Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively

E X A M P L E   1.9.

Recommendation 1 

(continued)

Thinking aloud to model a planning and goal setting strategy

A science teacher models her thought process as she sets goals and plans for an essay on 

animal and plant cells.

Modeled question

Modeled response

Who is my target 

audience?

“I am writing for a 7th-grade audience, a class that has not yet learned 

about animal and plant cells. I should be sure to explain terms that the 

audience may not know.”

What goals am I try-

ing to accomplish in 

my writing?

“I need the reader to understand the similarities and differences between 

animal and plant cells. When planning my essay, I need to think about all 

of the things I know about animal and plant cells.”

What strategy could I 

use to accomplish my 

goals?

“I could make a Venn diagram to organize my thoughts and compare and 

contrast those kinds of cells. The headings from the diagram could then 

be separate points in an outline.”

How should I carry 

out the strategy?

“I think I will list the similarities first and then focus on the differences.”

Peers can also serve as models to other 

students during both whole-class instruction 

and small-group activities. After teachers 

model their own strategy use during whole-

class instruction, have a student share with 

the class how he or she could use that same 

strategy for an upcoming assignment. Chal-

lenge the class to think of alternative writing 

strategies and select a student to model a 

different strategy to the class. To incorporate 

modeling into small-group activities, pair 

students after they have completed a writing 

assignment. Encourage each partner to share 

his or her writing strategy and model his or 

her thought process during each component 

of the writing process.

Adjust the intensity of the modeling to 

accommodate the needs of students at dif-

ferent skill levels. For example, students who 

are struggling may need additional one-on-

one modeling or modeling that is specifically 

related to the writing assignment at hand. 

The focus of the modeling (such as defin-

ing the audience, purpose, or task; walking 

through the steps of a particular strategy; 

explaining how to execute a strategy; or 

reflecting on their own writing) can vary 

based on what skills and knowledge students 

need to develop.

As students master writing strategies and 

skills for the components of the writing 

process (planning, goal setting, drafting, 

evaluating, revising, and editing), teachers 

should gradually lessen their modeling to give 

students more opportunities to execute strat-

egies on their own. This gradual release of