Ideas For Teaching Writing Tips 6 to 10

Teaching Idea

"Getting To Know Authors"
Ellen, Primary Grade Teacher: Circleville, NY

"Each month �feature� an author in your room. You can post a picture of an author or print the author�s name and display it in a corner of your room. Also display the author�s books. You can tell the students about the life of the author. Make this person real to the children. You focus on this author�s writings for 2 weeks. Read the author�s books and displays them in this corner. Students can look for more works of this author when they go to the library. You can help the students to find common themes in the books, pictures that the author likes in the books, common characters, etc. Students begin to develop a preference for reading works by particular authors."



Teaching Idea

"Ways to Share Students' Writing"
Joanne, 3rd-4th Grade Teacher: Fargo, North Dakota

"When students share their writing, they begin to think of themselves as authors and it validates their thoughts. Ways that students can share their writing include; reading alound in class; submit their work to writing contests; make a big book; read at a school assembly; read to foster grandparents; read the writing on a cassette tape or produce a video tape; design a poster; make a hardbound book and display it in the school library; contribute to a local newspaper; share in the form of a puppet show; through class anthologies. Writing can be shared to large audiences or small groups or one-on-one."



Teaching Idea

"Always Use the Writing Process"
Eric, Elementary School Teacher: Sydney, Australia

"Always use 5 steps to writing when asking children to complete a writing assignment. Start with Pre-Writing; get the students to gather ideas for writing on any given topic from experience, past knowledge and having the time to talk about the topic. The second step involves Drafting; students begin to write what they think is importatn and that should be included. Step three is Revising; students check the draft and decide what stays and what goes. Fourth is Editing; students check for spelling, punctuation; and other mechanical considerations. The final copy is then prepared. The fifth and final step is Publication; students share their writing with an audience of choice. Following the five steps will help students to write more effectively and appreciate what they produce."

Teaching Idea

"Journal Writing"
Barbara, 5th Grade Teacher: Columbus, Ohio

"A good way to reinforce writing is to require that students write in journals. I do this with all my students especially after lessons that require reflections on the topics we covered. It gets students to think about what we talked about and it gets them to unleash their ideas about the topic in a non-threatening way. I do check the journals because I want to know how students are approaching the topics we learn about in class. It also gives me insight into how much they have processed and to what extent. Journal writing is a good way to get students to write what they are truly thinking."



Teaching Idea

"Poems as Motivators to Write"
Richard Roy, Intermediate Grade Teacher: Denver, CO

"Pick a poem that tells a story or that you know would be of interest to the student population you are teaching. After reading the poem, ask the students what the poem makes them think about. Encourage different lines of thought and perspective by asking probing questions that are designed to help the children elaborate on their thoughts. Then encourage the students to write some of their thoughts evoked by the poem. Explain to them that many poems expressive feelings and that poems can stimulate thoughts and emotions in others."



Teaching Idea

"Journal Writing"
Jonathan, 3rd Grade Teacher: Morristown, NJ

"I assign 10 journal topics every 2 weeks. Topics often require a written response with at least 3 paragraphs. In an attempt to address each form of intellect, I vary the assignments to always include a variety of 3-4 free choice topics. They include a sampling of artistic as well as linguistic, musical and academic activities that hopefully allow those students who are talented in the arts the opportunity to improve, excel, and shine!"



Teaching Idea

"Rainbow Words"
Terry L., Primary Teacher

"Each child chooses one color crayon. Each student has a worksheet. The student writes the first word down on the paper. Each student does this at the same time. Only one color crayon per student. Pass the paper to the right (not the crayon) and trace the word. Pass one more time and do the same thing. When each student receives his or her paper back, write the second word down and repeat the process. Each child will receive his/her paper back with spelling words traced 3 times.....Rainbow words."



Teaching Idea

"Kid Writing"
Isabell Cardonick, Kindergarten Teacher

"To get kindergarten and first grade kids started writing, use the techniques described in the book "Kid Writing". Writing is an important component of balanced literacy. Start by building the children's confidence. Create physical, pedagogical and emotional environments to support their development as writers. In the beginning stages, try to get the kids to write something for every spoken word. The magic line functions as a place holder when the child can't identify any of the letters in the word. One way to support writing is to create crowns for some of the basic, high frequency words that do not have regular phonetic spellings. For example, the star of are, wiz of is, and fuzz of was. For more information, please visit the website. Happy Teaching!"

Teaching Idea

"Cursive"
Chris Byron, Teacher

"When reinforcing cursive, I now worry less about quantity and more on quality. I incorporate music by teaching them capoeira songs. They write the chorus and we sing it at the end of the mini lesson. Writing in a language that is unfamiliar means they concentrate on the letter shapes a bit more. The singing at the end is a plus. We've also built up a list of songs we could do if there is a need to refocus the class during transitions or if we're asked for quick assembly performance."



Teaching Idea

Crayola Sentence
Kathy Rodgers, 2nd Grade Teacher

"This technique is used for the student who can say a great sentence, but have trouble writing the sentence on paper. Have the student tell you the sentence that he/she wants to write. As the student says the sentence, place a crayon in front of the student for each word. For example, the student says, "The brown dog barked." You would place a red crayon for "the", brown crayon for "brown, yellow for "dog" and purple for "barked". Then you and the student repeat the sentence pointing to the crayons for each word. Next, the student repeats the sentence but as he/she says it, they will push the crayon up as they say the words. The last step is to put the crayons back in order, and as the student writes the sentence, they repeat the pushing technique. This sounds like a lot of trouble, but it cuts down on frustration and encourages students to try harder to write simple sentences. It only takes a couple of practices before the student uses the technique independently. Students even write more complex sentences using this technique."



Teaching Idea

Role Play Writing
Cheryl LaRue, Teacher

"In our state, students are assessed in fourth grade for their writing skills. To get them over the fears of writing, we always write a class model composition. To engage various learning styles, I often have other students role play the action we are writing about. If it's a how-to, then a few students demonstrate while the others describe what they saw. In a narrative, we often write our stories using the names of students in our room as characters and they again act out the scenes. For shorter skills practice in elaboration techniques, I have found most students were willing to share their work if it meant using the microphone on my class karaoke machine."