The New Art and Science of Teaching Writing. Robert J. Marzano
a summary for students or ask students to prepare them as the basis for an ensuing discussion.
Figure A.1 in appendix A (page 156) presents an overview of the entire New Art and Science of Teaching framework featuring the three overarching categories (feedback, content, and context), ten teacher actions, forty-three elements, and over 330 accompanying strategies. This figure can serve as an advance organizer while reading this book.
The Need for Subject-Specific Models
General models like The New Art and Science of Teaching certainly have their place in a teacher’s understanding of effective instruction. However, teachers must adapt those models to specific subject areas to produce the most powerful results. That is what we have attempted to do in this book. Specifically, in the following chapters, we address the three overarching categories—(1) feedback, (2) content, and (3) context—with their corresponding ten teacher actions and the embedded forty-three elements. We do so by providing concrete examples for how to apply a generous representation of the hundreds of instructional strategies expressly for writing, with some reading as well, since these areas of literacy closely align and interconnect.
Although this text predominantly provides suggestions to support lesson planning around writing instruction, we encourage readers to explore the foundational book The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017). In doing so, they will likely infuse their content areas and grades with additional strategies. For example, element 16—highlighting critical information—encompasses the following eleven strategies.
1. Repeating the most important content
2. Asking questions that focus on critical information
3. Using visual activities
4. Using narrative activities
5. Using tone of voice, gestures, and body position
6. Using pause time
7. Identifying critical-input experiences
8. Using explicit instruction to convey critical content
9. Using dramatic instruction to convey critical content
10. Providing advance organizers to cue critical content
11. Using what students already know to cue critical content
Teachers could wisely incorporate all these strategies into various lessons throughout a unit, as they represent sound instructional practice. For example, when teachers continually repeat important information during a lesson and unit, it alerts students to critical content and helps them remember the information. As well, when teachers intentionally and strategically use their tone of voice, gestures, and body position to emphasize salient information, it again highlights what students should remember and focuses their attention on key content. Instead of focusing our attention on these more pervasive strategies—and other such strategies throughout the model—we provide ideas specific to writing. For example, for element 16, we choose the strategy of using visual activities as an opportunity to show how teachers can apply this strategy to teach a writing skill, which we detail in chapter 6 (page 89). As readers continue through this text, strategies linked to writing and reading take center stage.
This Book
This book is organized into three parts—(1) feedback, (2) content, and (3) context—mirroring the overarching categories of The New Art and Science of Teaching model as described earlier in this introduction. The chapters align with the ten teacher actions and then focus on selected elements (of the forty-three total) within each action and specific strategies for teaching writing.
In part I, chapters 1 and 2 focus on feedback. Chapter 1 pinpoints strategies for providing and communicating clear learning goals, and chapter 2 concentrates on using assessments.
In part II, chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 focus on content. Chapter 3 looks at conducting direct instruction lessons, chapter 4 on conducting practicing and deepening lessons, and chapter 5 on conducting knowledge application lessons. Chapter 6 focuses on using strategies that appear in all types of lessons.
In part III, chapters 7 and 8 focus on context. Chapter 7 emphasizes using engagement. In chapter 8, readers find a discussion of strategies for implementing rules and procedures and building relationships.
In chapter 9, readers will learn about a four-step process for developing teachers’ expertise in an effort to increase students’ learning.
Each chapter includes self-rating scales that teachers can use to assess their performance on each element addressed in this book. By doing this, they can determine their areas of strength and the areas in which they might want to improve relative to The New Art and Science of Teaching. All scales in this book have the same format for progression of development. To introduce these scales and help readers understand them, we present the general format of a self-rating scale in figure I.2.
Figure I.2: General format of the self-rating scale.
To understand this scale, it is best to start at the bottom with the Not Using row. Here the teacher is unaware of the strategies that relate to the element or knows them but doesn’t employ them. At the Beginning level, the teacher uses strategies that relate to the element, but leaves out important parts or makes significant mistakes. At the Developing level, the teacher executes strategies important to the element without significant errors or omissions but does not monitor their effect on students. At the Applying level, the teacher not only executes strategies without significant errors or omissions but also monitors students to ensure that they are experiencing the desired effects. We consider the Applying level the level at which one can legitimately expect tangible results in students. Finally, at the Innovating level, the teacher is aware of and makes any adaptations to the strategies for students who require such an arrangement.
Each chapter ends with a Guiding Questions for Curriculum Design section to help with planning. For easy reference, the strategies we have chosen to feature from the more than 330 appear in bold typeface in figure A.1 (page 156), The New Art and Science of Teaching framework overview.