Making the writing process explicit for young struggling writers

Although the process approach to writing is a common method used for writing instruction in elementary schools across the United States, many teachers grapple with making them accessible to struggling young writers, especially their English learners (ELs). In the present article, we document how a writing intervention (Ready, Set, Write; RSW), geared towards struggling second-grade writers, used explicit instruction across the prewriting, drafting, and revising stages of writing. Writing samples after the intervention illustrate that the participants improved their ability to stay on topic and include “Show Not Tell” emotions in their writing. Additionally, the length of the writing samples and the amount of unique words included increased. The intervention results demonstrate the benefits of explicit instruction to support the writing development of young struggling writers and provide important implications for writing instruction in elementary schools.