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5 Tips for Teaching Writing

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Teaching writing is a passion of mine. I always loved to see students express their creativity through written word and watch their growth as writers throughout the year. Today I will be sharing with you 5 tips for teaching writing.

1. Daily Writing Time

Set aside time each day for your students to write. When I was teaching fourth grade I had my students write daily in many ways. We had formal writing lessons, journal prompts as morning work, spend 5-10 minutes after lunch and recess free writing, etc. There are many ways to easily incorporate writing into all subject areas as well. Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store to see all the writing units I have created.

2. Story Starters or Prompts

Give your students something to write about. Quick prompts are perfect to get your students thinking. I love using finish the story prompts. Students will read a passage that has no ending and create one for it.

Image shows finish the story prompt on a green clipboard with a pencil laid over the top

If you’re interested in finish the story prompts but don’t want to write your own check out the ones I have available in my TpT store here. I have monthly prompts available, plus you can save big by buying the bundle.

Another quick writing prompt is to display a picture and have students to write a story that goes along with it. Grab some old monthly calendars for access to great prompt pictures!

3. Teach the Writing Process

The writing process is important in cultivating good writers. Teach your students the steps and make sure they follow through for larger writing assignments.

Image shows the writing process: step 1 prewriting, step 2 drafting, step 3 revising, step 4 editing

You will need to explicitly teach your students how to follow the steps of the writing process and what each step entails. Prewriting consists of brainstorming and outlining what will be written. In the drafting phase students will complete a rough draft of their writing. Upon completion they will move to revision. Students will revise their own work. To do this they will read their writing over and make changes to improve upon it. Finally, they move to editing. This is where students will share their writing with their peers, teacher, etc and make corrections.

4. Use Graphic Organizers

Image shows graphic organizer and lesson plan on clip board with colorful pens overlaid on one side and colorful sticky notes on the other side

Graphic organizers are excellent tools for helping students in the beginning steps of the writing process. Check out this blog post to see some of the graphic organizers I use to assist my students. Giving students a graphic organizer can help them to put their thoughts in order and narrow down what they should include in the writing piece. The picture above is from my fall narrative writing unit where students were tasked to use sensory details and have a clear beginning, middle, and end to the story.

5. Student Choice

The final tip for teaching writing is to allow student choice. Obviously students can not choose what they will write about every time they write, but allowing students to write about what interests them on occasion is a powerful tool in creating great writers.

A great way to offer student choice is to use whole class journals. If you’ve never heard of them read this blog post and make sure to grab the freebie!

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    I hope you enjoyed these tips for teaching writing. Do you have any other writing tips to share? Comment below!

     

    My name is Jen and I’m the face behind Endeavors in Education.

    I have a passion for ELA and science. I am even STEM certified. Now I spend my time hanging with my kids, blogging (endeavorsined.com), and creating for my TpT store Endeavors in Education.

    I’m so happy you’ve joined me on this journey!

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