Leadership-Influenced Practices that Impact Classroom Instruction Related to Writing: a case Study of a

The staff had decided their previous methods were not working and had decided to change their instructional strategies and to use the Four Blocks literacy framework (see Table A1 in Appendix E). This new framework uses a structure for instructional strategies that is balanced, multi-level and multi-method. Each block is done for a thirty minute time and has a particular format that all the staff learned. Each block: phonics, guided reading, self-selected reading, and writing is done every day. This organization for teachers was new and required an every day commitment to use several different strategies.

Participants identified these new instructional strategies as playing significant roles in two main aspects of the classroom instruction. The first theme consists of participants’ perceptions regarding the impact of a coherent framework. They believed that such a framework connected strategies and helped them to organize their instruction and make it multi-level for all kinds of students, including at risk. The second theme deals with the students benefiting from four approaches to literacy. The use of four varied approaches benefits all types of learners, including those who learn literacy skills best through the use of phonics, guided reading, self selected trade books, or their own writing. In addition, at-risk students received the benefit of multi-method instruction.

When asked to describe ways in which they grew during the five years, twelve of the sixteen participants indicated that they had grown professionally through the use of this coherent four block structure. In addition to the impact of their leaders, study respondents indicated that instructional programming had played a significant role in improving their students’ writing ability. This happened through the use of consistent instructional strategies that were linked, varied, and ranged in level of difficulty.

The leaders were committed to the organization, format and consistency that the framework provided. The principal stated:

The impact for using the strategies everyday was huge, when moving to Four Blocks you teach writing every day! I still had to monitor when you are doing writing. Ok, you are doing it at 10:00 so I will be there …that is hard for teachers if they don’t like writing, they don’t teach writing every day and come up with good ideas. For us to deal with our MEAP scores, we had to come up with a structure. These kids have so little organization in their lives, they come to school for organization and we realize that big time.

The response given by the literacy specialist was an example of how important a structured framework was and included consideration of how the reading and writing balance came together. She mentioned:

I was the one who really had the technical understanding, and the principal was learning it right behind me. So that just her understanding of it made her say “I just want to teach this, it looks like so much fun.” She was learning it as a teacher, as in what do I expect to see and what are we not doing now? And how can we change it to do it? And I was very strictly Four Blocks…it was very regimented for me. One of the things we did was implement it [Four Blocks] in a pure form and we implemented it totally.

While several of the respondents who mentioned the framework gave classroom visits as the means through which their understanding of the framework grew, other study participants specifically mentioned the role the time commitment played in their students’ growth. This implementation was impacted through classroom visits which occurred regularly. Visiting the classrooms the principal would observe the strategies, and then ask the literacy specialist if that was how it was supposed to work. This helped her to constantly learn about the instructional strategies and whether they were done correctly. The leader would ask the students about the lesson as well to see if they get the “gist.” Kate recalled these visits by the leaders:

They came into the classrooms. At first teachers were a little intimidated that they were being observed but they [leaders] were relaxed about it, they were low key, coming in and spot checking us to make sure we were on target. They made reading a priority. K-2 in the morning, 3-5 in the afternoon for Language Arts, in the beginning when we had parapros available, the parapros were available for Language Arts to work in the classrooms to keep the kids more on tract. We were not allowed to have any specials that would break up Four Blocks, so that we wouldn’t skip a block. It was emphasized that we do those blocks everyday.

Liz credits the leaders for seeing if teachers understood the strategies of the Four Blocks vision and how to implement them:

She was really very supportive, there was a time when the literacy specialist came around and had a some kind of a checklist and then tallied all the results from all the classrooms and presented that at staff meeting so we could all see in each block how we were doing and what trends there were, if we were all sloughing off on this or that or if we all, I wouldn’t say sloughing off, but if we hadn’t quite processed and implemented any particular part and then she saw something really neat going on she would also share that. I think she and the principal came in together each block.

Classroom visits by the leaders were also listed by John as an important influence on his growth in the use of the new strategies: “The principal was visible in the classrooms daily. So you knew what was expected with the principal, this was your Four Blocks time.” Each block was viewed as essential and supportive of the others. These visits to observe the specific blocks were also informally done by the literacy specialist who offered support for each block in other ways. She said:

It included lots of hallway conversations, ideas, and lots of being available to them and encouraging them. There was lots of talk about what [strategies] they were doing in their classrooms and they wanted my blessing or my ideas. They’d go back and do it, and then they’d come back and say how it went.

Mary reported that initially each block was challenged to learn but that she understood the structure was key to success and that each block was essential:

No, just it was once again, like I said with each all three, it was just learning to do the block, learning to add your own creativity to it, but sticking to what the structure of the block is. You can’t mess with the structure. Once you get going you can go your own way but if you mess with the structure, then the block is not going to succeed the way it was meant to succeed. And because I am so literal, I do exactly what I was told to do, what it says I do, that is what I do.

In addition, Stacey reports her perspective as a teacher on the structure and training necessary to learn new strategies. She stated:

Well, the principal, first of all, was the leader. And without strong leadership you cannot do anything. She provided a structure of the day that allowed us to have one that blends in with the Four Blocks, but she provided us with the structure and the training. And in showing us with the training, we all bought in to the program with her. And until everyone buys in, it’s not going to fly.

Each block was done everyday; therefore, scheduling was an important component and was provided by the leaders. The leaders scheduled times for the Four Blocks of instruction to occur. Chris acknowledged that the principal had their schedules set: “They knew the time was available.” Kate stated: “This also meant there was no interruption with specials, and parapros were available to the teachers in the room at that time.”

In a similar fashion, Chris indicated she was sure about the value Four Blocks placed on the time commitment. She said:

I think an important component of it is Four Blocks is going to spend a good solid two hours that you need, and it should be a good solid two hours of uninterrupted time. And the principal made sure that would happen in terms of scheduling. I think that was really important, that you had at least two hours of uninterrupted time.

When asked about the scheduling that the leaders provided for the teachers, the principal noted that it was a good thing they value organization:

They would hate me if they didn’t like structured things. I would sit with them in August and say ok this is how I visualize your day, you have your specials first thing then you have the entire morning, block out there is no special, there is nothing, so this is what I visualize, you have got 9:15-9:45 special, 9:45 to 10:30 is your writing, 10:30 to 11 is your words. I blocked it until 12:30 for lunch, then you have an hour for math, what do you think? I blocked out the entire day, five days a week, so there was ‘no I can’t do that.’ I have it in writing exactly what they were doing every day and there was time for all Four Blocks and an hour to an hour and a half for math and all their specials. Everything was right there. Fortunately this staff likes that.

Kate reported that she now teaches writing everyday after having her Four Blocks schedule set by the principal. She stated:

Doing Four Blocks has made me do writing on a daily basis, this was my least favorite blocks and if I had to give something up it would probably be that because writing comes difficult for me. But this is what we have to do, so it forces me to, so that now I feel comfortable with it.

Likewise, Liz found the Four Blocks program offered strategies within an organized framework. She reported: “Those strategies were valued because everyone was supposed to be on board with the same program. Those were supported and looked for when we were observed.”

If they don’t understand it, you just start to see prefixes, suffixes, parts of the words that they’re using now in their writing. And so as a teacher, it’s great because you’re seeing the connections and the transfer from what you do into their writing.

Grace also found the phonics block was instrumental in helping her students make a successful transition into becoming writers. The difference was the word wall where she was required to post words with spelling patterns and sounds and spend time studying and reviewing it everyday with the students. Grace said:

The word wall was able to help students look for word chunks; I think that was probably one of the stronger blocks that made a difference especially with writing. Because they come in with letters and sounds in place and helping them to know that what they know about that, they can start to write words at least get close to that with beginning and ending sounds.

Three other individuals -- Liz, Chris, and Gayle -- were also impressed by the support the word wall gave their students. Liz mentioned she too saw a lot more correct spelling off word wall words: “It is amazing how many words they can spell correctly.” Chris stated: “We tell the kids that these are the words that are popping up all over in their books and their writing so that kind of bridges things together.” Gayle said: “We have a ton of high frequency words on the wall that a lot of the kids will write, and they’ll turn around and look and make sure they have it spelled correctly.”

Carla indicated that the phonics block was key in her students’ growth in writing and reading. She noted it helps with spelling when the students understand the word chunks and start using them in their writing:

You can read it [their writing] so much better! When they can read their own reading better, they can revise better. So it’s just like a domino effect. When they start chunking words and understanding the semantics… then they are able to read more fluently. And when they are chunking for meaning, then they start picking up vocabulary more and figuring out what words mean and it helps with the thinking while we’re reading.

Kate described how, even though the school did not have formal spelling instruction:

I see improvement on their spelling. Like in the word day, I don’t notice the ay so much as I used to because it is automatically word wall. Spelling patterns that we work with, I think help them carry a pattern to other words.

The impact of the phonics block on writing took place also at a deeper level. Mary discovered that the most significant impact on her students’ word knowledge was due to her knowledge. Upon reflecting on that growth experience she discovered that:

When I think about how I first taught words and how I now teach words, I go so much more in depth now because I have the background knowledge to do it. When I first started teaching it, I taught it very basic and very literally. Now I get deeper into each of the words! And the more they [the students] know that you know about it [words] the more they want to know. If they think that you are really turned on by the words block, then they are too!

The literacy specialist indicated that the phonics block was instrumental in providing good structure for phonics instruction:

I don’t think before we had phonics instruction other than what teachers came knowing probably what they were taught that wasn’t strong….The introduction of the word block was phonics instruction where we are actually learning about words, reading at the word level, decoding at the word level and writing at the word level…it beefed up our instruction.

The literacy specialist mentioned that the hard part of the phonics block for teachers is transferring, so that the fun word activities don’t become the focus and the intent is lost. She spent time at in-services expressing the need for teachers to know why they were doing the word activities with their students:

There are a lot of fun activities that kids love, like the “Mind Reader”…We need to know why we do what we do … if we are not doing the words block correctly there is no reason to do it … teachers need to know why we are doing the fun activities and if they don’t understand it, then it is just a fun activity and it doesn’t promote learning.

Amy spoke about her interactions with students and how those had grown from dealing with a single word and the transfer to include writing.

In figuring out the working with words block, it’s more than just, “you’ve got this word wrong here.” But you’re constantly working with parts of the words and you start to see it in their writing. And so as a teacher, it’s great because you’re seeing the connections and the transfer from what you do into their writing.

Likewise, Carla mentioned her perspective on phonics was changed as a result of the using the elements found in the words block: “You have to follow certain elements…or the kids aren’t going to transfer. And it’s that transfer at the end that is the key to it all.”

John reported that being exposed to quality text that included the traits of strong writing impacted his students. As he read with his students he would say to them:

That [piece] had a good voice, and you try to bring that into writing. Or boy, the author really used good word choice here; you do that with both self-selected and guided reading, both have pieces of writing when you can give kids examples of what it [good writing] looked like.

Similarly, Karla mentioned how exposure to strong writing impacted her students: “We use a lot of the stories to show good writing, so they can see this is what the author did to grab your attention at the beginning of the story. We can work on that in our writing.” Gayle reported that during guided reading she would say to her students: “You know, here’s a spot where the author used this, and here’s a spot where the author used this. These are things we talk about in writing during the guided reading block.”

Mary stated that the guided reading literature was a significant resource for her students. According to her, students would use it as a springboard for writing different structures:

You didn’t know how exciting a biography could be until you read about Mary McLeod Bethune or Christa McCullough! Then all of a sudden, you realize there are some very important people out there who did some really exciting things! So now when I write about my own biography, I don’t have to write about the whole thing. The Christa McCullough story was about one little section of her life and so a biography does not always mean [ages] 0-99. It could be about 7-9 or 3-6, things I could learn, that were valuable at the time. They [students] learned to write different types of genre by the genre they are being exposed to in guided reading and what does it really mean …once you understand what the genre is, it helps you diversify your writing.

Carla also mentioned that she felt her students learned about text structure in the guided reading block. Their growth was a result of her intent for the lesson and tying together writing and reading. She stated:

We pick certain pieces for them to read that demonstrate how we want them to write. And even if we don’t tell them, they start telling us, “Oh, this is like … oh this is compare/contrast … this is chronological order.” And when we’re talking about something in writing, and we’re having guided reading, we’ll talk about it in our guided reading, “Look at this lead. Is that a good lead?” You just can’t separate it. You chose your material with intent that it’s not just saying, “I want to do that story,” you have a specific purpose. What are you teaching? Over the years, you juggle it so that what you’re teaching in writing is close to what you’re teaching in reading at the same time.

Similarly, Amy indicated that learning about text structure and writing elements in guided reading transferred to her students’ writing. She said:

My kids are on this simile thing right now, where they keep pulling out similes and I’m starting to see that in their writing. So they will see similes in the reading and then transfer it. They are just so excited about it … but it’s things that they are transferring over as they are becoming a writer and they are writing for a reason. I was working on the endings, and it’s those things that they can see in their reading, and they can start to transfer it into their writing.

Liz stated that she ties reading and writing together intentionally: “Sometimes we will study nonfiction writing and nonfiction reading at the same time or poetry in guided reading and writing… their writing will be more fully developed if they have seen it in reading as well.”

The literacy specialist said that the reciprocal process with reading and writing was a result of teachers being more purposeful with the reading and writing blocks and this resulted in creating better writers at the school:

Being purposeful about our instruction and taking time to practice that instruction during guided reading, then their [students’] level of understanding of text and what to do with text increased and the more you read, the better writer you are. We just increased the amount of text kids read, the level they think about it, the depth they practice it.

Instructional sub-theme 2.3: Self-selected reading teaches vocabulary and genre. When asked about self-selected reading, several teachers stated that exposure to print helped their students become better writers by exposing them to vocabulary and genre. It is interesting to note that of the sixteen study participants, eight indicated that books from the reading room were an excellent resource for this exposure. John said the literacy leader was responsible for the book room, “You know one thing that was just wonderful about what our literacy specialist did is our book room we have.” Liz added the leaders were really good about coming to teachers every year and they would ask: “‘What books do you need?’ and then we were able to get thematic science and social studies thematic book sets. They were really good about providing materials to continue growing the library.” Karla noted also what a wonderful resource the book room was for the school: “the more you read the better writer you are going to be, the strongest writers in my class are the ones that score off the chart, so you know they read all the time.”

Gayle stated this exposure during self-selected also helped with spelling words correctly:

I was spelling office and I looked at it and it looked wrong and I put an extra f in and then it looked right. Seeing that and seeing it over and over and over, I think it really helps them just being able to notice that wait a second, that’s not the way I usually see that word, how do I change it to make it look right?

The challenge of keeping the book room full of a variety of books was mentioned by the literacy specialist, she said:

Books are always a barrier. You can always use more books. We had a certain level of books. Our books are wearing out and you use money to replace them. I am in two schools now so I haven’t done that. What I did for self-selected reading is update baskets, go through them, and add more every year.

Vocabulary growth during self-selected reading was mentioned by several participants; Carla indicated that her students’ use of sticky notes in the self selected block was a key component in developing her students’ vocabulary. She said:

Students write on them certain things that they come across in their reading. Vocabulary is huge, and writing elements like dialogue and similes, they love to point them out to you and they love to sticky those. You kind of have to tell them that they can’t show you all the time because they get so excited about it.

Amy noted that vocabulary growth occurs during self-selected reading because her students were constantly telling her about new words. She said:

Students were finding vocabulary words, things they are pulling up into their writing. They have little yellow notepads that they can take with them while they are doing their self selected reading, so if they find something interesting they can jot it down quick. If they find a word that they think is interesting or something they’ve never heard of before, they can jot it down

The impact of self-selected reading on writing development was evident when teachers responded by mentioning genre. Grace noted that:

Sometimes when I do the read aloud you can sometime connect that to what else you are doing in curriculum area or something like Susie was doing in writing or doesn’t that sound like step by step directions. Or genre.

Karla mentioned that her read-aloud was her opportunity to point out the variety of genre that authors use. She said:

I will kind of point out where authors do certain things, I think the self selected block helps with the different things that kids can read, here’s the read-a-loud, what genre is this, these are all the different types of writing available, it doesn’t have to aliens that went to Mars and ate all the people. They can write a biography, they can write a mystery.