Especially for Teachers - About English

Much has been written about teaching children how to write. While teaching methods and emphases are influenced by social, political and economic factors, teachers’ own understandings about teaching and the ways in which their students learn best are of fundamental importance to the ways in which they develop their writing programs. Even though many teachers share common beliefs and philosophies about language learning, no two classrooms will look and sound the same. When they translate their beliefs into practice, teachers make decisions which create unique learning environments to support both their own needs and those of their students.

The first decisions teachers make include ways of

• providing a range of authentic language activities.
• planning and modelling appropriate writing forms in context.
• providing a balance between informational and narrative reading and writing opportunities.
• observing and supporting children as their writing develops.
• intervening appropriately so that each child can achieve success.

The First Steps publications developed by the Education Department of Western Australia provide teachers with useful information about all aspects of the language modes. The introduction to the Writing Resource Book explains the complex decisions that teachers must make about interrelated skills of writing in a particularly thought provoking way.

Writing is an amazingly complex activity. The writer is simultaneously involved with thinking of what to write, coherence and cohesion of the text, formation and legibility of individual letters, spelling, grammar including punctuation, layout, tone and register, organisation and selection of appropriate content for an intended audience. It is impossible to control all aspects of writing at once. Children need a clear framework within which they can express and order their ideas, thus reducing the complexity of the task and the demands on their memory. They also need to be able to focus on one or two aspects of writing at one time so that they can practise new skills until they become automatic. The teacher who demands neat writing, correct punctuation and perfect spelling while children are learning to master new skills runs the risk of promoting the creation of short boring texts written by children who have no interest in the message only in what the teacher demands. Children cannot manage all the demands of written language concurrently.

Opportunity to interact with the teacher and peers is an essential part of learning to write. Children can be encouraged to question, compare, modify and share with peers throughout the writing process. The talk generated in problem-solving sessions provides crucial information and insights for teachers into the students’ understandings of the writing process.

Time to practise the skills and develop understandings is an essential component of the writing program. Children also need time to reflect on what they know and to think about what they need to know so that they have ownership and control of their own writing development.

(Adapted from First Steps: Writing Resource Book , Longman, 1994. Page 4.)

Planning for writing

As a start teachers might consider these questions:

The questions listed might be used:

• by individual teachers
• as a focus for school professional learning sessions.
• as a needs analysis form for teachers to identify aspects of their programs which might benefit from future professional learning.
• As a means of increasing the understanding of the complexity of writing by teachers from learning areas other than English

Planning for writing in all areas of the curriculum will help to ensure that the contexts are meaningful for students.

Discussion of writing across all learning areas could become one of the ways that a secondary school might use to improve literacy outcomes in partnership agreements following ASSR findings.

Selecting a form to suit the purpose for writing

Both teachers and students need to consider which form might best suit the purpose for writing. Students will have more ownership over their own writing if they are allowed to select from a range of forms according to their interest and enthusiasm for the required task.

This table shows some possibilities for matching form and purpose.

Adapted from Write Ways: Modelling Writing Forms by Lesley Wing Jan Oxford University Press 1991

Creating a balanced writing program

Although the previous section charted some of the connections between form and purpose that information is not sufficient to produce a balanced and comprehensive writing program.

The diversity of texts available for selection by both teachers and students is so great that it would be impossible to attempt all of them in any year. Consequently teachers should adopt the following strategies when they are planning their writing programs:

• Engage in collaborative planning so that writing forms are taught in a coherent and consistent manner.
• Develop a whole school sequenced plan for writing so that while some forms are explicitly taught by the teachers of particular grades they may be scaffolded, consolidated and practised by others.
• Use a check list to map and record the types of writing used for each unit of work.
• Have students keep a writing record in which they record the types of writing they have chosen to create.

It is also valuable to consider balance in terms of the types of activities used to teach writing. In the guided writing project, Targeting Text, described below, the essential components of a balanced writing program were seen as:

• modelled writing
• shared/interactive writing
• guided writing
• independent writing
• and language experience

A check list of writing forms for teachers’ use

This check list works best if it is photocopied to create a chart which teachers use for planning. As each writing form is used by students it is ticked thus building up a complete picture of the writing tasks students undertake as the year progresses.

FORMS FOR WRITING

The Writing Cycle

This diagram is a simplified version of one developed for the DSP Literacy Project, Teaching Factual Writing: A Genre-based Approach NSW Department of School Education, Sydney. It shows the cyclic nature of teaching students to write in particular genres and the processes which assist them to gain the confidence to write independently and correctly.

Many teachers will be familiar with the processes mentioned in the writing cycle. However, the circular representation of the processes that students undergo to become confident writers in a new genre will be new for some.

Providing support for writing and spelling

Teachers provide supports and scaffolds so that students are able to assume responsibility for their own learning and so that they feel free to take risks and experiment with their own writing. The following principles should be included in all programs if students are to engage in meaningful writing activities.

(Many of these ideas have been adapted from Spelling An Integrated Approach by Wendy Bean and Chrys Bouffler (1997) published by Eleanor Curtain)

Classroom print

Print in the classroom must be at the right height for students to read if it is to scaffold student learning rather than simply provide an attractive backdrop. Print needs to change frequently.

Books

Provide a variety of easily accessible books. Take the time to introduce students to books in the class and school library. Use books to demonstrate concepts about print and spelling in a way that is integrated with other activities.

Writing opportunities

Give plenty of opportunities for students to write a wide variety of texts. Create class books on all kinds of topics including class journal, magazines, newspapers and information books. Use them to expand the reading materials in the classroom.

Games

Students will enjoy playing games with words and learn from them, too. Develop a repertoire of games to use at odd moments or to integrate into the teaching program.

Language resources

Provide a range of dictionaries to suit students’ needs and abilities. Students’ personal dictionaries and spelling learning lists are valuable aids to writing. For older students include books which give the history of words, dictionaries of idioms and proverbs as well as a selection of thesauruses.

Daily writing

Opportunities for students to read and write each day are crucial. Create lots of meaningful contexts in which students can write for a variety of genuine audiences.

Modelling

Talking through processes or ‘thinking aloud’ while writing in front of a class or group to demonstrate particular aspects of writing should be a regular activity in every classroom.

Real purposes and audiences

As they develop an understanding of the social nature of writing, students will become more aware of the concepts of audience and purpose. If teachers can create real contexts for writing in the classroom, students will become more interested in learning strategies to improve their writing.

Give students real responses

The complex activity of writing is hard work for many of our students. Given the important role of writing in school and society, teachers need to make writing both meaningful and pleasurable for students. They also need to respond regularly to students’ writing. Students need to know that they have an audience - in the first instance this is likely to be the teacher. Responding regularly in a meaningful way to student writing is a time consuming but crucial activity.

Emphasise audience

Organise authors’ circles in which four or five students share and compare their incomplete drafts. Each student has the opportunity to read his or her piece and be questioned by or ask questions of other members of the circle. At first, they will need help in posing meaningful questions and developing the skills to listen carefully. These are skills to develop over time.

Personal writing folders

Folders are useful for students to store all kinds of writing, created for all kinds of purposes and audiences. Folders encourage students to experiment, draft, revise and edit their writing. Exercise books sometimes inhibit students from crossing out and making changes. Folders can be added to as required - drafts can be stapled together, record sheets can be included and ideas gained from magazine and newspaper cuttings can be stored. Personal writing folders are especially important now that so many of our students use computers to process and publish their writing.

The Writing Process

Teachers should bring the writing process to the students’ attention whenever an appropriate moment occurs. Charts reminding students what to do when they have finished their first drafts, what to look for in their writing and how to prepare for publication are useful. Charts listing appropriate writing goals for each student could be stored in the writing folder and modified following each writing conference.

Composing on computers

Opportunities to compose texts on computers are increasing as students gain greater access both at home and at school. While computers can complicate issues of authorship, they provide students with enormous freedom to create written and multi-media texts. Used judiciously, grammar and spelling programs can useful, but students still need to understand that it is their responsibility to achieve accurate expression.