The effects of modeling and conferencing on third graders' writing and student conceptions about good writing across narrative versus social studies texts

This article examines the effects of modeling and conferencing on 58 third graders' writing of narrative and social studies texts. The subjects were from three pre-existing classes in a suburban elementary school. All students were from high socioeconomic backgrounds. Students were broken into three groups: one taught using writing process instruction, one taught using explicit modeling of strategies for compare and contrast writing as well as narrative writing, and one group taught using conferencing techniques to assist students in the writing of both compare and contrast and narrative essays. Students were given pretests and posttests before and after the intervention. Both pretests and posttest consisted of two writing prompts: one narrative and one compare and contrast. Intervention lasted for six weeks. After the intervention, students who were instructed using writing process techniques only outperformed their peers on the social studies portion of the analysis. These peers received modeling and conferencing aimed at teaching specific techniques for compare and contrast and narrative writing. The higher achieving writing process group did not receive any specific instruction which differentiated between the writing of a compare and contrast essay and a narrative essay. Students in this writing process group were given basic instruction in the elements of process writing, including prewriting, planning, drafting, editing and publishing. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference between posttest scores for narrative writing among the three groups. In addition, 12 of the 58 third graders' were interviewed regarding their conceptions about good writing. Results of these interview responses showed that both females and males placed more of an emphasis on the mechanical aspects of writing. Females' responses reflected more of a connection between content and writing than their male counterparts. Additionally, both high and low achievers placed more importance on the mechanical aspects of writing. However, higher achievers did include more content related remarks in their interview responses. Less than half of the students interviewed reported planning on paper before writing a first draft. Finally, almost all of the 12 students interviewed had a reasonable understanding regarding the difference between the narrative and social studies genres of writing.