Best Practices in Secondary Education RECENT SCHOLARLY REPORTS highlight

the importance of writing proficiency and provide an important research base for improving writing instruction for middle school students, especially striving readers and English learners (Graham and Perin, 2007; National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004, 2005). These reports make clear that if students are to improve in writing, they must spend significant classroom time writing, and they must learn about writing through explicit instruction, feedback, and reflection. Assignments that involve extensive writing can be spread out over several class periods. This allows time for teachers to present models for writing and for students to practice using the models as they generate ideas for writing topics, collect information about the topic, prepare and revise drafts, and solicit feedback from teachers and classmates. Writing instruction is most successful when it encourages generative thinking — thinking that explores questions deeply, rather than simply producing an expected answer. Teachers prompt generative thinking by creating meaningful activities and helping students form questions that lead to deep understanding of a topic. Classrooms that foster generative thinking are more effective in increasing student learning (Strong, 2001)