Writing Processes & Strategies
What the experts say about writing processes & strategies:
Listening to children – taking lessons from them – is essential to the teaching of writing.
~ Lucy McCormick Calkins
Teach the writer, not the writing.
~ Lucy McCormick Calkins
The power of writing resides in the many ways in which it can be used. It is essential to school success and has increasingly become a central component of daily life in industrialized societies.
~ Steve Graham
Read more about writing processes & strategies!
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Teaching Writing Webcasts: Featuring Steve Graham, Louisa Moats & Susan Neuman
- Classroom Strategies for Writing Conferences
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Looking at Writing: Classroom Strategies & Resources
OVERVIEW of writing processes & strategies
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As adults and “expert writers” it is easy to forget how complex writing is. It involves thinking about and doing many different things at once, like forming letters, spelling, choosing words, and generating ideas. Teachers need to help students as they learn to juggle just a few writing skills at first, and then slowly add others. With practice, writers will be able to do all of this simultaneously. |
TEACHING writing processes & strategies
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Modeling is a powerful tool in writing instruction. It lets students inside the mind of a writer by explaining thought processes. Modeling can be used to teach aspects of writing like editing and word choice, or to teach strategies like using a graphic organizer. Students then write, applying what they learned in the lesson. Teachers can conference with students, providing feedback to support writing development. |
ASSESSING writing processes & strategies
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Students need to know what good writing looks like and what the success criteria for a writing task are. It is important to have reasonable expectations based on the task, grade level, and individual student. For example, young students write more when they use inventive spelling. Teachers can gather work samples across the year in portfolios to document the development of students’ writing. |
Featured Videos
Picture Writing: Using Student Art to Motivate Early Writing
Why Do Writers Write?: Understanding the Purpose for Writing (Virtual Tour)
Bubblegum Letters: A Persuasive Writing Activity
All Writing Processes & Strategies Recipes
Writer's Workshop: Modeling and Guiding the Writing Process in Kindergarten (Virtual Tour)
PreK - 1st
Amazing Authors: Developing a Writing Style (Virtual Tour)
2nd - 3rd
Pocket Research: Organizing Information for Report Writing (Virtual Tour)
2nd - 4th
Why Do Writers Write?: Understanding the Purpose for Writing (Virtual Tour)
1st - 2nd
Classroom Mailbox: Motivating Students to Write Letters to Friends (Virtual Tour)
PreK - 1st
