IQESchema

What we already know about the teaching of writing...

Since I have not yet taught writing I do not know all that there is to know about it... However, I do know that it is something you as a teacher have to be compassionate about, and that you have to teach your students to be compassionate about as well. It is wanting to write, about something that has happened or something that you imagine and putting all of the writers feelings and emotions into the writing. Teaching writing is to be articulate and experimental. If something doesn’t work the first time then try something else again until you get it correct and it grabs the readers and your own attention. Teaching is about putting an impact on a students life forever, whether it be teaching writing, math, or history… The job of a teacher is to make the students want to learn and improve and to enjoy it.

-Jamie Engen

What works:
 * A teacher needs to give a lot of room for creativity in subject matter. You can attempt to teach all you want, but if a student does not have passion, or at least interest, in a subject they will not learn to write or care to write.  (I mean, really, does anyone even REMEMBER what they wrote for that paper we had to do on the agricultural systems of Mali in that class which shall remain nameless but whose initials were PSSC?)


 * Reading, reading, and more reading, and not necessarily only the "great" authors. For instance, Calvin and Hobbes is wonderful for vocabulary as well as voice.

What does not work: Jan
 * Simply spending time writing - anything - helps writing. Although I have not done this much myself.  Goes back to first point:  I have to be passionate about it.
 * Criticism and censorship. "You really don't want to say THAT, do you?"  "You have an interesting story, but you made so many spelling errors!"  "Wouldn't it be better if you said (insert pablum of choice here) instead?"  There is a time and place for corrections, but creative writing is not that place.

Teaching writing: Writing is a an extremely important tool and a benifit if mastered. Teaching writing to kids is not always an easy task, if starting at the lower levels, learning letter after letter and all the different sounds, and the two shapes for the already endless alphabet can seem like a doomed-to-be-boring subject matter. By the time many people are in highschool, they are frustrated and lack a needed solid foundation inorder to progress. It is up to the teachers of each grade level to give students the next nail, the next piece of the house sitting on that foundation that each teacher before has contributed to. The seemingly dull and unavoidable subject of writing can become something that each student enjoys and looks forward to, using some differnt schemas. From the beginning, even before the students recognize letters to form words and words to form sentences and so on, instilling an interesting informing lesson about the true importance, fun, excitment,and endless possibilites of writing will help begin to triger their natural curiosity. Sharing writing with others and focusing on group colaboration and conversation rather than corrections and editing will keep children wanting to write and feeling a part of a group and someone who contributes something.Forcing someone to read something that may be very personal or for what ever reason they do not want to share, does not work. This breaks the trust that the student and teacher have hopefully built, it embarasses the child, if it is something they do not think will be socially accepted, it breaks the child's confidence. This can be difficult because we do want every child to contribute and to be a part of the classroom community. Planning to put together a class book of poetry (or whatever) in which each child contributes something, and this book might sit with the other books on the reading shelf or copied for everyone to have a copy. Talking about this with the class in advanced will let the child know that what they put in the book, will be read and they have time to plan for that.

What we already know about the teaching of writing

The teaching of writing is very complex. By the time I was in junior high school, I was the aunt of three (two boys, one girl). Considering they were at our house ALL of the time, I would play games with them to occupy their time (and positively use their energy!). I was the teacher, and they were the students. I would write letters on paper, and they would trace the letters. After a while, they were able to spell words. I would then have them to write spelling words, and then I would administer spelling tests to them. Each week, we would read different age-appropriate books, and we would continue to build our lists of spelling words. This worked with two of them, but not one. He did not want to "play school". So, I would trace letters, and allow him to color the letters. After awhile, he had gained enough confidence to catch up with the rest of the group. I would allot a specific amount of time each session for writing, reading, and math. This method was very effective with my own children after I became a mom. I started with them the very same way, having them trace letters, reading to them, and building their spelling lists and vocabularies. They too were given a specific amount of time each day for writing, reading and math. I believe what worked was the variety of ways for them to learn.

What did not work was allowing my nephew to be teased by his siblings when he could not keep up with the group. I thought he was being lazy and deserved it. Later in life I realized that, when he was young, he had an attention disorder. Another method that did not work was forcing my nephews and niece to work when they did not want to. When I arranged a set time for "school", they were eager and willing to comply.

Natalie

What works in writing:

When teaching writing, have students write on a topic that they’re already knowledgeable about. In the classroom I work in, we have “writer’s workshop” every Thursday, and I use this strategy to help 2nd and 3rd grade students learn how to write.

Start students out easy. I like to think of these as “baby steps” students take as they’re working toward developing their writing skills. Have students write a few descriptive paragraphs about their bedroom. For the next writing assignment, have students write about a larger room in the house (the family room would be a good example). This works because students already have a mental picture of what these rooms look like, and they can translate their thoughts on paper. To challenge students further on the next assignment, have them write about what an imaginary child’s bedroom might look like in the year 2200. The only information you provide to students is the name/age/sex of the child—let their imagination do the rest. Having students use their imagination during a writing activity like this helps to develop their creative writing skills.

What doesn’t work in writing:

From my experience, trying to correct and revise as I’m writing a paper rather than waiting until the end (like I’m supposed to) doesn’t work well in writing at all. This is a habit I’ve been in for years, and I’m trying my best to break it. By staying in this rut, it takes me twice as long to finish writing assignments. Since starting this class and coming to the realization that early revision is the main problem with my writing, I’ve made a dramatic improvement in writing assignments for other classes. I wished I would have realized my problem sooner. Better late than never!

Kim Swygert