A love for reading and writing starts in the classroom. As a teacher, you have a duty to promote an atmosphere that allows students to expand their ideas of what it means to be a writer. Do you have a student that struggles with writing but has tons of ideas swirling around in their mind that are dying to jump out on paper?
Here are some tips you can implement to help your students become the best writer they can be.
Create a Writing Rubric
The first tip we have to offer you is to use a writing rubric whenever you assign different writing tasks. For students that have issues getting started and keeping their ideas flowing, a rubric can help them at each stage of the writing process.
The rubric should detail everything you want students to include in their writing from beginning to end. It’s also beneficial to list how each section will be scored. For example, the body of the story might score higher than the introduction, which symbolizes to students the importance of story flow.
Most students will begin writing only to realize that they went in a completely different direction than expected. Before requiring students to submit their final draft, ensure you’ve given them a chance to submit previous drafts of their story.
Being able to submit drafts will give you the chance to provide them with feedback they can use as they continue to write. Keep in mind very few people create quality pieces of writing the first time and need help identifying revisions and edits that need to be made.
Giving feedback and revisions can help them differentiate the difference between creative writing and academic papers.
Whenever possible, write in for your students to see. This could mean passing out an excerpt of something you’ve written or hosting a workshop so they can see how you piece together the different parts of a story.
If you plan to write a story ahead of time, ensure you talk out loud about your writing process. It helps students get used to the idea of going through a specific process whenever they write, which is essential to remain organized.
The more time your students spend writing, the better off they’ll be. It’s essential you offer daily writing prompts for students to participate in that focus on different styles of writing like persuasive, expository, narrative, essay, and creative.
These different prompts will not only challenge students to create distinctive pieces of content but will challenge them to think outside of the box and create stories at the drop of a hat.
Another reason to have daily writing prompts is so that it takes the pressure off students because these prompts aren’t going to be graded. It allows them to practice without the fear of getting a bad grade.
With these simple tips, you can help your students become better writers. Becoming a better writer will help them now and in the future.
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