Teaching writing: 10 use-right-now ideas

Teaching Pre K-8, Mar 1996 by DeLisle-Walker, Nancy

There are as many ways to teach writing as there are writers, but if we aren't careful, some practices can dissuade young writers and devalue writing classes. The following 10 guidelines help me ensure that my lessons remain on course.

1 Emphasize the development of students as writers. Writing isn't merely learning the steps of process writing; it's about developing the creative heart of a writer and cultivating a dynamic community of writers.

An effective way to help writers develop their identity is to arrange for them to meet with and learn directly from published authors. Children's book authors are often contracted to share their writing and publishing experiences with school groups, a profound experience for young readers and writers.

There may be different staff members and parents who are published authors and who are available to speak to classes. In my own experience, sharing rejection letters from publishers with my class united us in the painful growth that writing can bring.

2. Writing with the group is essential. Lucy Calkins expressed it best when she observed that if you don't write with students, it's like you're standing before them with your clothes on while they're naked. The best antidote to the insecurity writers feel is to work with a teacher who will share his or her own work, even when it seems less than wonderful.

To be effective, learning should be emotional. The content of our writing can have a profound effect on students. They'll learn from our openness and humanity and through our sharing, become more sensitized as writers.

Modeling our revisions or editing on an overhead will help reluctant students. Watching an adult writer think out loud is a powerful way to get students to take their writing beyond draft writing. I don't forget to publish my own work, too. It isn't vain; it's taking a risk with them.

3. Allow students to choose their own topics. Real writers are sometimes commissioned to write on a certain topic, but more often, they write about what's important to them. To think like an author, a child has to learn to relate his or her life experiences to the craft of writing. When each assignment is of my design, there is no ownership or investment in the process. Realism comes from writing that's based on real life. Demonstrate how to reflect on everyday occurrences and develop them into a topic list. We have to teach students to look at the world through writers' eyes.

4. Students need teacher instruction and writing opportunities.

Writing strategies can be demonstrated in short lessons at the start of writing time. Well-placed 5-10 minute mini-lessons make a class aware of other skills to use in writing.

On the other end of the continuum, there are still writing programs that concentrate first on isolated grammar practices, then later in the school year on the learner's own writing. Not making the connection between grammar instruction and personal writing reduces student learning, for facts learned in isolation are soon forgotten.

5. Make time for writing. Consistency fosters comfort and risk taking. It also encourages writers to continue to reflect on their own experiences for writing ideas. When writing time is important enough to be scheduled, it's important enough to think ahead and plan the next literary adventure.

6. Focus corrections. In this strategy (as promoted by John Collins in The Effective Writing Teacher) three or four areas are focused on, such as an interesting beginning, punctuation and concluding paragraph. Teacher feedback then concentrates only on these areas when checking work. This method works well with adolescent writers because it builds accountability into the program.

At the elementary level, I feel it's important to remember that many rough drafts stay rough. Stamping a paper with "draft" can help make the statement that the writing is not a piece in publishable form. For work being revised and edited, it helps to design a rubric with the class before they begin. Developing a rubric checklist that reflects what a good paper looks like clarifies expectations and directs thoughtful revision, peer conferencing and editing.

7. If we teach writing as a process, our grading should reflect that process. Have writers turn in evidence of how they progressed from their first draft to their final piece to demonstrate their progress. Did they try different beginnings? Did they conference with a peer and record that person's feedback on the rubric checklist? How many revisions were tried? Was editing carefully directed? Did they have a conference with me?

When students know the goal of writing is to become better writers, it makes sense to grade them on how they proceed toward that goal. This relieves them from worrying that it's the quality of their thinking that's being judged. The grade becomes more objective and less damaging to the writer's confidence.

8. Assess through rubrics and portfolios. These insights can then be shared with parents through student-led conferences.