I remember being a fairly new teacher and sitting in a professional learning session with a far more experienced educator. When break time came, he rolled his eyes and said to our administrator, who had accompanied us for the session: “Haven’t we been through this already? Didn’t we try this approach years ago?”
Now, as a much more experienced educator, I have suddenly found myself in a similar position. Across Ontario, there has been significant attention being paid to the Think SRSD approach, also known as “Releasing Writers”.
What is Think SRSD? In short, it is a framework of strategies that helps students at all ages to write structured texts, from analyses of non-fiction content to stories. It combines explicit writing instruction with self-regulation strategies to support developing writers. Students are taught clear writing strategies step-by-step. For example, they may learn how to plan an opinion paragraph using a mnemonic that reminds them to state an opinion, provide reasons, and add evidence. Teachers model the thinking process aloud before students practise collaboratively and independently. Graphic organizers, analyzing exemplars, summarizing, writing responses, and using transitions to organize writing are some the teaching strategies that comprise Think SRSD.
For me, many of the approaches are reminiscent of teaching strategies we have been familiar with for some time. Like my more experienced colleague years ago, I am wondering if this is an old teaching method being revived as something new. Many of my colleagues are similarly skeptical when they learn the approach – questioning whether or not it really offers anything novel or interesting for their classrooms.
I also wondered how the Think SRSD approach would work with multilingual language learners, or MLLs. While proponents claim it is MLL friendly, it was difficult to see in the sample lessons how the strategies would be adapted to students learning to speak English for the first time.
As the old saying goes, “don’t knock it till you try it” – so I figured I would give Think SRSD a try with a few eager co-teaching partners and a group of MLLs in grades 4-8. Here are a few of my discoveries.
First of all, don’t underestimate the power of what has been tried and true. Yes, many approaches in Think SRSD are familiar, but the approach really pushes educators to take the time to unpack a graphic organizer and get students to be intentional with their writing. I noticed a shift in my thinking when using the Think SRSD “TIDE” graphic organizer that the purpose wasn’t simply to get students to articulate their ideas, but to really think carefully about what goes on the page. It’s not just about generating writing and then editing after, but getting students to think and act like writers. I realized that for many years I had not really been getting the most out of graphic organizers.
Secondly, explicit instruction in writing may need to be adapted serve the needs of MLLs. Particularly in the most recent iteration of foundational literacy instruction, the unique learning needs of MLLs are not always taken into consideration. In the context of Think SRSD, many of the strategies assume that learners arrive with a pre-existing base of English communication skills. When engaging in activities like finding the “gist” of an academic, content-heavy text, we may need to adjust the text so it is aligned with the student’s STEP or level of English language acquisition. When MLLs actually understand the texts they are reading, they will be much better positioned to use academic vocabulary and summarize their understanding.
Finally, it’s more rewarding to try new teaching strategies with your colleagues! I was fortunate enough to have two very patient educators working with me who had the instincts to change the activity, provide positive feedback, and help me to adjust the lessons I was teaching. We would take a few minutes after each lesson to talk about what went well, what didn’t go so well, and where we needed to backtrack to help students become stronger writers.
