Robert Young

Happy National Day of Writing! Created by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) six years ago, this is a day to celebrate writing in all its forms (psst…you are free to do this any and every day!). Here’s a simple activity to celebrate your writing.

Make a list of the different types of writing you have done during the past week (e.g. e-mails, shopping lists, reports at work, letters, poems, stories, etc.). Next, code each item as FI for fiction or FA for faction*** (nonfiction).

What do you notice? If you’re like the majority of people, most of what you write is faction. According to research, more than 85% of what we write after graduation is faction. That seems logical, doesn’t it?

So, what to do with this information? If you’re a teacher, use it to help inform your writing program. What’s the balance between fiction and faction in your classroom? Is the practice of teaching primarily fiction of service to your students? The Common Core may not be the treasure as it is often touted as, but it is addressing the traditional imbalance (too much fiction). Adding more faction to your classroom will help address those standards as well help your kids get on in the real-world. As you proceed, I encourage you to include as much authentic writing (writing that goes beyond the teacher’s eyes) as you can.

If you’re a parent, grandparent, or other adult around kids outside the classroom, model writing for them. Let them see you as a writer. Let them see firsthand the function as well as the power of words. Encourage them to write notes, makes lists, provide written feedback, and more. You’ll be doing them a great service for school and life.

***For background on faction, see the February 3, 2014 post.

Writing in front of students is one way to enhance writing instruction. It’s not the only way, though. Here’s some more (Best Practices), as well as supporting evidence. I invite you to reflect on them, celebrate the ones you are doing, and try out some of the others.

Feel free to share what works for your students.

The school year has started for some and is soon to begin for others so, of course, my thoughts wander to writing. Teaching writing, to be more specific. This will be a big year for many teachers, with the implementation of Common Core as well Smarter Balanced assessment. Change is upon us, and lots of pressure too.

All that change and pressure makes this the perfect time to utilize what works. If you’ve been teaching a long time, you’ve read enough, seen enough, and done enough to know what makes for effective writing instruction. If you’re new to the profession, read, observe your colleagues, and try things.

During my twenty-five years as a classroom teacher, I found some strategies and activities that worked. Then, when I worked as a language arts staff development specialist, I found more evidence and research to support those practices. These are very important to have in the “data-driven” climate we currently have in education.

There are many important strategies and techniques to use during writing instruction. In my experience, the most effective is to write in front of your students. Let them observe you as a writer. Let them see you construct sentences and struggle with spelling. Allow them into your head you as you think aloud, transferring your thoughts into writing.

The power of modelling is amazing, and it doesn’t take any special materials or much planning either. Just get up there and do it!

I’ll share the rest of my list in the next post.

In the Comments section below you will find writing plans developed by All Write! class participants. These plans include visions participants have for their classrooms as well as methods and timelines for carrying out those visions. All class assignments are posted so that they will be available for others. Sharing useful ideas, strategies, and activities can help make us all better instructors of writing.

In the Comments section (below) of this post you will find websites that are useful for writing instruction. These are provided by the dedicated professionals who were participants in the All Write! class. You will find the URL for the site as well as a review. Feel free to respond to the reviews as well as to share them with colleagues.

This is the first of three blog posts that will focus on sharing resources for teaching writing. The activities posted as comments come from participants in the All Write! class that took place on June 26 in Eugene, Oregon. These activities are Six Traits related. Here’s an example:

Trait: Ideas/Content
Focus: Clear and focused writing

Book/Author: The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups by David Wisniewski

Publisher: Harper Trophy
ISBN: 0-06-443753-1

Summary: This creative book takes simple rules that adults make up such as “Eat your vegetables,” “Comb your hair,” and “Don’t play with your food” and provides imaginative, humorous explanations.

What you need: Paper, pencils, file folders or large construction paper to make folders

What you do: Read a couple of entries from the book. Then, as a class, identify a school rule (e.g No running in the halls) and write the “Official Reason.” Next, brainstorm a list of possible “Real Reasons” for this rule using the book as a model. Choose one of the reasons and show how this could be written as a short, focused narrative. Have students think of a rule (school, home, community) and go through the process themselves. Use folders to display finished copy: “Rule #” on the tab, “Official Reason” on the outside, and “The Truth” on the inside. Share completed folders then display outside the classroom for others to see.

“Use it or lose it” the old saying goes. And we know it’s true. That’s one of the reasons we develop summer reading programs: to reduce the “summer slide” that takes place when kids don’t read. It works, too. (www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/research.htm)

Why can’t we stop the “summer slide” in writing as well by developing summer writing programs? We can. The program you create can be as simple or complex as you want. I prefer simple.

In a simple summer writing program, kids will need three things:

1. Something in which to write (writing logs)

2. Something to write

3. An opportunity to celebrate their writing

Do you have your students bring in notebooks at the start of the year? If so, have you used them all? If not, there’s your summer writing logs. If notebooks are not available, you can create writing logs by simply stapling lined paper together and adding covers of construction paper. Or, of course, you can use any other bookmaking method you know about.

Provide students with options of things to write. What areas did you cover? You can make a list of them in the front of the logs, and add directions and/or samples. Some examples of writing areas include:

• Poetry (include specific types, e.g. acrostic, free verse, haiku, etc.)
• Letters (create a class sample to show format)
• Slice of Life stories (personal narratives)
• How-Tos (directions for doing something)
• Curiosities (questions about the world)
• Research (answering questions, providing information)
• Fiction (stories, plays, scripts)
• Journaling (day-to-day happenings)

Celebrate the efforts your young writers make. Invite them to bring their writing logs to school when it starts in the fall. At that time, provide them with class opportunities to share what they have done.

But wait; more than likely, you won’t have the same students again. That’s why it’s important to collaborate with your colleagues. Do it together with your colleagues who teach a grade level above and a grade level below you. Better yet, make it a school-wide program. Create a writing culture that extends beyond your classroom and the walls of your school.

Imagine this: It’s the first day of school and your new students, in addition to their class supplies, bring their summer writing logs. Over the next week or so, students share some of their work—a story, some poems, questions they had and the answers they found, letters they wrote (and the responses received)—with the class.

Communication is important for this to work: communication with colleagues, with the kids, and with their parents. Send a note home at the end of the year explaining what you’re doing. Encourage parents to write with their kids, and to make sure the writing logs are returned in the fall.

Will all the kids participate? Hardly. But if you can get a few, or even one, then you can show by sharing the value and the fun of writing. The next year there will be more, and the next year even more. And this will help you create a true writing community in your classroom and your school.