SQ Write Research
| Executive Function | Definition | Development within SQ Write |
|---|---|---|
| Inhibit | Control one’s own thoughts and actions | The Thought Organizer keeps students on a predetermined writing path and helps prevent rambling. |
| Shift | Think Flexibly and move freely from one idea or activity to another | Self-questioning helps students to think flexibly. The Thought Organizer identifies all the parts of the whole writing product, allowing students to move between ideas and activities without effort. |
| Emotional Control | Modulate emotional responses with rational thought | Self-questioning provides students with a simple process to develop thoughts so that they don’t become emotionally overwhelmed. |
| Initiate | Begin a task and independently generate ideas | Students easily generate ideas through self-questioning. The Thought Organizer identifies all parts of the writing process so that students know how to begin composing sentences. Verbal rehearsal makes writing easier because students already have a mental imprint of the essay. |
| Working Memory | Hold information in mind in order to complete a task | The Thought Organizer, Q Card, essay worksheets and Individualized Editing Booklet (IEB) provide students with visual records of their work, decreasing the load on working memory. |
| Planning/ Organization |
Grasp main ideas and manage current and future tasks | Self-questioning helps students identify and convey main ideas. The Thought Organizer ensures that students manage work flow. |
| Organization of Materials | Impose order on work | The Student Workbook contains a folder to hold all materials and helps keep students organized. The Q Card helps students effectively ask self-questions while the Thought Organizer and essay worksheets help them organize, resulting in answers and subsequent sentences and paragraphs. |
| Self-Monitoring | Check work and monitor one’s own performance | Verbal rehearsal provides students with auditory feedback to hear if sentences sound right. Essay worksheets help ensure that students include all information needed in a detailed, complete essay. The IEB is an authentic editing tool that enables students to easily record prior writing mechanical errors so that they can avoid repeating them. |
