An examination of the impact of teacher modeling on young children's writing

The purpose of this mixed-design study was to examine one teacher-researcher's explicit modeling of her own authorship processes and the subsequent impact it had on the independent writing behaviors and writing quality of her second-grade students, particularly with respect to their production of non-narrative, expository genres. Modeling lessons emphasized think-aloud demonstrations and conversational interactions between the teacher and her students as they co-constructed explanatory text, reports, and persuasive text. Data were collected over a 3-month period to specifically examine the differences in students' writing behaviors and writing quality when teacher modeling was a component of the writing instruction and when it was not. Data included videotapes of the modeling lessons, observational field notes, student writing samples, and word counts. Study participants were categorized into low, medium, and high entry-level writing groups. In addition, a stratified random selection of these students was conducted for the purpose of identifying six focal group students—a boy and girl from each entry writing level—to more closely observe their writing stamina and to gain insights regarding their perceptions of writing activities and instruction.;Results indicated that when writing instruction included a teacher modeling component, students appeared more confident and competent in their abilities to start and complete writing assignments independently. They were also more likely to apply learned strategies and to remain on task. In addition, based on primary trait and analytical scores of the students' writing samples, writing quality significantly improved with teacher modeling—especially for low and medium entry-level writers. Students' writing stamina was also substantially influenced by teacher modeling, as evidenced by increased word counts and writing durations. Findings were further corroborated by the interview responses of the six focal group students, who perceived teacher modeling as the most helpful part of writing instruction.