What makes a good writer?

Want to know what I think of when I think of my writing instruction as a child? This is what comes to mind:

image from Oriental Trading

I have vivid images of a bright, yellow folder that is "multi-flapped" in which I have to sort my writing into the correct stage of the writing process. Obviously, these folders are a lot more high tech than the folders that I used in the 1990s, but the fact that I remember that part of my writing instruction is telling. As a child, I was a part of a school that agreed with researchers that the writing process was an important part of writing instruction. While I had a positive learning experience with writing, that is not true for many students.

Writing to Learn

This concept is categorized by being short, informal pieces of writing. The idea is that writing is the tool in which students use their metacognative skills to understand content. The following video gives a great overview of how this works within the classroom:


Quality writing instruction

Now that the concept of writing to learn is noted, how can you use this notion to give quality writing instruction? Here are a couple of suggestions:

Biopoems

image from mscali.weebly.com

Have you students write a biopoem about a historical figure that they are researching. It allows students to synthesize important ideas and events that involve that figure as well as lets students understand the components of what makes a person complex. This could be used in a History class for students to synthesize what they know about a historical figure.

Dialogues

image from iTeach1to1.blogspot.com

Have students discuss with each other as they are learning about content. You can use websites like www.todaysmeet.com to help facilitate an online discussion. The image shows a discussion students are having through the written language about literature.

Admit/Exit Slips

image from esc13.net

This is a way to get a good gauge on how your students understood instruction. It allows you to pull back students that did not understand certain aspects, and enrich those who already know the content. www.socrative.com offers an admit/exit slip via the internet, but you can just use paper and pencil as the image shows above.

There are so many components to what makes good writing instruction. I have found that good writing instruction includes many other aspects such as academic journals, integration of reading and writing, and learning how to write in different disciplines (Vacca & Vacca). The goal of our instruction as educators is to get students to see themselves as writers and allow themselves to be motivated to be a life long writer.