In this paper, I use narrative methodology to examine and interpret the experiences of Shaun, a 4th grade student in the United States, navigating his own reluctance and disaffection with writing in school -- in a writing workshop that sought to foster language experimentation, choice, and agency. From the perspective of a participant-observer and…

Before ever entering a formal educational setting, children use writing to make themselves known. Yet by the time students reach the fourth grade, only a small minority of students demonstrate writing skills considered competent by national standards. By this time in their school career, many have begun to internalize that they are poor writers…

Seventy-five general and 65 special education teachers working in the same 65 elementary schools in 12 different U.S. school districts were surveyed about their mindsets concerning the malleability of writing and intelligence as well as their practices for teaching writing. All teachers taught writing to one or more fourth-grade students receiving…

This study aims to improve the writing skills, motivation towards writing, and writing attitudes of elementary school students through educational games by eliminating the problems they encounter in the writing process. The study was designed within the scope of cooperative action research, and criterion sampling was used for the sample selection.…

This article focuses on the 2019 National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) assessment of student ability in writing. It begins with an overview of the study and its results, then turns to students' use of planning strategies to support their writing. Drawing on research on the association between planning and achievement in writing,…

This study investigated fourth and fifth graders' metacognitive knowledge about writing and its relationship to writing performance to help identify areas that might be leveraged when designing effective writing instruction. Students' metacognitive knowledge was probed using a 30-minute informative writing prompt requiring students to teach their…

With the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) in many schools across the United States and Canada, many educators have a renewed focus on intervention and assessment programming for students who struggle with academics. One format to manage interventions is for educators to provide these children with mnemonic-strategy instruction. In…

This study documented the writing practices of students in a Mexican elementary school and identified participants' attitudes toward different forms of writing. Data included observations in two classrooms as well as interviews with six case-study children and their parents. Results revealed copious writing in the school including dictations,…