Do you have a writing bulletin board in your classroom? A one stop shop for students to find writing resources and tools? Your writing bulletin board can be such a valuable tool! Read more to find out how you can take three easy steps to set your students up for writing success!
Show it off
Expectations shouldn’t be a mystery. Think about it,
are your classroom expectations posted, oh course they are! So, why shouldn’t
your writing expectations be posted too? How can students reach the bar you are
setting if they are not really sure what the bar even is or looks like? Each
unit, I post an example story of where I want my students to be by the end of
the unit. I tell my students that this is an example of a great writer (I tell
them that this is a story from a student in a nearby state that I blew up for
use in our room). We start the Historical Fiction unit in November, so the first chunk of the unit focuses on creating a character who journeyed upon the Mayflower! Students journal each day as this character and we make feathered pencils to write with. It is a lot of fun! The second section of the unit focuses on writing full length Historical Fiction stories.
I also label different sections of the story. I highlight components such as dialogue, indents, the climax, conclusion, and more. We dissect writing a lot through my units and it truly makes a difference in my students abilities to use these components when they can recognize them in other works of writing. When students are exposed to good writing, they can see it
and work toward creating great writing too.
Another way I make my expectations clear is by
posting our writing rubric and matching scored examples (the students and I create the examples together). When my students see where I
have set the bar, they now have a fair chance to strive for it. Clarity is the
key to helping your students grow as writers.
Give them Options
You get a writing option, and you get a writing
option, everybody gets a writing option! Think about it folks, when you go to
write your lessons, does anyone hand you a specific planner and a number two
pencil and say, “write”? No! We spend oodles of time picking just the right planner
for us, and buy all the Flair pens to fill it with. Here’s my question, why
should we not offer the same opportunities to our writers? I say give them all
the options! If your students prefer to draft on plain paper or a graphic
organizer, let them! Allow them to have these options at their fingertips.
Getting set up to share your ideas is not a one size fits all model. Give your
students the freedom to use whatever paper helps them get their amazing ideas
down.
Looking for the graphic organizers pictured above?
Click
HERE to check out the graphic organizers I use when teaching Historical Fiction writing.
Easy Access to Tools
Don’t hoard the pencils! Teachers, trust me I get
it! I use to hide pencils away because I always knew we would hit that halfway
mark in the year and our classroom would look like a barren waste land for writing
utensils. Not a pencil to be found. However, I have found that reluctant
writers are more likely to jump in and write if they feel they are getting to
use a special tool. So, grab some washi tape and label all the special writing
pencils, pens, and what nots. Allow them to use these tools any time writing
class is in session. See what happens, honestly just try it!
Once your writing bulletin board is set up for success, it is time to get those kiddos writing! There are countless ways to use grade writing prompts to increase the writing skills of our students. I use writing prompts every single day with my students, and I KNOW it makes a massive impact on their writing skills! Would you like to try a FREE sample of the no-prep writing prompts that I love so much? I would love to share a printable and Google Classroom ready writing prompt resource with you so you can try out the tips you just read about! Simply click the button below and download your FREE writing prompt sample now!
