From Struggle to Success: Navigating the Writing Process With Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)

The teacher says, “Time to write your opinion. Which character in our book would make a good friend, and why? Use evidence from the book to support your answer.”

The student thinks, “Probably Charlotte, but if I just write ‘Charlotte,’ the teacher will give my paper back. I have no idea how to get started. This seems too hard.” The student shuts down, leaving the teacher frustrated.

In defense of the student, writing is complicated. It requires generating ideas, transforming ideas into sentences, and organizing sentences into a coherent composition. We must also consider spelling and sentence structure, all while staying motivated to do our best. Writing is a complex web of choices. Writing requires risk-taking, as we must expose our thoughts and ideas, and put the writing piece on display for others to critique. Writing is complicated. Writing can be complex. Students rely on their teachers to provide the frameworks that transform writing from a challenge into an enjoyable experience. As educators, we need to ensure that our students are empowered to make informed decisions about their writing (Quigly, A., 2024).

What is Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)?

Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) can help the teacher become more effective and the student become more empowered. SRSD provides explicit instruction, focusing on writing strategies for specific genres, self-regulation procedures to manage the writing process, and relevant knowledge—declarative, conditional, and procedural. It teaches students what to do; how to do it; and when, where, and why to do it. This focus on developing writing processes and knowledge is central to SRSD (Harris, K., et al., 2014). 

SRSD is an evidence-based practice that equips students with the tools they need to become successful writers by implementing a six-step process that teaches students specific academic strategies and self-regulation skills.  The framework includes direct instruction, modeling, collaborative writing, and independent writing and takes the students through all the stages of the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

The six-steps of SRSD:

1. Develop background knowledge
2. Discuss strategies and the writing process
3. Model the strategies
4. Memorize the strategies
5. Support students through a gradual release of control
6. Independent performance

These six steps are a flexible set of guidelines that can be thoughtfully combined, modified, revisited, and adjusted based on students' needs (Harris, K., et al., 2008).

One of the steps where teachers often struggle is in modeling or think-alouds, frequently underestimating their importance. Modeling is a crucial component in SRSD, demonstrating how expert writers navigate the writing process. 

SRSD includes explicit development of critical self-regulation strategies, including goal setting, self-instructions, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. Expert writers use these powerful self-regulation strategies throughout the writing process. Yet, many struggling writers have difficulty with self-regulation. Therefore, the modeling stage will focus the students on the critical skills that expert writers demonstrate. 

Creating a Modeling (or Think-Aloud) Script

Preparation: Develop and practice the modeling or think-aloud script before the lesson, so it feels natural when presenting to students. 

Each modeling should show the students how expert writers think or have an internal dialogue to guide their writing process. Expert writers think about how to get started on the task, how to organize their thoughts and ideas, how to self-regulate during a challenge or to praise their work, and how to think about the editing and reviewing process of writing. 

Some areas a modeling script can include are: 

Getting Started: Modeling how an expert writer approaches a writing task. The teacher might say, “What do I need to do? I have to write my opinion. The directions say I need to write about the character I think would make a good friend.”

Organizing Thoughts: Demonstrating how to organize ideas. This part of the modeling involves the chosen mnemonic that matches the writing prompt. For example, the teacher might say, “Since I’ve chosen Charlotte as my character, I need to organize my ideas. My teacher showed me POW and TREE. TREE matches what I need to do since this is my opinion. I’ll write POW on the top of my paper. P stands for ‘Pick my idea.’ Now, what’s next? O—organize my ideas. I’ll write TREE on the side of my paper.”

Complete the Organizational Strategy: Showing how to apply the organizational structure to writing an essay which usually includes a mnemonic.  The teacher shows the students how to use the chosen mnemonic to formulate notes for writing the essay. “T is for Topic. What should I write for my topic sentence? Hmm … I can do this. I liked the book. I will write, “Charlotte is not only very clever, but she is a really good friend. OK, that looks good. Let’s see, what is next? I did the T, and now I need to write the R. R stands for reasons." The teacher continues to model taking notes and then taking the notes to form an essay.  

Self-Regulation Modeling: Demonstrate the kind of self-talk that skilled writers use in various situations:

• Frustrated: “This is so hard. I can’t think of what to do next.” (Take a deep breath.) “I have TREE on my paper, which might help me. Yes, I will follow the outline and keep writing.”
• Positive Reinforcement: “That was a really good idea! I think my teacher will like this, too. Go me!”
• Feeling Overwhelmed: “TREE has so many steps. It’s too much. I will take a deep breath.” Demonstrate closing your eyes and say, “I can close my eyes and clear my mind.” “I feel better, and now I can keep writing. I can do this.”
• Strategy Implementation: “I’ll write down the strategy and check off each part as I use it. This will help me stay on task. TREE keeps me organized.”

Goal setting enhances attention, motivation, and effort. The process involves five key steps:

1. Set Goals: Encourage students to establish their goals, breaking them into smaller, manageable sub-steps as needed.
2. Develop Plans: Have students create their own action plans for achieving their goals and assessing their progress.
3. Monitor Progress: Teach students how to track their progress using methods like graphing or other familiar visual tools.
4. Reflect and Revise: Provide opportunities for students to reset and revise their goals as needed, just like expert writers do.

By following these steps, students can take ownership of their learning and stay motivated throughout the process. In the modeling, the teacher might say,  “I know I need eight parts or more for my opinion paper. How many do I have? That’s five parts. I can color in five boxes. I still need three more parts of my essay.  What can I do to get to eight? I want to reach my goal of eight.” 

Revising and Editing: “I’ve written a lot; I should reread to be sure it makes sense.” Reread the organizational notes. Stop at one idea. “Oh, that doesn’t make sense. I need to add more details.”

Post-Modeling Discussion

After modeling, engage students in a discussion about how the strategies and self-statements support skilled writing. Encourage each student to create a customized list of self-statements for various scenarios—starting work, during writing, and checking their work.

Discuss goal setting, helping students determine how many parts of the mnemonic they want to achieve. For example, a student might focus on crafting a creative opening sentence or strengthening their conclusion. Encourage them to set specific writing goals. Many times, students are learning to use transition words and set a goal for using those words in their essay. The teacher should model using the writing strategy multiple times with different prompts, using the same graphic organizer. After the first modeling, incorporate student support in the writing process, asking questions like, “I’m getting frustrated. What should I say to myself to keep going?” “What strategy should I use to organize my ideas?” Collaborative writing is a powerful teaching technique.

Tips and Tricks for Modeling a Writing Strategy

• Use Student Data: Tailor the modeling focus based on your students' strengths and needs. For instance, if many students often forget to check their work, emphasize this during the think-aloud: “I finished writing my notes and thinking of the parts of my essay, I’ll start writing. Wait, I think I should reread my notes to be sure I have enough convincing details. I want the reader to believe my opinion.” If students struggle with persistence, model that quality and the corresponding self-statements.
• Customize Mnemonics: The mnemonic should fit the writing task. Both teachers and students can create their own mnemonics together. For storytelling, consider a mnemonic like W-W-W What =2 How =2:
• Who is the main character?
• When does the story take place?
• Where does it take place?
• What does the main character do?
• What happens then?
• How does it end?
• How does the character feel?

For organizing ideas, students might use PLAN and WRITE (De La Paz, 1999) :

PLAN

• Pay attention to the prompt
• List main ideas
• Add supporting ideas
• Number points in the order they will be used

WRITE

• Work from your plan to develop your thesis statement
• Remember your goals
• Include transition words for each paragraph 
• Try to use different kinds of sentences
• Exciting, interesting words

The key to SRSD is the self-regulation strategies (self-statements, goal setting, organizational tool) and learning the steps expert writers use and think when they are writing.

SRSD: Teaching Strategies That Help All Students Become Better Writers

Over 200 research studies demonstrate the effectiveness of SRSD worldwide. When implemented, teachers will see a shift from students needing significant support to becoming independent writers. Celebrate these accomplishments with your own positive self-statements, recognizing your vital role in your students' success.

References

1. De La Paz, Susan. "Self-regulated strategy instruction in regular education settings: Improving outcomes for students with and without learning disabilities." Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 14.2 (1999): 92-106.
2. Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Friedlander, B., & Laud, L. (2013). Bring powerful writing strategies into your classroom! Why and how. The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 538-542.
3. Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Mason, L. H. (2014). Self-Regulated Strategy Development: A comprehensive model for writing instruction. In R. J. McNamara & A. A. van den Broek (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 69-84). Guilford Press.
4. Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Adkins, M. (2008). Self-Regulated Strategy Development: An evidence-based approach to writing instruction. In K. R. Harris & S. Graham (Eds.), The future of writing research (pp. 119-135). Routledge.
5. Quigly, A. (2024). Empowering students through writing: Strategies for success. Journal of Educational Strategies, 15(2), 123-135.