How to successfully teach writing in Primary Schools
When you have finished reading, you will have first hand knowledge of how to conduct a writing workshop. You may be wondering, writing workshop? What is that? Continue reading to find the answers to these questions.
I have posted videos about the writing workshop in a previous blog to help you gain a better understand of what I am about to write. Writing workshop is a structure used for teaching students the writing process (drafting, editing, publishing just to name a few). This workshop consist of three parts ( the mini lesson which should last 10 minutes, work time 20-35 and share time 5 minutes) however the stipulated time can be readjusted depends on the level of the students and writing conferences plays a big role in keeping the workshop interesting and where students are given the choice in selecting their own topic and work at their own pace. However, teachers can give students the category their writing should falls under for example teachers can explain to students that they have to write an informational piece but they choose on what topic they are writing the information on.
In my opinion having students work at their own pace will help them to become more comfortable and confident to tackle the task of writing, but this can also prove stressful to teachers because everyone will be at a different stage in the writing process.
The writing workshops can be introduced from Kindergarten and not only the upper grades. I liked the fact that we as teachers have to model what is expected from the students because I think they will gain a better understanding of what is expected of them.
When engaging in the workshop it is important to note that teachers should use mentor texts, these will help the students to identify good writing and compare their work to judge where needs improving. While reading about writing workshops, I could not help but reflect on my time in primary school and how writing was taught to me. Want to hear a secret? I used to dread doing any kind of Composition in school because I thought the topic was boring and the work tedious because of how it was taught to me, but if my teacher was exposed to the writing workshop, I think I would have enjoyed doing Composition in school and also be able to teach it properly to my students.
While engaging in writing workshops, teachers need to engage the use of writing conferences. Writing conference is a one-on-one strategy, designed to guide and assist students through the process of writing. Even though the writing conference has many benefits, there are a few negatives, here are a few:
1. It is challenging due to the time needed for individual sessions with students to help them improve on their writing. Some teachers might find themselves spending the whole session on one child.
2.It is stressful to teachers because they are focusing on multiple skills in one session.
Here are a few suggestions to help you in using the writing conference.
1. Create groups with students who have similar need. This will give teachers enough time to conference with all students.
2. Only focus on one skill at a time.
It is important to note some mistakes teachers make when conducting the writing conference.
1. Turning the conference into a mini lesson
2. Teachers should not focus on the students, but on their writing and
3. Always keep the conference short.
These mistakes stood out to me because as teachers we tend to get carried away when helping students. I honestly love reading everything about writing workshop because it was my first time knowing anything about it, and it sound like something I would like to try in my classroom.
I would like to suggest that in our next sessions we the student teachers engage in a writing workshop to gain first hand experience.
Knowledge and use of the writing process is very important for teachers. When teachers are knowledgeable about the steps in writing then they are better able to explain and demonstrate each step. Yes I agree that each step in the process should be taught individually as a means of understanding and when each step is mastered by a student then they can move on to the next and at their own pace.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, when I heard about Writing Workshop I second guess and was confuse. When the information became knowledgeable to me, I was amaze. This is a very good strategy that can build our students' writing skills and allow then to have a love for writing. I like how you state the pros and cons. The information was delivered well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiment that when students are able work at their own pace they tend to produce better work. When students are given the opportunity to do their work without the pressure of immediate deadlines they can take their time and develop their points properly.
ReplyDeleteYou made some very good points in this post. For one, while the writing workshop is indeed a very useful strategy and promises success in the development of our students' writing, it do has its challenges. Conferencing as you mentioned will definitely be a challenge for many teachers and can easily turn into something that it shouldn't be, once it is not carefully and timely planned. Some teachers are programmed only to manage one thing at a time, so having to deal with different skills all at once, may cause some frustration. While we have learned so much about it, I too agree that student teachers should engage in a writing workshop to gain first hand experience of what it really should be, which would make it even easier to apply in our classrooms.
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