Guided writing is the instructional practice of writing with students. Guided writing is a key component of a balanced literacy program because it serves as a bridge between shared writing and independent writing. It is in other words, a scaffold that supports students with helpful tools as they move into writing on their own.

Guided writing groups are small temporary groups of students who share similar needs such as the need for more practice in a genre or with a skill. Guided writing groups are flexible and are the result of ongoing teacher assessment. Teachers observe and monitor students during the act of writing which may include interactive writing, shared writing, and independent writing. When analyzing the data collected, a teacher notices patterns of need emerge and uses this information to form guided writing groups. The teacher then provides explicit instruction, guidance and feedback to group members on the targeted strategy and disbands the group when students have learned the strategy needed. Usually a teacher works with a guided writing group for several consecutive days and in some cases consecutive weeks.

Guided writing groups usually take place during the writing workshop. A teacher may lead several groups within a given workshop or combine group work with individual writing conferences. The structure of a guided writing lesson is usually as follows: (1) engage the group in a brief, shared experience that is of interest to students, (2) discuss a strategic behavior for writing including a think aloud demonstration by the teacher, (3) give students' time to write individually with immediate guidance from the teacher and (4) share briefly each writer's immediate work.

Oczkus, L. D. (2007). Guided Writing Practical Lessons, Powerful Results. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.