Wednesday, Mariana meets with each student during a Daily 5 session to provide personalized feedback on their editing skills.
• 😀 On Thursday, students work with a small group, where Mariana provides focused guided writing practice on the editing strategy.
• 😀 During guided writing, Mariana uses whiteboards for students to actively practice editing text without mistakes.
• 😀 Mariana emphasizes the importance of repetition and practice to help students master writing strategies and highlights the usefulness of their writer’s notebooks as a reference throughout the year.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Mariana's video?

Mariana's video primarily focuses on teaching writing strategies to educators, particularly for grade 3 and grade 4 students, using a structured approach like guided writing and editing strategies.

What is the writing strategy that Mariana uses to teach editing in her classroom?

Mariana uses the COPS strategy for teaching editing. This strategy focuses on checking capitalization, overall look, punctuation, and spelling in students' writing.

How does Mariana introduce new writing strategies to her students?

Mariana introduces new writing strategies by starting with a class-wide discussion, where students collaboratively create mini posters in their writing notebooks. This visual reference helps them track the strategies throughout the year.

What is the importance of the writing notebook in Mariana's classroom?

The writing notebook is important because it serves as a reference tool for students throughout the year. It helps them track and revisit writing strategies like punctuation, spelling, and editing, ensuring they can independently apply these concepts.

How does Mariana incorporate small group work into her teaching method?

Mariana uses small group work during her Daily 5 sessions. On Wednesdays, she meets with students in small groups to review and practice the writing strategy. She gives personalized feedback based on the students' progress from the previous day.

What role does the 'Daily 5' play in Mariana's teaching routine?

The 'Daily 5' allows Mariana to rotate through different student work stations, including guided writing, independent reading, and writing practice. This structure enables her to provide individualized support and monitor student progress.

How does Mariana assess whether a student is grasping the editing strategy?

Mariana assesses students' understanding of the editing strategy through quick feedback during small group sessions and by reviewing exit slips from the Daily 5 rotations, where students edit a text and submit it for evaluation.

What does Mariana do when she notices a student is struggling with punctuation during the guided writing session?

If a student is struggling with punctuation, Mariana asks them to refer back to their writer's notebook, where there are anchor charts and mini-posters that remind them of correct punctuation rules.

Why does Mariana use a two-page free download for writing strategies?

Mariana uses the two-page free download to offer teachers a practical resource that includes writing strategies and prompts for helping students overcome common writing struggles, such as editing for punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

What other teaching resources does Mariana offer for language arts?

Mariana offers comprehensive language arts notebooks for grades 3 and 4, which include separate notebooks for reading strategies, writing strategies, and grammar and conventions. These resources cover a wide range of language arts outcomes.