Exploring the writing of struggling readers/writers in an inclusive writers\u27 workshop

The purpose of this multiple case study was to develop an understanding of the writing of struggling readers/writers in a single, inclusive writers\u27 workshop program. The study focused on the writing development of three struggling readers/writers in one inclusive third grade classroom for six months. In order to describe the writing development of the informants, the researcher used qualitative techniques of participant-observation, fieldnotes, interviews, documents of the informants\u27 writing, and notes or quotes from conversations with the secondary informant (classroom teacher). The results of this study indicate that the writing development of struggling readers/writers was influenced by an inclusive writers\u27 workshop program. Five major themes pertaining to the writing of struggling readers/writers in a writers\u27 workshop program emerged from the data collected. Emerging themes were: classroom routines; teacher as facilitator; students teaching others; following the leader; and writing as a social activity. The conclusions drawn were: (1) Classroom routines encouraged writing development in struggling readers/writers; (2) The teacher as a facilitator had a positive affect on the writing development of struggling readers/writers; (3) Students teaching each other contributed to the writing development of the struggling readers/writers; (4) Students in the classroom influenced the writing development of struggling readers/writers; (5) Writing was considered a social activity during Writers\u27 Workshop. This study has significance for classroom teachers, reading specialists, school administrators, and university professors who work with pre-service teachers in illustrating the potential for inclusive writers\u27 workshop programs