More About Teaching Writing! Ideas to Get Students Writing & Assessing Writing

A student created poster for a Boba Tea activity!

As the Literacy Graduate Program Coordinator at SUNY Old Westbury, one of my tasks every January is to run a literacy clinic for graduate students earning their literacy specialist certifications. For today’s episode, I’m sharing with you my observations from this clinic on what’s working for both teachers and students, giving strategies on how to encourage kids to write, and tips for assessing writing.

Kids Really Like to Write

One of the things I noticed is that kids really like to write. The catch is that they might not like the writing they’re doing in school. I’ve encountered students who have joined the clinic for years and claim that they don’t know how to write, they don’t really like to write, or aren’t any good at it, but under the right environment and with the right activities, their ability and skill at writing really comes through. The challenge for teachers and parents is to pay attention and find the activities that the student will enjoy, find engaging, and encourage them to write.

Activities to Encourage Writing

At the literacy clinic, the focus is on the individual student and each of the graduate students design lessons that are catered specifically to the student that they are working with. This provides an environment where as teachers, they can learn more about the student, recognize what help they need, what they’re interested in, and figure out how to incorporate those to any type of writing work. Here are some of the activities I explain more on in this episode:

●      the blank page

●      the heart map

●      saw-heard-did chart

●      the roller story

●      how-to writing

●      interviewing a friend

Tips for Assessing Students’ Writing

Assessing writing can be challenging. To keep it more manageable and help the students receive feedback better, here are some tips:

●      Always start with positive feedback

●      Use a bright-colored pen (not red!)

●      Keep mechanical feedback to a minimum

●      Process feedback vs. product feedback

●      Give checklists before drafting

●      Give a rubric before the activity

●      Keep a portfolio for each student

When teaching kids to read and write, it really helps them to work on activities that keep them engaged, that involve topics they are already interested in, and to keep on encouraging them. I hope this episode helps you to achieve that.