Entry 2: Trends in teaching writing -SCAFFOLDING/ writer’s workshop

By -
I gathered that scaffolding is said to be instructional. It is a support that is designed to help students build their abilities and become proficient writers.

According to Vygotsky, 1978, scaffolding consists of activities provided by the educator or competent peer,  to support the student as he or she is led through the zone of proximal development. It is a process that "enables a child or novice to solve a task or achieve a goal that would be beyond his or her unassisted efforts" (wood et al. 1976,p.90) https://www.simplypsychology.org/zone-of-proximal-development.html

My lecturer educated me about these key aspects that are to be used when scafolding:

Gradual Complexity- students focus on sentence, paragraph, or essay construction.
Modeling- The teacher or instructor demonstrates a clear example of the writing process, where they would outline a plan, draft, revise, and edit their work effectively.
Guided practice- students will get guidance and feedback as they work on their writing. This includes sessions, outlines, and peer review. 
Template and Graphic Organizers- provide templates and graphic organizers that can help students organize their ideas before they write. 
Vocabulary and Sentence Frame- teachers may provide vocabulary lists or sentences or sentence frames to assist in constructing coherent sentences and paragraphs. 
Peer Collaboration- this exercise allows students to work together, provide feedback to each other, and learn from their peers.
Revision and Editing- teaching students how to revise and edit their writing for clarity, coherence, grammar, and punctuation.
Gradual Independence- the goal of scaffolding is to help students become independent writers. As they have confidence and competence, the level of support is gradually reduced until students can write effectively on their own. 


imagery showing the scaffolding stages: 

An implementation for a Grade two writing class using the scaffolding technique is:
for the first five minutes do brainstorming using oral discussion and jotting on the board, followed by a graphic organizer for 10 minutes to outline the ideas from the brainstorming, do guided writing for 15 minutes so they write simple sentences with the information from the organizer, here provide feedback. Then let students peer share for 5 minutes so they get feedback and suggestions from their peers, allow them to revise for 10 minutes then finally they will make their final drafts and present them to the class. 

 The writer workshop is a widely used scaffolding approach because it is a student-centered method. research has shown that the steps in the writer's workshop are as follows:

Mini-Lessons: The teacher begins with short, focused lessons on specific writing techniques, strategies, or aspects of the writing process. These mini-lessons provide students with the tools they need to improve their writing.

 Independent Writing: After the mini-lesson, students have the opportunity to work independently on their writing projects. They choose topics, genres, or prompts that interest them and apply the concepts they've learned from the lesson. 

Peer Conferencing: Students often engage in peer conferences where they share their work with a partner or small group. They provide feedback to each other, discuss strengths and areas for improvement, and learn from one another's writing. 

Teacher Conferences: The teacher also plays a crucial role in the workshop by meeting individually with students to provide personalized feedback and guidance. These conferences offer an opportunity for the teacher to address specific writing needs and goals.

 Revision and Editing: The workshop emphasizes the importance of revision and editing. Students are encouraged to revise their work based on feedback and lessons learned during the workshop. 

Publishing: Once students have completed their revisions and edits, they have the chance to share their writing with the class or a wider audience. This can be done through classroom displays, readings, or publishing their work in a class anthology. 

Reflection: The Writer's Workshop often includes time for reflection, where students think about their writing journey, the challenges they faced, and the progress they've made as writers. Choice: Students are given significant autonomy to choose their writing topics, genres, and styles. This freedom is believed to increase motivation and engagement in the writing process. 

Flexible Structure: The workshop is adaptable and can be tailored to suit the needs and abilities of different grade levels and student populations. It can be used for various forms of writing, from creative stories to persuasive essays. 

The Writer's Workshop is rooted in the belief that writing is a process that involves multiple drafts and revisions. It values student voice and choice, promotes a growth mindset, and fosters a 3 supportive writing community within the classroom. This approach can help students develop their writing skills and become more confident and proficient writers over time.















here is a link to more information on the writer's workshop http://elearning.asc.edu.ag/moodle/pluginfile.php/85916/mod_resource/content/1/Scaffolding%20Writing%20.pdf

The writer's workshop promotes the idea that students should engage in daily reading and writing, viewing them as writers. This approach encourages flexibility in how students produce, process, and engage with content and their learning environment.

Within this model, differentiation is evident during writing conferences where students explore mentor texts, experiment with language, share ideas, revise their work, and receive guidance from teachers. The emphasis is on helping students express their thoughts effectively in their own unique voices.

The workshop's components serve as formative assessments, focusing on nurturing and developing the students' writing abilities rather than merely delivering information. Teachers model their writing processes to demonstrate the value placed on student writing. Mini-lessons are based on informal assessments to address specific writing aspects, while mentor texts expand students' language skills. Peer and teacher interactions during writing sessions aim to assess and promptly enhance writing for specific purposes and audiences.

This approach alleviates the burden of excessive paper grading for teachers while encouraging students to produce abundant writing, fostering content ideas and enhancing their writing skills.

The workshop model might raise concerns for teachers regarding grammar instruction and classroom management. However, these aspects can be tailored to suit individual student needs. Grammar instruction might be integrated into mini-lessons or addressed during writing conferences based on assessment outcomes. Establishing routines and fostering a community of writers in the classroom makes managing a writing workshop class more manageable as students become motivated to use their writer's notebooks and view themselves as part of a collective of writers.
I have been teaching for 4 years in service . As a teacher, you learn that there is no specific age limit that someone stops learning. We learn something new everyday, as a student teacher I am here to share my knowledge obtained through this writing course. On this blog you will read about promoting writing in primary grade. Feel free to leave your comments.

Comments

  1. Christa21 October 2023 at 16:05

    You accurately and concisely described scaffolding using Vygotsky's theory. You go on to say that scaffolding entails assistance from teachers or knowledgeable peers to help kids function within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

    In addition, you describe the fundamental components of scaffolding that are intended to assist students in developing their writing skills. These elements—such as modeling, guided practice, progressive complexity, and peer collaboration—are succinctly and efficiently described. This demonstrates clearly how scaffolding may be used in a writing setting.

    You also advise including an illustration of the stages of scaffolding, which is a smart idea for visual learners. You omitted the imagery, which would have improved the content's engagement and comprehension.

    The example you provided for a second-grade writing class is useful and well-organized. It breaks down the actions in a way that is simple to understand and follows a logical order. However, to increase its instructional worth even further, you could add a brief description of the anticipated results. The complete breakdown of the Writer's Workshop methodology is instructive and gives the approach a thorough grasp. It efficiently covers all of the workshop's phases and emphasizes its advantages, such as creating a welcoming writing community. Even if it's a little wordy, it provides insightful information about this kind of writing instruction.


    ReplyDelete
  2. Zena Joseph18 November 2023 at 05:44

    It is interesting for me how you briefly summarized the ways that scaffolding influences writing in education. When I look at Vygotsky's theory, I realize that it is detailed and gives some useful techniques, including modeling, use of guidelines, gradual complexness, and template usage. The way you structured your implementation plan for a second-grade writing class shows you understand how to put scaffolding in place. Besides student centered approach, they have mini-lessons, independent writing, peer conferences, teacher conferences, revision, editing, publication, and reflection. Thank you for the clarification. I will appreciate using these skills while in my training.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Entry 1: Product vs Process approach to writing

By -
Image
 Our first session began by learning about two approaches "product and process approach." some of us were able to make sense of these words, however, we researched and shared. later on, we focused on: The product and process approach encourages writers to first generate ideas and drafts without focusing on too much perfection. With the product being the end results and the process being the steps taken to get to the end, they both are excellent ways to write. These two approaches have many similarities,  some of which are : improves students' results in writing  teaches involvement  grammar and mechanics analysis recognize the importance of revision in writing steps/stages can be used for assessment when a final product is produced  However, these processes are just as different as well because the product focuses more on the end results it does not spend time on coming up with ideas like process writing, rather it emphasizes on key components. It does no...
Read more

Entry Nine: Challenges in Teaching Writing in Primary Levels

By -
Image
  Teaching writing to primary school pupils is a difficult but rewarding endeavor (Smith, 2018). Teachers face a number of challenges as they work to mold the brains of future learners, challenges that call for innovative solutions. We'll examine the difficulties in teaching writing at the elementary school level in this blog and provide suggestions for overcoming them.   Developmental Diversity: The enormous disparities in elementary pupils' developmental stages are one of the main obstacles (Jones & Brown, 2019). Given that every child develops at a different rate, accommodating differing levels of cognitive and motor skills calls for a flexible strategy.   Motivating Reluctant Writers: Getting reluctant authors to write presents a big challenge (Clark, 2020). Some kids might not be motivated or confident writers. Techniques like adding enjoyable and engaging exercises, relating writing to personal experiences, and giving students options can all help spark ...
Read more

Entry 3: Harnessing the Power of the Writer's Workshop- Using it as a Formative Assessment Tool

By -
Image
    In order to guide instructional decisions and provide useful insights on students' development, assessments are an essential component of the learning process. Although formative evaluation techniques are equally important as standard examinations, they can provide a more comprehensive picture of students' writing skills. We will look at how the Writer's Workshop can function as an engaging and useful formative assessment tool in elementary school in this blog article.   Observational Assessment Teachers get to watch carefully as students work through the writing process during the Writer's Workshop. They can then evaluate students' grasp of writing topics, their ability to apply skills, and their degree of independence through conferences. Teachers can learn a great deal about their students' writing habits, including how they come up with ideas, draft, edit, and follow writing conventions, by watching how they write.   Individualized Feedback...
Read more