The Gradual Release Model of Writing & the Writing Process

Chapter 2, pp. 48-58 (48-57 in 6th ed.)

The Gradual Release Model of Writing
Modeled Writing-teachers have all of the responsibility for writing; they write in front of the
students, thinking aloud while writing; they also share their own finished pieces and models of
writing from childrens literature and other sources
Shared Writing-teachers have most of the responsibility for writing, but students participate
some in writing shared texts; this is often known as a shared pen or the Language Experience
Approach
Guided Writing- students have most of the responsibility for writing, the teacher participates by
sharing mini-lessons and teaching writing strategies and skills
Interactive Writing-students have most of the responsibility for writing, but they write in groups;
the teacher scaffolds the groups as they create their shared piece
Independent Writing-students have all of the responsibility for writing
The Writing Process
This is a process, not linear steps, and teachers meet in small instructional groups or in one-to-one
conferences with students during each phase of the process:
Prewriting-choosing a topic, talking, reading, drawing, brainstorming, gathering ideas,
organizing ideas, considering purpose/genre, etc. preparing to draft/rehearsing for writing
Drafting-getting ideas down on paper in a first, rough draftthis may be very messy and will
not be graded for grammar/mechanics/spelling; young children should skip lines so that they
can make revisions easily; young children should also write on one side of the paper so that
they can cut the paper apart to add new words/lines with stapled paper; be sure to label or
date stamp these drafts so that children know where they are in the writing process and so that
they can see their progress as they move through the process
Revising-the focus is on content and includes adding, substituting, deleting, and rearranging
material to make the piece flow, accomplish a goal, engage the audience, have voice, etc.
this requires the author to reread the piece and is often done after an author shares the
piece and gets feedback from another reader
Editing-proofreading (reading word by word, looking for errors) and correcting
grammar/mechanics/spelling and getting the piece in its final form; this requires multiple proofs
of the piece and is enhanced with checklists to guide the proofreading process
Publishing-writing a final copy and sharing it in some form with an audience
Considerations for ELL students or Struggling Writers
Begin with personal topics (personal narrative and personal expository)
Give plenty of time to talk before beginning the drafting phase; remember, this is not a linear
process, so talk will be needed all along the process
Provide plenty of models of writing, and allow students to mimic the patterns of their favorite
models
Focus on meaning firstthe content is the most important part