Week 9: Writing Strand Blog Post
 |
| Clipart Panda. Writing. Picture [Online Image] Retrieved From http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/writing-clipart |
 |
| Quotes Gram. Writing Quotes. Picture [Online Image] Retrieved From https://quotesgram.com/writing-quotes/
|
How To Promote Student Writing!
"Once Upon A Time...," the age old opening line for hundreds of classic stories and tales told to children all around the world. But how did these stories came to be you might ask? Someone decided to sit down and WRITE!Children start off writing with spelling their ABC's and their 1, 2, 3's. They learn what a sentence is composed of, where the capital's go, and what punctuation to use. Many children see writing as a boring, monotonous task that becomes a chore and something unpleasant.
For me, growing up I loved writing; that was a result of being introduced to so many amazing stories. Therefore as a young child I wanted to create my own through journaling. I have always been fascinated and in love with Disney Fairy Tales and this helped to shape my wild imagination.
Back in elementary school writing went something like this; in the primary grades students were tasked with writing in their journals once a week about a prompt given to them by their teachers. In the junior grades, students still wrote in their journals but they are given freedom to choose what they wanted to write about, and in the intermediate grades students could write short stories about whatever was appealing to them.
When I was in elementary school I loved writing because it was my outlet; it helped me to stay organized, focused and stress free. I would write stories or write about my days and what I accomplished. However, my obsession with writing became somewhat unhealthy when I ended up spending more time on writing every single intricate detail about my day, and not spending nearly enough time on my homework.
As I got older I learned to balance my time when it came to writing and I only focused on key events and the big things that happened in my life. Still, to this day I write about my days and what I did, but it is not as detailed as it once was when I was in high school.
Thus, writing for me has always been a generally positive activity. I can look back to over 8 years ago and see exactly what I did on a given day. Unfortunately, some students do not have this positive interaction with writing and see it as something scary or negative.
Teachers need to change their students' perception when it comes to writing, and this can all be done through fun and intriguing activities that get the students' attention and develop their love for writing.
Fun Activities to Engage Students to Write!
Writing From Lists:
I LOVE this resource because I am a HUGE list maker. In order to stay organized in my life I have multiple lists of the things I need to accomplish within a given day, week and month. This resource contains 5 Unit Plans that teachers can draw from in order to inspire writing for children of all ages. The resource can be found at, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-from-Lists-Bundle-2159904 and the possibilities are endless! The resource can be downloaded and bought on Teachers Pay Teachers and it includes 5 amazing topics for writing from lists. They include: My bucket list, Things I cannot stand, I can't imagine life without, My prints are all over it and In my head. Teachers can use this resource for, "whole class lessons, writing centers, small group instruction and various assessments". This resource brings the FUN and CREATIVE side back to writing!
 |
|
Teachers Pay Teachers. Writing
From Lists: Bundle. Picture [Online Image] Retrieved From https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-from-Lists-Bundle-2159904
|
 |
| The Teachy Teacher. Emoji Easy Peasy Writing Activity. Picture [Online Image] Retrieved From http://www.theteachyteacher.com/2016/06/emoji-easy-writing-activity.html |
The resource can be found at, http://www.theteachyteacher.com/2016/06/emoji-easy-writing-activity.html. Emoji writing is a group activity that all students can partake in. Basically the fun emoji characters are cut out and glued to paper blocks. The students roll the blocks and whatever it lands on they have to write about. The teacher can direct the writing piece by stating, "your setting is" and the student will have to make the emoji part of their piece of writing. This resource promotes fun and creative ways to engage student writing through unpredictable, group activities.
 |
| The Teachy Teacher. Emoji Easy Peasy Writing Activity. Picture [Online Image] Retrieved From http://www.theteachyteacher.com/2016/06/emoji-easy-writing-activity.html |
Snowball writing is a narrative writing activity that promotes collaborative writing in a fun and interactive way. The premise behind this activity is, each student fills out one of the pre-made worksheets with a visual story starter to start their own unique stories. The students are given an allotted amount of time and once this time is up they are asked to crumple up their worksheet into a "snowball" and throw it to the front of the classroom. Following this mass throwing of "snowballs" by each student, they are then asked to pick up another snowball and continue writing their story. This process is done once more and then the original student copies are returned to their writers for revising and editing. Students in various grade levels get a kick out of this activity and it helps to promote positive feelings towards writing. The resource can be found at, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WRITING-ACTIVITY-SNOWBALL-WRITING-649424 and it includes numerous activity sheets, and printables' that can be used to promote student writing!
 |
| Teachers Pay Teachers. Writing Activity: Snowball Writing. Picture [Online Image] Retrieved From https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WRITING-ACTIVITY-SNOWBALL-WRITING-649424 |
Curriculum Connection
All three of the listed resources follow the Ontario Curriculum Expectations for teaching the Writing Strand. Each resource helps to promote writing in a creative, engaging and fun way. Each resource asks students to gather and organize information in order to write for an intended audience/purpose. Snowball Writing, asks students to use their revising, editing and proof reading skills to develop a purposeful piece of writing.
Furthermore, Writing From Lists, can help students identify their strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement because students are expected to write according to the lists presented. As well, Emoji Writing, can allow students to develop their critical thinking and writing skills when asked to write about the image they are presented with after rolling it.
Additionally, each resource above supports the overall expectations for the writing strand. Each resource can be manipulated to writers in various grade levels and therefore it meets the grade level writing specific expectations. Each resource promotes creativity and engages the student by drawing them in with a fun activity. Thus, they turn, daunting and negative task of writing into something both positive and pleasurable.
Furthermore, Writing From Lists, can help students identify their strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement because students are expected to write according to the lists presented. As well, Emoji Writing, can allow students to develop their critical thinking and writing skills when asked to write about the image they are presented with after rolling it.
Additionally, each resource above supports the overall expectations for the writing strand. Each resource can be manipulated to writers in various grade levels and therefore it meets the grade level writing specific expectations. Each resource promotes creativity and engages the student by drawing them in with a fun activity. Thus, they turn, daunting and negative task of writing into something both positive and pleasurable.
Conclusion
Moreover, as a future educator I believe we need to teach our core subjects in a way that our students can relate to. If students can relate to what they are learning then their entire mindset changes. School becomes fun, homework becomes enjoyable and learning becomes a life long goal. It is extremely important to educate our students on the importance of writing. In my mind some of our youth are too technologically advanced. Everything they do is either typed, texted, or done through some sort of multi-media outlet. Students are not being taught their basic penmanship skills, and cursive writing skills.
There needs to be a balance between technology and the basics. I believe we can use technology to engage our students and make them inspired to learn,but we also need to remember the basics. There are too many kids today who do not have a signature, neat writing or their basic penmanship skills because everything is done online and not with pencil and paper. Balance is key,and I can see myself using the activities above to promote a creative classroom environment in which students can use pencil and paper or their technological devices to develop their love for writing.
There needs to be a balance between technology and the basics. I believe we can use technology to engage our students and make them inspired to learn,but we also need to remember the basics. There are too many kids today who do not have a signature, neat writing or their basic penmanship skills because everything is done online and not with pencil and paper. Balance is key,and I can see myself using the activities above to promote a creative classroom environment in which students can use pencil and paper or their technological devices to develop their love for writing.
Below is an excellent video about the power and importance that writing has had on humanity.
Cheers, Courtney Helt
No comments:
Post a Comment