SIM Learning Strategies: The Writing Strategies

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SIM Learning Strategies:

The Writing Strategies

The SIM Writing Strategies are evidence-

based teaching tools that gradually

release control from teacher to student

to help students express themselves

and master the writing skills required in

most state standards across grades 2

through 12.

Writing is a complex skill that is oen not given

the attention needed for many students to become

sophisticated, procient writers. There are countless

reasons teachers nd writing dicult to teach. However,

the reality is eective writing instruction requires

explicit, scaolded instruction with timely, descriptive

feedback. SIM Writing Strategies provide scaolded

instruction and a progression of writing skills from

the simple sentence, to a single paragraph, to multi-

paragraph essays and themes. Each SIM writing strategy

provides explicit, intentional, scaolded instruction

with descriptive feedback, mastery learning, progress

monitoring, and generalization across all content areas.

Previously, students

presented written pieces

with non-cohesive sentence

structures including four

or ve word sentences

all beginning with “I like...”.

Since implementing this

instructional model,

students demonstrate

understanding that each

sentence must be unique

and provide a subject and

an action for the subject.

SIM Writing

Strategies

Scaolded

instruction

Explicit

instruction

A progression

writing skills

Timely,

descriptive

feedback

Progress

monitoring

Generalization

across content

classes

https://sim.ku.edu/sim-learning-strategies

The Sentence Writing Strategies

The Sentence Writing Strategy comprises two parts: Fundamentals in the Sentence Writing Strategy and

Prociency in the Sentence Writing Strategy. Together, these components constitute a strategy for recognizing

and writing 14 sentence patterns with four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-

complex. Each part consists of an Instructor’s Manual and Student Lessons Manual(s). The Instructor’s Manuals

feature a systematic sequence of instructional procedures; the Student Lessons Manuals feature exercises that

correspond to instructional procedures. As one example from a research study, results showed that students

wrote an average of 65 percent complete sentences on the pretest and an average of 88 percent complete

sentences on the post-test.

Fundamentals in the Sentence Writing Strategy helps student writers understand

basic concepts of a complete sentence and terms, such as “subject,” “verb,” or

“infinitive” by:

• identifying the five requirements of a complete sentence.

• identifying and understanding the role of linking verbs, infinitives,

prepositional phrases, adjectives, main subjects, helping verbs, complete

verbs, and adverbs.

• composing four types of simple sentences.

Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Strategy helps student writers learn advanced

sentence writing skills, including writing simple, compound, complex, and compound-

complex sentences by:

• identifying and distinguishing the requirements of simple, compound,

complex, and compound-complex sentences.

• composing simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

I have implemented Fundamentals

in Sentence Writing. My

students quickly improved

from rarely using

punctuation and capital

letters to almost always

using them. Also, they

now better understand

nouns and verbs.

Professional Learning

KUCRL is committed to nding solutions to educational challenges and placing our research ndings into the hands of practitioners, students, and researchers in the

eld. Our expansive network of dedicated professionals —the SIM International Professional Development Network — shares our values and goals for delivering

high-quality professional learning with a partnership approach to educators around the world. These experts oer professional development, instructional coaching, and

technical assistance to establish the necessary infrastructure support for educators to implement evidence-based practices.

The Paragraph Writing Strategy helps student writers learn to write a well-organized

paragraph by:

• listing ideas related to a topic.

• planning the point of view and verb tense to be used.

• planning the sequence in which ideas will be expressed.

• writing a variety of topic, detail, and clincher sentences.

The Paragraph Writing Strategy

The Paragraph Writing Strategy consists of an Instructor’s Manual and a Student Lessons Manual. The

Instructor’s Manual features a systematic sequence of instructional procedures; the Student Lessons Manual

features exercises that correspond to the instructional procedures. Research showed that students earned an

average of 40% of the points available when writing a paragraph on the pretest and an average of 71% of the

points available when writing a paragraph on the post-test.

The Theme Writing Strategies

Fundamentals in Theme Writing helps student writers focus on the fundamental skills

associated with writing themes by:

• explaining the parts of a theme.

• finding and adding subtopics.

• brainstorming, planning, and writing the concluding paragraph.

• writing detail sentences and graphics.

Proficiency in Theme Writing: Informative Writing enables student writers to write a

research paper by showing them how to:

• conduct research, take notes, create reference lists, and write short multi-paragraph

research essays that include in-text citations and quotations.

• organize information in multi-paragraphs.

• write a variety of research papers.

Proficiency in Theme Writing: Narrative Writing enables student writers to plan and

write non-fiction stories, such as personal stories, biographical stories, journalistic

stories, and historical stories by teaching:

• the elements of stories and analyzing the parts of stories.

• how to plan and write nonfiction and fiction stories.

• how to write based on research.

Proficiency in Theme Writing: Persuasive and Argumentative Writing enables student

writers to be persuasive and also use evidence to support their arguments by teaching

how to plan and write

• basic persuasive and argumentative themes with counterclaims.

• themes with examples garnered through research.

The SIM Theme Writing series encompasses four Instructor’s Manuals that prepare students for writing-

competency exams as well as the writing demands of general education courses. Before instruction begins,

students must have mastered several foundational writing skills such as writing complete sentences, understanding

basic concepts and terms like topic, detail, clincher sentences, point-of-view, tense, sequence, and transitions.

These terms are used throughout Theme Writing Strategy instruction, and new concepts are built upon them as

instruction proceeds.

The Professional Development Research Institute

Joseph R. Pearson Hall

1122 West Campus Road, Room 708

Lawrence, KS 66045-3101

785.864.0626 • 785.864.5728 (fax)

[email protected] • http://sim.ku.edu

Multi-Media Strategies

Strategies for Checking for Writing Errors

Edit Strategy helps student writers find and correct errors in capitalization, appearance,

punctuation, and spelling by:

• learning to enter their first draft into a word processing program.

• performing spell check.

• running through questions related to capitalization, overall appearance, punctuation, and

substance of the paper.

• making needed corrections.

Error Monitoring Strategy helps student writers learn to independently detect and correct

errors in their hand-written work to increase the overall quality of their final product by:

• proofreading for content and mechanical errors.

• eliminating errors before work is submitted.

• developing personal strategies to avoid future errors.

InSPECT Strategy helps student writers detect and correct spelling errors using

spellchecker by:

• learning to run spellchecker.

• selecting the correct suggested spelling or making a guess about the correct spelling.

Writing Mechanics: Capitalization, Commas, and Punctuation Strategies

For each of these three interactive digital programs, teachers correct students’ application of the strategies

in their written sentences at the end of each lesson. Otherwise, the programs are self-paced and self-

correcting.

Star Writer Programs: Fundamentals and Proficiency in Paragraph and Theme Writing

These interactive digital programs teach individual students skills associated with writing

paragraphs and themes by seeing examples, hearing authors think aloud as they plan

and write, and by practicing, planning and writing. They require the teacher

to score sentences, paragraphs, and/or themes at the end of some

lessons. Otherwise, they are self-paced, and self-scoring. Each

is embedded within a Space Odyssey plot.