How to Improve Students' Writing
Provide short, frequent writing assignments., Do Writing-to-Learn., Teach the full writing process., Use pre-writing activities., Try inquiry learning., Allow collaboration.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Provide short
Students' writing will improve as they're offered more opportunity to write.
Providing short free-writes in the content area
- science, English, math, social studies
- will help students learn.
Short free-writes can be 3 minutes or less.These short writing assignments are ungraded.
The assignments can be used to provide time for students' reflections on the topic.
Assignments can be motivational.
Use these quick assignments as a warm-up activity to start the class, or as a short response following a discussion. -
Step 2: frequent writing assignments.
Writing-to-Learn activities are different from typical writing assignments, which intend writing to be communicative.
These writing activities help students learn course content material by thinking through important content ideas, and writing about them.
The function of this kind of activity is to have the student practice applying his own words to the course material to further his understanding.Examples of Writing-to-Learn activities include:
Entry Slip:
Before discussing a topic, have students write for 2 minutes about what they already know about the topic.
Crystal Ball:
Following a class discussion, ask students to write for 2-3 minutes about what might happen next.
Found Poems:
Have the students rearrange something they've already written, using the same words.
Write a Letter:
Have students write short letters to a real or imaginary person regarding course material.
For example, in a science class, students might write asking questions of Marie Curie, asking her what her life was like as she worked on the process of discovering radium.
Writing-to-Learn activities shouldn't be graded, but can be discussed or voluntarily shared following the writing assignment.
Incorporate these activities regularly throughout the students' day. , Students may need to learn that writing is a process, incorporating planning, writing the first draft, and revising the final product.
Teach each step independently, focusing especially on the first stages for struggling writers.Provide plenty of activities that help students know how to plan for their writing.
Brainstorming, mind-mapping, outlining and other strategies can be done either as a group or individually.
The first draft is expected to be an unfinished product, not perfect writing.
Always have students write a first draft that is ungraded.
Show students the first drafts of other writers.
Internet searches show the first drafts of many famous pages, and can be a great way to demonstrate the imperfections of early writing. , Anything that helps students explore, plan, and organize their ideas is considered a pre-writing activity.
These include any classroom activities that precede the first draft of writing, and develop the students' thoughts on a topic.
Pre-writing activities are a necessary step in the writing process.Emphasize to students that the more developed their ideas become in the pre-writing activity, the more polished their final writing will be.
Make the connection between clear thinking and skilled writing.
For many students, being able to speak their ideas aloud may lead to increased ability to write their ideas on the page.
Pre-writing is a good way to make sure students have vocabulary words regarding the topic.
Incorporate lists as a pre-writing activity.
For example, ask the students to write a list of pros and cons regarding the discussion topic prior to beginning to write. , Inquiry learning encourages the student to pursue her own area of interest through a focused investigation.
It includes research into the topic, but also may include student experience.One example of inquiry learning is to have students interview others, and document this interview in writing.
Inquiry writing can be persuasive or informational. , Writing in pairs or small groups often results in students' improved writing skills.
Have students learn from each other through partnering for writing projects.
Collaboration can be done at any stage of the writing process, or for the entirety of the writing assignment.Some writing programs allow for collaborative writing and editing online.
Collaborative writing provides opportunities for students to learn to offer constructive feedback to each other, which improves their individual writing skills. -
Step 3: Do Writing-to-Learn.
-
Step 4: Teach the full writing process.
-
Step 5: Use pre-writing activities.
-
Step 6: Try inquiry learning.
-
Step 7: Allow collaboration.
Detailed Guide
Students' writing will improve as they're offered more opportunity to write.
Providing short free-writes in the content area
- science, English, math, social studies
- will help students learn.
Short free-writes can be 3 minutes or less.These short writing assignments are ungraded.
The assignments can be used to provide time for students' reflections on the topic.
Assignments can be motivational.
Use these quick assignments as a warm-up activity to start the class, or as a short response following a discussion.
Writing-to-Learn activities are different from typical writing assignments, which intend writing to be communicative.
These writing activities help students learn course content material by thinking through important content ideas, and writing about them.
The function of this kind of activity is to have the student practice applying his own words to the course material to further his understanding.Examples of Writing-to-Learn activities include:
Entry Slip:
Before discussing a topic, have students write for 2 minutes about what they already know about the topic.
Crystal Ball:
Following a class discussion, ask students to write for 2-3 minutes about what might happen next.
Found Poems:
Have the students rearrange something they've already written, using the same words.
Write a Letter:
Have students write short letters to a real or imaginary person regarding course material.
For example, in a science class, students might write asking questions of Marie Curie, asking her what her life was like as she worked on the process of discovering radium.
Writing-to-Learn activities shouldn't be graded, but can be discussed or voluntarily shared following the writing assignment.
Incorporate these activities regularly throughout the students' day. , Students may need to learn that writing is a process, incorporating planning, writing the first draft, and revising the final product.
Teach each step independently, focusing especially on the first stages for struggling writers.Provide plenty of activities that help students know how to plan for their writing.
Brainstorming, mind-mapping, outlining and other strategies can be done either as a group or individually.
The first draft is expected to be an unfinished product, not perfect writing.
Always have students write a first draft that is ungraded.
Show students the first drafts of other writers.
Internet searches show the first drafts of many famous pages, and can be a great way to demonstrate the imperfections of early writing. , Anything that helps students explore, plan, and organize their ideas is considered a pre-writing activity.
These include any classroom activities that precede the first draft of writing, and develop the students' thoughts on a topic.
Pre-writing activities are a necessary step in the writing process.Emphasize to students that the more developed their ideas become in the pre-writing activity, the more polished their final writing will be.
Make the connection between clear thinking and skilled writing.
For many students, being able to speak their ideas aloud may lead to increased ability to write their ideas on the page.
Pre-writing is a good way to make sure students have vocabulary words regarding the topic.
Incorporate lists as a pre-writing activity.
For example, ask the students to write a list of pros and cons regarding the discussion topic prior to beginning to write. , Inquiry learning encourages the student to pursue her own area of interest through a focused investigation.
It includes research into the topic, but also may include student experience.One example of inquiry learning is to have students interview others, and document this interview in writing.
Inquiry writing can be persuasive or informational. , Writing in pairs or small groups often results in students' improved writing skills.
Have students learn from each other through partnering for writing projects.
Collaboration can be done at any stage of the writing process, or for the entirety of the writing assignment.Some writing programs allow for collaborative writing and editing online.
Collaborative writing provides opportunities for students to learn to offer constructive feedback to each other, which improves their individual writing skills.
About the Author
Donna Jordan
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow practical skills tutorials.
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