What is Writing Instruction and What Isn’t?

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Writing instruction is an uncomfortable topic for many of us.  Students can be resistant, parents don’t know how to help, and as teachers, we don’t always know exactly what we’re supposed to be teaching. 

What is writing instruction and what isn’t?

To ramp up your writing instruction, you need to get one principle clearly in mind.  

                                 Writing is communication.  

It’s the sharing of ideas from one mind to another.  I tell kids, “It’s like talking, but on paper.”  Once you’re firmly committed to that principle, everything else starts to fall into place.  “Writing is communication” seems like a straight-forward idea, but it can be hard to grasp deeply enough to apply to your teaching.  It means that these concepts;

    • grammar

    • punctuation and capitalization

    • spelling

are NOT equivalent to teaching writing: These are the mechanics of writing. Sometimes we fall back on teaching these mechanics INSTEAD OF teaching writing, because they’re easier to communicate to students. Actually teaching writing is much more challenging than just teaching mechanics.

Does that mean that we SHOULDN’T teach grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling?  Of course not.  But those topics are not an end in themselves.  You teach them so that students can communicate more effectively in writing. 

 

What should writing instruction include?

Writing has specific elements (or “traits” as they are sometimes called)  that need to be taught, modeled, and practiced by students.  These elements include (but aren’t limited to): 

    • organization

    • focus on a topic

    • clarity of language 

    • development of ideas

    • use of vocabulary 

    • mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar).

A concrete example

We can learn a lot about what students have been taught, and what they know how to do as writers from paragraphs like this.  

“This is my paragraph about giraffes.  First giraffes are tall.  Second, giraffes eat leaves.  Third, giraffes groups are in what a group is they live in.  That is my paragraph about giraffes.”

So what can student writing teach us about how to teach them?

The good news:

    • Notice the correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling?  A teacher has invested time in teaching mechanics.

    • Notice the opening and closing sentences, and the transition words (first, second, third)?  Someone has put time into teaching that student the writing trait of organization.  

And the bad news:

If the student was trying to communicate to me about giraffes, they haven’t done very well.  Their ideas are not at all developed.  They’ve raised more questions than they’ve answered.  

    • How tall?  

    • How tall compared to me?   

    • What kind of leaves?  

    • Do they eat other things too?  

    • If I were allowed to feed a giraffe, what could I take as its favorite food?  And so on.  

And see how limited the language is?  The opening and closing are stilted and formulaic.  The verbs are limited, and the description is almost non-existent.  In a paragraph describing giraffes, I’d hope to see word choices like: 

    • munch

    • graze

    • herd

    • towering

    • gangly

    • leggy

    • patches

    • mammal   

And what is going on with that sentence that starts with the word “Third”?  The language is confusing, and the writer hasn’t corrected it.  If this student is using a writing process at all, they need to work on revising. 

 

So let’s dig in and teach writing!

So how do we help students move beyond formula writing that doesn’t really communicate very well?  How do we help students use a writing process that produces work that can express increasingly complex ideas?  

That’s what this blog is about.  Based on my 35 years as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and teacher coach, I’ll walk you through lessons that actually teach students how to write.

 

MY POINT FOR TODAY:

 When you understand that writing is a challenging communication process and not just simple mechanics, you can identify what students need to be better communicators. And then you can teach them!

If you have specific questions or comments about writing instruction, please share them.  I love to hear from my colleagues!  Email me.  [email protected]