IQCSchema

Teaching of Writing


 * The earlier the grade, the more loose the writing should be allowed. Little spelling corrections can be ignored for the most part as long as they are getting some thoughts together with allright sentence structure.
 * Later in schooling spelling corrections and gramar are taken into consideration


 * In school I had a variety of ways writing was introduced to me. In about second grade we kept a journal of what we did the day before after school and what we did at recess. This was an enjoyable way to get a lot of the students engaged in the writing.
 * Each year throughout elementary school we also had the young authors fair where we write a book and submit for grading which I know a lot of students looked forward to.
 * I think I personally liked writing stories and other creative writing assignments. I've had various assignments which will give a prompt of some sort and let me finish the rest of the story in my own way. For example, the prompt might start with "You and two of your friends are on a trip to the moon, write about your experience and the things you saw there." Or the story may be started for me and I just have to continue it on.


 * In 4th we would have quick writes. Our teacher would write a topic on the board and we would write whatever came to mind. A specific amount of time was allowed. I found it hard at first, but it eventually helped me with my writing skills. When I write a paper I start with jotting down whatever comes to mind. I then form my rough draft.


 * I found it helpful when teachers would allow several rough drafts before the final draft. That way teachers could make several remarks on the paper and give their input. It also gave time to review what was written and make changes.


 * In 4th grade when we were assigned a report, my teacher walked us through every week with a different section. By the end of the 5 wks we had this extroardinary paper that we had put together ourselves. This allowed me to experience the processes with the teachers help rather than me being sent home with an assignment to figure out myselve. It was a great introduction to research papers.


 * In Kindergarten my teacher would anounce to the class if a student was writing poorly. She would walk around the classroom and make comments such as " Oh Melissa you can do better than that. That is very sloppy. Are you having a bad day." This would in turn make me feel bad about my work and a little embarassed. It was a s if she thought that we would try harder if she put us down. I believe that it is very important to encourage children, not belittle them. All kids are going to have their good and bad days. As teachers we need to take this into consideration. Negative comments towards a child are not going to have a positive affect. To this day I can still remember the feeling that my teacher gave me. It definately did not benefit me.


 * Getting better at writing requires doing it a lot. I think the more people write, the easier it gets and the more they are motivated to do it.  Writers who write a lot learn more about the process because they have had more experience inside it.  Writers learn from each session with their hands on a keyboard or around a pencil as they draft, rethink, revise, and draft again.  Thinking about how to make writing better is revision, meaning that improvement is built into the experience of writing.