Entry Four: Essentials of Teaching Writing
“Man has two great gifts: ‘words’ to give sound to thoughts, and ‘writing’
to give thoughts meaning forever.” - Gianfranco Lovino
Children need:
1.
Time
to write – opportunities to write to start a class, in-class, or to end class
such as journalizing.
2.
Regular
response to their writing – feedback from teachers and/or students whether it
be oral or written.
3.
To
publish their writing – stick students’ work on a wall, hang them on a line,
engage in a gallery walk or even author’s chair.
4. To choose most of the topics they write about - students can pick out of a hat/bag, play a raffle or choose from a lineup.
5.
To
hear their teachers talk through what they are doing as they write – teachers may
sound crazy but they should read aloud the words that are being written or
speak their thoughts so that the class can hear. Students learn better by what
they see and do.
6.
Maintain
collections of their work to create a portrait of the writing history. – these can
be kept in a folder with the student’s name or given the task of creating a
portfolio.
7. Teachers who explicitly teach writing – practice the writing process and the six traits of writing as much as possible.
These are just a few ways we can create a writing environment within our classroom for our students. These steps cost little or nothing to implement in the classroom at all grade levels and for all ages.
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