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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