Creating Writers in the Classroom
Sir Francis Bacon wrote, "Reading maketh a full man, conversation a ready man, and writing an exact man." As teachers, we want our students to be full, ready, and exact. But how do we do it without poking our eyeballs out with our red pen? Writing is not like other subjects where there is one correct answer. Writing requires that students look inside themselves for the answer, which most students are reluctant to do. Writing is both abstract and concrete; it is subjective and up to interpretation.
So how do we as teachers instill a culture of writing in our classrooms?
First, we must be writers ourselves. We need to know what it feels like to "have nothing to say." We should be able to describe our own process of sitting before a blank page and composing essays and stories from words. Students need to understand our passion and true belief that the pen is mightier than the sword. Teachers should regularly share their writing with students. Parents expect their child's math teacher to be a mathematician, so they should expect their child's writing teacher to be a writer.
Secondly, we must make time for writing in our classroom. Corbett Harrison calls it Sacred Writing Time. Some teachers call it journaling or bell work. I call it Daily Pages. Whatever you call it, make time for it. I use writing as an introduction to the daily lesson. Students are expected to come to class with their journals. I have no guidelines, requirements, or specificatins for these journals, only that they be a journal that is devoted entirely to my class and our Daily Pages. The first fifteen minutes of my fifty-five minute class is devoted to silent writing. I provide some sort of stimulus or prompt that is connected in some way to the day's learning. The point is that I make time for it every day.
Third, we must expect that our students will do their daily pages at home. Teachers know the benefits of independent reading at home. We encourage our students to read at home by providing them with a reading log and an incentive for turning it in with parent signatures. Offer the same incentives for writing journals. My students are required to take their writing journals home each evening and share their Daily Pages with their parents. They are expected to write for an additional 15 minutes at home and get a parent to initial that day's entry. This helps me in the grading also, as all I have to do during Daily Pages is walk around and mark down whether they got their parents to initial it or not. I count it as a homework grade.
Fourth, we must share good writing with our students whether it be our own, their writing, or someone elses. Show them good writing often. In fact, if you teach the Common Core State Standards, you're expected to have your students read everyday also. Make the reading assignments do double duty; use the reading passages as examples of good writing traits. When close reading, point out those qualities that make the writing well-done and encourage students to include those qualities or traits in their own writing.
Fifth, we must be good grammarians. You must be the expert on your language. There is not enough time during the day, nor is it recommended, to teach grammar separately from writing and reading. You must incorporate your grammar lessons into the daily writing. For example, if I'm teaching dangling participles, I might put some silly examples on the board like "The boy pushed the wagon in the blue sweater." Students, as part of their writing that day, are required to create some of their own.
Teaching students to write well is not like teaching them tricks to learn their multiplication tables or teaching them songs to remember the state capitals. Writing requires that we find the writer within ourselves and let our students grow as writers along with us.
Melissa
So how do we as teachers instill a culture of writing in our classrooms?
First, we must be writers ourselves. We need to know what it feels like to "have nothing to say." We should be able to describe our own process of sitting before a blank page and composing essays and stories from words. Students need to understand our passion and true belief that the pen is mightier than the sword. Teachers should regularly share their writing with students. Parents expect their child's math teacher to be a mathematician, so they should expect their child's writing teacher to be a writer.
Secondly, we must make time for writing in our classroom. Corbett Harrison calls it Sacred Writing Time. Some teachers call it journaling or bell work. I call it Daily Pages. Whatever you call it, make time for it. I use writing as an introduction to the daily lesson. Students are expected to come to class with their journals. I have no guidelines, requirements, or specificatins for these journals, only that they be a journal that is devoted entirely to my class and our Daily Pages. The first fifteen minutes of my fifty-five minute class is devoted to silent writing. I provide some sort of stimulus or prompt that is connected in some way to the day's learning. The point is that I make time for it every day.
Third, we must expect that our students will do their daily pages at home. Teachers know the benefits of independent reading at home. We encourage our students to read at home by providing them with a reading log and an incentive for turning it in with parent signatures. Offer the same incentives for writing journals. My students are required to take their writing journals home each evening and share their Daily Pages with their parents. They are expected to write for an additional 15 minutes at home and get a parent to initial that day's entry. This helps me in the grading also, as all I have to do during Daily Pages is walk around and mark down whether they got their parents to initial it or not. I count it as a homework grade.
Fourth, we must share good writing with our students whether it be our own, their writing, or someone elses. Show them good writing often. In fact, if you teach the Common Core State Standards, you're expected to have your students read everyday also. Make the reading assignments do double duty; use the reading passages as examples of good writing traits. When close reading, point out those qualities that make the writing well-done and encourage students to include those qualities or traits in their own writing.
Fifth, we must be good grammarians. You must be the expert on your language. There is not enough time during the day, nor is it recommended, to teach grammar separately from writing and reading. You must incorporate your grammar lessons into the daily writing. For example, if I'm teaching dangling participles, I might put some silly examples on the board like "The boy pushed the wagon in the blue sweater." Students, as part of their writing that day, are required to create some of their own.
Teaching students to write well is not like teaching them tricks to learn their multiplication tables or teaching them songs to remember the state capitals. Writing requires that we find the writer within ourselves and let our students grow as writers along with us.
Melissa
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