The Surprising Similarities Between SRSD and Writer’s Workshop

When it comes to approaches to writing instruction, there tends to be a lot of do this, not that tossed around. Often, the intent behind the approach is not new; just the terminology.   Right now, although it’s been around since the early 1980’s, Graham and Harris’ Self Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach is seeing a huge resurgence.  And right now, the term “writer’s workshop” is being shunned.

But the thing is, these two approaches to writing instruction are extremely similar.  Let’s unpack.

According to a 2017 What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, “Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an intervention designed to improve students’ academic skills through a six-step process that teaches students specific academic strategies and self regulation skills. The practice is especially appropriate for students with learning disabilities.”

SRSD was, in fact, designed to be used as an intervention for students with learning disabilities, but has since the 80’s become more widely used in 2nd-12 grade gen ed classrooms.   

Let’s first summarize SRSD.

It’s important to know that it’s not a program.  It’s not something that can be purchased (although you can purchase expensive training for implementation).  It’s simply a set of practices–an approach to teaching writing.  And it involves six steps:

1. Develop background knowledge and vocabulary of the genre.  Here, examples of that type of writing are shared.  This is also where students would produce a piece of writing in that genre that the teacher would use to determine what the child already knows about it and where the gaps are.
2. Set goals with students based on the gaps and what the teacher has shared about how the genre works. 
3. Strategies for improvement are modeled and explained through mentor texts, teacher think aloud, and teacher-produced examples.  Positive self-talk is a big focal point in this step.
4. The teacher does this as much as needed, providing acronyms for students to memorize so that they take the strategies on for themselves.  An example would be “C-SPACE” to remember that a narrative has characters, a setting, a purpose (what the character wants), action, a conclusion, and an ending emotion.  There are many such acronyms for a student to memorize, and are often also paired with a graphic organizer.
5. Gradual release is employed so that teacher support is heavy at the beginning, and becomes less and less as students take the work on for themselves.  Teacher guidance and feedback is key here.  
6. Independence.

Sounds like a pretty great way to approach to writing instruction, right?  

Yep.  I agree–except for the memorization of acronyms.  This can be highly confusing to kids, especially if the use of myriad acronyms are also used in other subject areas, like reading or math.  I’d rather just teach kids what it is–in the case of “C-SPACE,” for example, I’d just call it what it is:  story structure.  Calling it what it is also helps the understanding cross from grade level to grade level.  “Story structure” is much more likely to be used by teachers across grades than “C-SPACE.”

All of the rest of it, I wholeheartedly believe in.  Because I’ve been doing it for decades: writers’ workshop.

What writer’s workshop is and is not

In today’s ubiquitous bashing of certain programs and people, writer’s workshop is getting a bad (and misinterpreted) rap.  It is not, in any way, shape, or form a free for all.  Where this idea has come from is completely baffling.  

It’s NOT a program.  It’s a structure.  That’s it.  

A structure which aims to help every writer in the class get stronger.  

Donald Graves, the man who pushed the workshop method forward, shared it alongside Graham and Harris’s work, back in the 1980’s.  Workshop had actually been around before that time, since the 1960’s thanks to a man named Donald Murray.  

In a writers’ workshop, the focus is on the writer. Teachers focus on the person crafting the text—helping writers choose topics, purposes, and audiences for their writing and offering suggestions to guide the writer’s decision-making process.

 Brian Kissel, ILA, 8/22/17

How writer’s workshop aligns with SRSD

The aim of writers’ workshop is to help students write with greater and greater skill and independence.  That’s the entire goal–to help kids become strong, independent writers who know what to do no matter the task, genre.  It’s all about providing students with tools to help them all the way through the writing process.  It too, works to make the inside-the-head thinking of a writer–from idea generation to planning to composing to revising to editing–visible.  

Its aim is for students to be strong, confident, self-regulated writers.

In the daily structure of a writing workshop, there’s a lesson that’s driven from student data.  The lesson is a clearly explained strategy which is modeled using teacher writing, student writing, mentor authors, or any combination of the three.  Mentor texts are a key instructional tool in writer’s workshop, as are the use of anchor charts (not mnemonics) to hold onto the learning and refer to and build upon as the unit unfolds.  Then, students try that strategy out for practice right then and there, in front of the teacher.  This is also a daily formative check for the teacher–who’s getting it?  Who isn’t?  And she can then either teach a bit further, or work with small groups of kids as needed. 

After that, students go off to write independently, while the teacher works with small groups of kids and confers with individuals or partners.  Finally, the class reconvenes, where the teacher then very briefly reiterates the lesson, addresses a new confusion or concern, or highlights something great that she saw, that she wants to share with the entire class.  

The entire daily structure employs the gradual release of responsibility.

What those lessons are is completely dependent on what the teacher decides to do.  And it comes from understanding where students are (from that pre assessment and the constant conferring) and where they need to go.  So if the teacher decides not to teach how to write proper sentences or how to structure a type of writing, that’s on them.  Full stop.  What is taught has nothing to do with whatever curriculum a teacher might be using.  The art of teaching comes from knowing who’s in front of you, what they need, and how to get them there.  A curriculum is merely a resource tool.  

Let’s break it down even further

In a writer’s workshop, the knowledgeable teacher would always first start with some sort of genre immersion.  Everyone benefits from first seeing examples of the end goal.  And everyone benefits from learning the vocabulary that goes along with it.  

A strong writing teacher would also always begin with some sort of on-demand pre assessment.  We have to know where kids are in order to know where to take them next.  Across the year, too, we have to see if what we’re teaching is still sticking.  We need to be sure, for example, that although we may have taught how to use transition words to move from section to section in an earlier genre study, that kids are still doing that work later on, over time and in other genres.  

The heart of a strong writer’s workshop is conferring.  This is exactly where individualized goal-setting occurs.  The goal is designed to start from a students’ strengths in order to push them further.  This is all about specific guidance and feedback.  During this step (both individually and when working with small groups) a teacher will very often provide a helpful tool–a visual reminder, a graphic organizer, etc–to serve as a scaffold to help the child take on the new learning with greater independence.  

Because, as with SRSD, the goal is independence.

So what’s different between the two approaches to writing instruction?

Not much.  

The goals are the same.  The methods are largely the same.  The principles behind them are the same.

About the only difference is the use of acronyms in SRSD vs workshop.  In workshop, anchor charts are used to hold onto the the learning, not a list of acronyms to try to remember.  The only other difference I can see is with choice.  In the SRSD model, because of the use of the acronyms and graphic organizers, the writing leans toward formulaic.  For example, their TIDE graphic organizer, used for opinion writing, boxes kids in to have three and only three details.  (TIDE is nothing new.  It simply stands for topic sentence, important details, and ending).  

Is this a big deal?  Maybe not.  But it’s worth chewing on.  

The bottom line is this.  All good writing instruction, no matter what you call it, starts with where your students are. 

From there, an artful–and knowledgeable–teacher guides and scaffolds instruction along the writing process.  The knowledgeable teacher uses what she knows about strong writing to ensure that lessons hit it all.  Which means that if the curriculum doesn’t include much about sentence or text structure, she’ll be sure to add it in. 

Strong writing instruction means stepping back a bit, letting the students try it out, because that’s how kids take on the learning for themselves.  The teacher’s role is to guide, model, encourage, and provide feedback so every writer can grow.  It is not to control every move the child makes.  That only encourages direction followers, not students who flourish as independent, self-regulated, and confident writers.  (Click below to hear Karen Harris herself talk about this!)

Could you use a partner in strengthening your approach to writing instruction?  I’m here for you!  Because no one can do this work alone, I’m available for virtual coaching calls.  Simply email me at [email protected] or reach out for a coaching call! 

Who is Coach from the Couch??  I’m Michelle, a 24-year veteran educator, currently a K-5 literacy coach.  I continue to learn alongside teachers in classrooms each and every day, and it’s my mission to support as many teachers just like you as I can.  

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