UDL Part Two: Multiple Means of Supporting the Strategic System in Writing

When the strategic system is working efficiently, a student is able to determine the purpose or goal of a written assignment, organize the relevant information, determine an appropriate structure, and evaluate the results. At the same time, the mechanics of writing flow automatically; conscious energy is not diverted to what needs to be routine. The strategic system is responsible both for the deliberate planning of complex actions and for routine actions that occur automatically, and mostly not consciously. Both are essential components of learning to write.

The high-level strategic skills needed for written expression-developing a plan that will meet a goal, organizing information to implement the plan, and monitoring the work as it progresses-require the involvement of the strategic system, located in the anterior (frontal) part of the brain. This region also has primary responsibility for routine "output" skills in writing, from letter formation or touch typing to producing well-structured sentences. The principles of UDL, supported by research on the brain, tie together the continuum of skills that fall under the strategic system and help us understand that teaching this continuum requires a different approach than does teaching pattern recognition. Optimal skill instruction includes the key elements of apprenticeship: models of expert performance, scaffolded practice in a meaningful context, ongoing feedback on performance, and opportunities to demonstrate progress.

In this section, we address the teaching of strategic writing skills and the teaching of routine writing actions separately, though both fall broadly within the "strategic" segment of UDL and both call for an apprenticeship model of teaching.