perspectives in Education and Deafness

Guided Writing

Guided Reading and Writing
by Stephanie Malik

A Sample Lesson

Mini-lessons can be one of the best opportunities to use the technique of guided writing. During the lesson, students compose a short passage about an experience, a summary to a story, or a short piece of fiction. My role is to help students build their written language skills by encouraging them to elaborate on the details they contribute to the written production. Content, grammar, and mechanics are addressed.

During guided writing, it is critical to maintain a balance in a lesson so that it is at once student-centered and teacher-directed. Teachers need to ask appropriate questions, encourage group dialogue, and help students become aware that they are responsible for correct syntax.

Our class took a walking tour of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The students were expected to use descriptive language as well as some of their science vocabulary as they wrote large group journal entries. The following is a transcript of some of the resulting dialogue that occurred as we developed our writing. The names of the children have been changed for publication.

	ABOVE: A student writes on a transparency so that others can view his work.

Ken: I saw a brook.

Teacher: Good. Did anyone else see a brook?

(All students raise their hands.)

Ken: We saw a brook.

Teacher: Right. But I'm curious, why not write, I saw a brook?

Ken: Because the class saw.

Teacher: Oh, so we means (pointing to each student and then to herself) all of us?

Ken: Yes.

Teacher: Who remembers what we saw at the end of the brook?

Ned: Turtle big.

Teacher: Yes, that's true. There were big turtles. And…?

Ed: Lake?

Teacher: Like a lake only smaller.

Dave: Pond!

Teacher: Very good! A pond. Hmmm…a pond, a brook, big turtles. How can I write that into a sentence?

Ned: We saw the pond and big turtle.

Teacher: What do you think of that sentence, Ned?

Ned: I think it is fine.

Teacher: Did you see one turtle or many?

Ned: Many.

Teacher: Did I spell turtle right?

Ned and Valerie: Need s!!

Teacher: Good for you! What does s mean?

Ned and Valerie: Many turtles!

Grammatical questions follow, many of them based on students' prior knowledge: "Does this sentence need a verb?" "Is the verb tense past tense? How do we write that?" When students don't recognize their grammatical mistakes, I ask the class to respond. If the class struggles with syntax, I may write their response and its correct revision. I include an explanation about the difference between sign communication and written English.

Another context for guided writing is attaining students' permission to share their work with the class and asking the group to analyze their classmate's first or second draft. Students are motivated to assist with checking off the editing checklist. They are also responsible for contributing to the discussion about the writing sample. Using the checklist, students answer questions such as: "Does the author have a title?" "Which verb tense did the author use?" "Did the author need quotation marks?"

These kinds of questions can only be discussed after the class has mastered the concepts that they have been exposed to in many mini-lessons and conferences. Throughout the first semester of school, students gradually learn each objective on the checklist so that they develop writing skills and an ability to independently edit and revise their own work.

Often our students are reluctant to take risks in reading and writing for fear of being wrong. In the nonthreatening environment established in guided reading and writing, they are able to explore their newly acquired skills. With appropriate guidance, they develop self-confidence. They not only learn to read and write; they learn how to learn to read and write.

—Stephanie Malik

Guided Reading and Writing