Writing+Instructional+Methods




 * Writing Instructional Methods

**  Due to the fact that the definition of literacy includes both reading and writing skills, it is important that poor writing proficiency is recognized as an intrinsic part of the national literacy crisis. Several elements of current writing instruction that are effective for helping to teach writing include, writing strategies, summarization, collaborative writing, specific product goals, word processing, sentence combining, prewriting, inquiry activities, process writing approach, study of models, and writing for content learning. It is important that we, as teachers, focus more time on finding unique ways to teach and encourage writing in our classrooms!

**6+1 Traits Writing (for Revision)** 6+1 Traits has become an effective way for students to revise their writing. Founded on research, this method encourages students to self-asses their writing through learning about traits such as voice, word choice, audience, sentence fluency, ideas, and organization. Although only limited research is available to directly support 6+1 traits as an instructional model, studies show that many students have improved writing scores and enjoyed writing once again!

**Reading/Writing Connections** The American education system has a long history of separating reading and writing instruction, but why? Research has shown that struggling readers are also struggling writers because of the wide range of skills used in the development of both. The majority of scheduled language arts studies in the classroom is spent on reading instruction and as a result the essential writing strategies are not explicitly taught and the student's writing suffers. There are a number of simple and time efficient ways teachers can incorporate writing and reading instruction into the classroom without sacrificing the development of one for the other.

**Collaborative Writing** Students sometimes struggle when given a pencil, a piece of paper and a topic to write about. By having students write collaboratively, the blank page becomes less scary and the ideas just pour out of them. They become more motivated to write and writing becomes enjoyable again since they are working with their peers.  **Writing Instruction for Emergent Writers Emergent writers need to experience writing in unique and exciting ways. When teachers learn these new and creative ways to introduce and encourage writing, visible and remarkable results can be achieved. One of the most important things a teacher can do is to set high expectations for their students. By valuing students as writers and helping them to understand the real reasons that people write, we can create a group of students who enjoy writing and will continue to enjoy it as they grow! **