Learning to write is one important skill useful for different functions in the daily living and it runs across the whole curriculum. However many students finish the school without a proper development of this skill. Perhaps they had needed an explicit and systematic training on text composing and they didn't get it along the school. Graham and Harris ([1]) summarize the difficulties revealed by many learners in writing: 1) they minimize or forget the use of self-regulated processes like planning, monitoring, assessment and revision; 2) compared with competent writers, their compositions have many spelling errors; 3) frequently their texts are not sufficient elaborated; 4) if they revise, they merely replace words but they don't enhance the text quality neither their style; 5) they don't worry about the content, perhaps because the feedback from their teachers is only centered in the lower levels of writing. More recently other studies have found similar difficulties ([2]) which point a poor linguistic development and vocabulary, a lower automaticity of spelling that interferes in the producing of ideas and no use of textual typology or structure. The scientific understanding and teaching of writing competence is clearly in need of development, given the low level of attainment in this skill that many students show. In particular the PISA ratings ([3]) indicate a severe problem in Portugal, which is not unusual for other countries. Our research questions are how to teach efficiently Portuguese pupils to write adequately and how to train teachers in the application of writing strategies in the Portuguese classes. The objectives of our quasi-experimental study are: 1) to verify if the adaptation of some strategies from the writing program Self-Regulated Strategies Development (SRSD) ([4]) to the Portuguese reality is able to promote the writing competences of those pupils who are taught in text composition; 2) to develop several materials to implement techniques of writing; 3) to produce structured observation instruments to analyze and to evaluate writing texts. In order to assure the standardization of the procedures and activities, the teachers, who participated in the study, received appropriate training previously to the beginning of the intervention. They had been also monitored and evaluated, during the program implementation, by external observers. Since the beginning of this project the Portuguese team has been in constant contact with the USA consultants who will come to Coimbra on March 2012 to participate on work-meetings and on conferences organized by this research team. Our conceptual or theoretical framework about how students learn to write focuses on the cognitive aspects, like planning, organizing and revising. This research project aims to promote the learning of writing strategies at school, to introduce innovation in the teaching of writing and to give a valuable contribution for the international research on new methods of training on writing didatics.

[1] Graham, S. & Harris, K. R. (1999). Assessment and intervention in overcoming writing difficulties: An Illustration from the self-regulated development model, Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 30 (3), 255-264. [2] Dockrell, J., Lidsay, G., Connely, V. & Mackie, C. (2007). Constants in the production of written text in children with specific language impairments. Exceptional Children, 73 (2), 147-164. [3] GIASE (04/05). Estatísticas da Educação 04/05. Lisboa: Ministério da Educação. [4] Graham, S. & Harris, K. R. (2008). Powerful Writing Strategies for all Students. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.