creative writing teaching strategies

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How to Teach Creative Writing | 7 Steps to Get Students Wordsmithing

“I don’t have any ideas!”

“I can’t think of anything!”

While we see creative writing as a world of limitless imagination, our students often see an overwhelming desert of “no idea.”

But when you teach creative writing effectively, you’ll notice that every student is brimming over with ideas that just have to get out.

So what does teaching creative writing effectively look like?

We’ve outlined a seven-step method that will scaffold your students through each phase of the creative process from idea generation through to final edits.

7. Create inspiring and original prompts

Use the following formats to generate prompts that get students inspired:

personal memories (“Write about a person who taught you an important lesson”)
imaginative scenarios
prompts based on a familiar mentor text (e.g. “Write an alternative ending to your favorite book”). These are especially useful for giving struggling students an easy starting point.
lead-in sentences (“I looked in the mirror and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Somehow overnight I…”).
fascinating or thought-provoking images with a directive (“Who do you think lives in this mountain cabin? Tell their story”).

Don’t have the time or stuck for ideas? Check out our list of 100 student writing prompts

6. unpack the prompts together.

Explicitly teach your students how to dig deeper into the prompt for engaging and original ideas.

Probing questions are an effective strategy for digging into a prompt. Take this one for example:

“I looked in the mirror and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Somehow overnight I…”

Ask “What questions need answering here?” The first thing students will want to know is:

What happened overnight?

No doubt they’ll be able to come up with plenty of zany answers to that question, but there’s another one they could ask to make things much more interesting:

Who might “I” be?

In this way, you subtly push students to go beyond the obvious and into more original and thoughtful territory. It’s even more useful with a deep prompt:

“Write a story where the main character starts to question something they’ve always believed.”

Here students could ask:

What sorts of beliefs do people take for granted?
What might make us question those beliefs?
What happens when we question something we’ve always thought is true?
How do we feel when we discover that something isn’t true?

Try splitting students into groups, having each group come up with probing questions for a prompt, and then discussing potential “answers” to these questions as a class.

The most important lesson at this point should be that good ideas take time to generate. So don’t rush this step!

5. Warm-up for writing

A quick warm-up activity will:

allow students to see what their discussed ideas look like on paper
help fix the “I don’t know how to start” problem
warm up writing muscles quite literally (especially important for young learners who are still developing handwriting and fine motor skills).

Freewriting is a particularly effective warm-up. Give students 5–10 minutes to “dump” all their ideas for a prompt onto the page for without worrying about structure, spelling, or grammar.

After about five minutes you’ll notice them starting to get into the groove, and when you call time, they’ll have a better idea of what captures their interest.

Did you know? The Story Factory in Reading Eggs allows your students to write and publish their own storybooks using an easy step-by-step guide.

4. Start planning

Now it’s time for students to piece all these raw ideas together and generate a plan. This will synthesize disjointed ideas and give them a roadmap for the writing process.

Note: at this stage your strong writers might be more than ready to get started on a creative piece. If so, let them go for it – use planning for students who are still puzzling things out.

Here are four ideas for planning:

Graphic organisers

A graphic organiser will allow your students to plan out the overall structure of their writing. They’re also particularly useful in “chunking” the writing process, so students don’t see it as one big wall of text.

Storyboards and illustrations

These will engage your artistically-minded students and give greater depth to settings and characters. Just make sure that drawing doesn’t overshadow the writing process.

Voice recordings

If you have students who are hesitant to commit words to paper, tell them to think out loud and record it on their device. Often they’ll be surprised at how well their spoken words translate to the page.

Write a blurb

This takes a bit more explicit teaching, but it gets students to concisely summarize all their main ideas (without giving away spoilers). Look at some blurbs on the back of published books before getting them to write their own. Afterward they could test it out on a friend – based on the blurb, would they borrow it from the library?

3. Produce rough drafts

Warmed up and with a plan at the ready, your students are now ready to start wordsmithing. But before they start on a draft, remind them of what a draft is supposed to be:

a work in progress.

Remind them that if they wait for the perfect words to come, they’ll end up with blank pages .

Instead, it’s time to take some writing risks and get messy. Encourage this by:

demonstrating the writing process to students yourself
taking the focus off spelling and grammar (during the drafting stage)
providing meaningful and in-depth feedback (using words, not ticks!).

Reading Eggs also gives you access to an ever-expanding collection of over 3,500 online books!

2. share drafts for peer feedback.

Don’t saddle yourself with 30 drafts for marking. Peer assessment is a better (and less exhausting) way to ensure everyone receives the feedback they need.

Why? Because for something as personal as creative writing, feedback often translates better when it’s in the familiar and friendly language that only a peer can produce. Looking at each other’s work will also give students more ideas about how they can improve their own.

Scaffold peer feedback to ensure it’s constructive. The following methods work well:

Student rubrics

A simple rubric allows students to deliver more in-depth feedback than “It was pretty good.” The criteria will depend on what you are ultimately looking for, but students could assess each other’s:

use of language.

Whatever you opt for, just make sure the language you use in the rubric is student-friendly.

Two positives and a focus area

Have students identify two things their peer did well, and one area that they could focus on further, then turn this into written feedback. Model the process for creating specific comments so you get something more constructive than “It was pretty good.” It helps to use stems such as:

I really liked this character because…

I found this idea interesting because it made me think…

I was a bit confused by…

I wonder why you… Maybe you could… instead.

1. The editing stage

Now that students have a draft and feedback, here’s where we teachers often tell them to “go over it” or “give it some final touches.”

But our students don’t always know how to edit.

Scaffold the process with questions that encourage students to think critically about their writing, such as:

Are there any parts that would be confusing if I wasn’t there to explain them?
Are there any parts that seem irrelevant to the rest?
Which parts am I most uncertain about?
Does the whole thing flow together, or are there parts that seem out of place?
Are there places where I could have used a better word?
Are there any grammatical or spelling errors I notice?

Key to this process is getting students to read their creative writing from start to finish .

Important note: if your students are using a word processor, show them where the spell-check is and how to use it. Sounds obvious, but in the age of autocorrect, many students simply don’t know.

A final word on teaching creative writing

Remember that the best writers write regularly.

Incorporate them into your lessons as often as possible, and soon enough, you’ll have just as much fun marking your students’ creative writing as they do producing it.

Need more help supporting your students’ writing?

Read up on how to get reluctant writers writing , strategies for supporting struggling secondary writers , or check out our huge list of writing prompts for kids .

Watch your students get excited about writing and publishing their own storybooks in the Story Factory

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Four Strategies for Effective Writing Instruction

(This is the first post in a two-part series.)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach writing?

Teaching and learning good writing can be a challenge to educators and students alike.

The topic is no stranger to this column—you can see many previous related posts at Writing Instruction .

But I don’t think any of us can get too much good instructional advice in this area.

Today, Jenny Vo, Michele Morgan, and Joy Hamm share wisdom gained from their teaching experience.

Before I turn over the column to them, though, I’d like to share my favorite tool(s).

Graphic organizers, including writing frames (which are basically more expansive sentence starters) and writing structures (which function more as guides and less as “fill-in-the-blanks”) are critical elements of my writing instruction.

You can see an example of how I incorporate them in my seven-week story-writing unit and in the adaptations I made in it for concurrent teaching.

You might also be interested in The Best Scaffolded Writing Frames For Students .

Now, to today’s guests:

‘Shared Writing’

Jenny Vo earned her B.A. in English from Rice University and her M.Ed. in educational leadership from Lamar University. She has worked with English-learners during all of her 24 years in education and is currently an ESL ISST in Katy ISD in Katy, Texas. Jenny is the president-elect of TexTESOL IV and works to advocate for all ELs:

The single most effective instructional strategy that I have used to teach writing is shared writing. Shared writing is when the teacher and students write collaboratively. In shared writing, the teacher is the primary holder of the pen, even though the process is a collaborative one. The teacher serves as the scribe, while also questioning and prompting the students.

The students engage in discussions with the teacher and their peers on what should be included in the text. Shared writing can be done with the whole class or as a small-group activity.

There are two reasons why I love using shared writing. One, it is a great opportunity for the teacher to model the structures and functions of different types of writing while also weaving in lessons on spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

It is a perfect activity to do at the beginning of the unit for a new genre. Use shared writing to introduce the students to the purpose of the genre. Model the writing process from beginning to end, taking the students from idea generation to planning to drafting to revising to publishing. As you are writing, make sure you refrain from making errors, as you want your finished product to serve as a high-quality model for the students to refer back to as they write independently.

Another reason why I love using shared writing is that it connects the writing process with oral language. As the students co-construct the writing piece with the teacher, they are orally expressing their ideas and listening to the ideas of their classmates. It gives them the opportunity to practice rehearsing what they are going to say before it is written down on paper. Shared writing gives the teacher many opportunities to encourage their quieter or more reluctant students to engage in the discussion with the types of questions the teacher asks.

Writing well is a skill that is developed over time with much practice. Shared writing allows students to engage in the writing process while observing the construction of a high-quality sample. It is a very effective instructional strategy used to teach writing.

‘Four Square’

Michele Morgan has been writing IEPs and behavior plans to help students be more successful for 17 years. She is a national-board-certified teacher, Utah Teacher Fellow with Hope Street Group, and a special education elementary new-teacher specialist with the Granite school district. Follow her @MicheleTMorgan1:

For many students, writing is the most dreaded part of the school day. Writing involves many complex processes that students have to engage in before they produce a product—they must determine what they will write about, they must organize their thoughts into a logical sequence, and they must do the actual writing, whether on a computer or by hand. Still they are not done—they must edit their writing and revise mistakes. With all of that, it’s no wonder that students struggle with writing assignments.

In my years working with elementary special education students, I have found that writing is the most difficult subject to teach. Not only do my students struggle with the writing process, but they often have the added difficulties of not knowing how to spell words and not understanding how to use punctuation correctly. That is why the single most effective strategy I use when teaching writing is the Four Square graphic organizer.

The Four Square instructional strategy was developed in 1999 by Judith S. Gould and Evan Jay Gould. When I first started teaching, a colleague allowed me to borrow the Goulds’ book about using the Four Square method, and I have used it ever since. The Four Square is a graphic organizer that students can make themselves when given a blank sheet of paper. They fold it into four squares and draw a box in the middle of the page. The genius of this instructional strategy is that it can be used by any student, in any grade level, for any writing assignment. These are some of the ways I have used this strategy successfully with my students:

* Writing sentences: Students can write the topic for the sentence in the middle box, and in each square, they can draw pictures of details they want to add to their writing.

* Writing paragraphs: Students write the topic sentence in the middle box. They write a sentence containing a supporting detail in three of the squares and they write a concluding sentence in the last square.

* Writing short essays: Students write what information goes in the topic paragraph in the middle box, then list details to include in supporting paragraphs in the squares.

When I gave students writing assignments, the first thing I had them do was create a Four Square. We did this so often that it became automatic. After filling in the Four Square, they wrote rough drafts by copying their work off of the graphic organizer and into the correct format, either on lined paper or in a Word document. This worked for all of my special education students!

I was able to modify tasks using the Four Square so that all of my students could participate, regardless of their disabilities. Even if they did not know what to write about, they knew how to start the assignment (which is often the hardest part of getting it done!) and they grew to be more confident in their writing abilities.

In addition, when it was time to take the high-stakes state writing tests at the end of the year, this was a strategy my students could use to help them do well on the tests. I was able to give them a sheet of blank paper, and they knew what to do with it. I have used many different curriculum materials and programs to teach writing in the last 16 years, but the Four Square is the one strategy that I have used with every writing assignment, no matter the grade level, because it is so effective.

‘Swift Structures’

Joy Hamm has taught 11 years in a variety of English-language settings, ranging from kindergarten to adult learners. The last few years working with middle and high school Newcomers and completing her M.Ed in TESOL have fostered stronger advocacy in her district and beyond:

A majority of secondary content assessments include open-ended essay questions. Many students falter (not just ELs) because they are unaware of how to quickly organize their thoughts into a cohesive argument. In fact, the WIDA CAN DO Descriptors list level 5 writing proficiency as “organizing details logically and cohesively.” Thus, the most effective cross-curricular secondary writing strategy I use with my intermediate LTELs (long-term English-learners) is what I call “Swift Structures.” This term simply means reading a prompt across any content area and quickly jotting down an outline to organize a strong response.

To implement Swift Structures, begin by displaying a prompt and modeling how to swiftly create a bubble map or outline beginning with a thesis/opinion, then connecting the three main topics, which are each supported by at least three details. Emphasize this is NOT the time for complete sentences, just bulleted words or phrases.

Once the outline is completed, show your ELs how easy it is to plug in transitions, expand the bullets into detailed sentences, and add a brief introduction and conclusion. After modeling and guided practice, set a 5-10 minute timer and have students practice independently. Swift Structures is one of my weekly bell ringers, so students build confidence and skill over time. It is best to start with easy prompts where students have preformed opinions and knowledge in order to focus their attention on the thesis-topics-supporting-details outline, not struggling with the rigor of a content prompt.

Here is one easy prompt example: “Should students be allowed to use their cellphones in class?”

Swift Structure outline:

Thesis - Students should be allowed to use cellphones because (1) higher engagement (2) learning tools/apps (3) gain 21st-century skills

Topic 1. Cellphones create higher engagement in students...

Details A. interactive (Flipgrid, Kahoot)

B. less tempted by distractions

C. teaches responsibility

Topic 2. Furthermore,...access to learning tools...

A. Google Translate description

B. language practice (Duolingo)

C. content tutorials (Kahn Academy)

Topic 3. In addition,...practice 21st-century skills…

Details A. prep for workforce

B. access to information

C. time-management support

This bare-bones outline is like the frame of a house. Get the structure right, and it’s easier to fill in the interior decorating (style, grammar), roof (introduction) and driveway (conclusion). Without the frame, the roof and walls will fall apart, and the reader is left confused by circuitous rubble.

Once LTELs have mastered creating simple Swift Structures in less than 10 minutes, it is time to introduce complex questions similar to prompts found on content assessments or essays. Students need to gain assurance that they can quickly and logically explain and justify their opinions on multiple content essays without freezing under pressure.

Thanks to Jenny, Michele, and Joy for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

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How to Teach Creative Writing to High School Students

Creative Writing was forced onto my schedule; I didn’t ask for it. But it ended up becoming my favorite class period of the day. While academic English courses can feel high-stakes and always short on time, Creative Writing can be a refreshingly relaxed elective class. In many districts with loose curriculums, Creative Writing is what you make of it. In this post, I outline six steps to show you how to teach creative writing to high school students.

Why Teach Creative Writing

Before we get into the how , let’s first address the why . Why bother teaching Creative Writing in the first place? Students’ basic skills are lower than ever; is now really the time to encourage them to break the rules?

If you want to get really deep into why you should teach Creative Writing, I have a whole post about it here.

But think about why you love reading. Is it because you were made to annotate or close read a bunch of classic novels? Probably not. You probably fell in love with reading while you were reading something that was fun. And because it was fun, you read more, and your skills as a reader grew.

The same principle applies to writing. If we can make it fun for our students, perhaps we can foster a love for it. And passion is what leads, eventually, to mastery.

Giving our students the opportunity to fall in love with writing is a gift that might help them grow in their academic writing later.

Pinterest pin for It's Lit Teaching blog post: "How to Teach Creative Writing to High School Students"

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #1: Decide on Your Standards or Goals

Your school or district may have a mandated syllabus or curriculum. Mine did not.

Whether you’re given student goals or have to create them, you must have an overall vision for what your Creative Writing class will accomplish.

Is this a laid-back, engaging course designed to help students discover the fun in writing? Or is it a supplement to rigorous academics for college-bound high school students?

If you know your school’s student population well, I encourage you to think about their needs. Some students just need to write more–more of anything, but lots more. Some students are high achieving and ready to write their first novels! If possible, design your course around the needs and interests of the general student population in your school or district.

Regardless of how rigorous your Creative Writing course will be, deciding on these goals first will help you in backwards planning.

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #2: Choose Your Final Assessments and Big Projects

Before we can start planning our lessons, we have to decide what skills or knowledge our students will need. And to know what they need, we have to decide on their summative assessments.

Cover for It's Lit Teaching Resource: Fairy Tale Retelling Creative Writing Project

Will your final assessment be a short story? A collection of poetry? Are you required to offer a final exam?

Once you know what students will need to do, you can make a list of the skill they’ll need. This list will become a list of lessons you’ll need to teach.

Fairy Tale Retelling Project

My Fairy Tale Retelling Project is a great Creative Writing assessment. For this project, students had to first choose a fairy tale. Then, they rewrote the story from the perspective of the villain.

This project works really well because students have structure. They can pick any fairy tale they want, but they can’t write about just anything.

Secondly, students already know the story, so they don’t have to worry about a beginning, middle, and end. The open-endedness of writing a story completely from scratch has paralyzed my students before. Structure allows students lots of creative freedom without the excuse of “I don’t know what to write.”

Author Study Project

If you’d like your Creative Writing class to help beginner writers have fun and just get some practice with fiction writing, a Fairy Tale Retelling Project would probably be perfect for your class.

Another project I’ve done with my students is an Author Study . In this project, students choose one author to study in-depth. Then, they attempt to replicate that author’s style in an original work.

If you’d like your class to also include lots of exposure to other writers or classic literature, then this might be a great assessment for your class.

Learn more about doing an author study in this step-by-step post.

Test or Final Exam

I also gave my students a final exam focused on literary terms.

This Literary Terms Test allowed me to test students on the academic knowledge they gained throughout class instead of their writing ability. This test also helped me fulfill my district’s requirement of having a final exam at the end of each course.

Once you’ve decided on your class’s major projects and assessments, you can begin designing the rest of your class.

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #3: Backwards Plan

Now that you know what your students will need to do at the end of this class, you can list out everything you need to teach them in order for them to be successful.

For example, if you opt for an author study as a final project, you know what you will need to cover. You will need to teach students some literary terms so that they can describe an author’s style. You’ll need to show them how to analyze a poem.

During the course of your class, you’ll also want to expose students to a variety of authors and mentor texts. Students will need to practice basic writing techniques in order to replicate those of their chosen authors.

If you need some inspiration for what kinds of lessons to teach, check out this post on essential Creative Writing lessons.

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #4: Decide on Your Class Structure

Once you’ve decided on the end goals for your Creative Writing class, you can use them to help create day-to-day plans.

What will your class look like? Will it be full of lots of quiet and independent work time? Will it be full of frenetic energy with students working in collaborative groups? Are students writing in notebooks or on laptops?

Cover of It's Lit Teaching Resource: Creative Writing Journal Prompts for High School

Of course, a successful class will most likely include a mixture of all of the above. But it’s up to you to decide on your ratio.

Again, I encourage you to think about your school’s population. If you’re on ninety-minute blocks, is it realistic for students to be quietly writing that whole time? If you have high-achieving students, might they benefit from working independently at home and then getting and giving peer feedback during class time?

Use your goals to help decide on a general class structure.

Warm-ups for Creative Writing

You’ll need a consistent way to begin each class.

When I initially began teaching Creative Writing, I just wanted to provide my students with more time to write. We began every class period with free writing. I gave students a couple of prompts to choose from each day, and then we’d write for about ten minutes.

( Those journal prompts are right here . Every day includes two prompts plus a third option of freewriting.)

Students were given the option to share part of their writing if they wanted to. Every couple of weeks I’d flip through their notebooks to make sure they were keeping up, but I only read the entries they starred for me in advance.

Cover of It's Lit Teaching Product: Poem of the Week Bundle

Later, I wanted to add some rigor to my Creative Writing class and leverage more mentor texts. I created a Poem of the Week activity for each week of the course.

This gave students the opportunity to study professional writing before using it as a mentor text for a new, original piece.

(You can read more about using these Poem of the Week activities here.)

As my goals for the class and my students change, so did the way we began class.

How can you begin your class in a way that supports the end goals or teaches the desired standards? How often will peers work together?

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #5: Focus on Engagement Strategies

Now you can actually start planning lessons and projects!

But as you do so, focus on creating engaging ones–especially if your class is meant to be a fun elective.

Need more tips? Check out this post full of Creative Writing teaching tips!

Use Mentor Texts and Lots of Examples

Have you ever tried putting a puzzle together without knowing what the image was going to look like? It would be pretty difficult! Similarly, students need lots of examples of strong writing to aspire to.

Without clear models or mentor texts , students will happily turn in unread drafts. They’ll choose the first word that comes to their mind instead of searching for a better one.

But if you surround students with great writing, highlight strong technique when discussing the writing of others, and challenge them to notice the details in their own writing, they’ll naturally become better at self-editing.

I don’t believe that you can provide students with too many mentor texts or examples of strong writing. As you teach Creative Writing, keep or take pictures of strong writing samples from students to use as examples later.

Nearly all of my lessons and projects include an example along with instruction.

Model and Create with Your Students

You can even use your own writing as an example. When I had students free write to creative writing prompts, I always wrote with them. Sometimes I would then put my notebook under the document camera and model reading my own work.

I would cross out words and replace them or underline phrases I thought were strong enough to keep. Model for students not just great writing, but the process of strengthening writing.

And then give them plenty of time to edit theirs. This is when having students engage in peer feedback is a game-changer.

Without great writing to aspire to, however, students easily become lazy and turn in work that is “good enough” in their eyes. Don’t let them get lazy in their writing. Keep throwing greater and greater work in front of them and challenge them to push themselves.

(This is another reason I love using Poem of the Week warm-ups –they expose students to a new writer every week!)

Set Clear Expectations

Creative writing causes a lot of students anxiety. There’s no “right” answer, so how will they know if they creatively wrote “correctly?”

Help them out by setting clear expectations. Offering a rubric for every project is great for this. If you can, give them specifics to include. “At least 500 words” or “three or more similes” are nice, concrete guidelines that students can follow.

Give Students Choice

Offering students choice always boosts engagement. It lets students take charge of their learning and pursue something that interests them.

For example, when I teach odes , students are given the opportunity to write about something they love.

With an author study , students can study a writer whose style and work they admire.

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #6: Use Clear and Structured Expectations

While showing students excellent prose or perfect poetry should help inspire students, your writers will still need some hard parameters to follow.

Academic writing is often easier for students than creative writing. Usually, academic writing follows a structure or certain formula. The rubric dictates exactly how many quotes need to be included or how long an essay needs to be. MLA or APA formats tell students how to punctuate quotes and citations.

These rules don’t apply to creative writing. And while that’s exactly what makes creative writing awesome, it’s often overwhelming.

So do your students a favor and give them some clear expectations (without, of course, entirely dictating what they need to write about).

The project also includes a rubric, so young writers know what should be included in their stories.

Don’t give your students so much creative freedom that it paralyzes them! Your writers are still students; give them the same level of structure and organization that you would in any other class.

Engage your students in more creative writing!

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Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #7: Give Students Choices

So how do you give students frameworks, requirements, and uphold high expectations without stifling their creativity?

Give students choices. You can write about A, B, or C, as long as you meet requirements 1, 2, and 3.

Offering choices works with small one-day assignments or lessons as well as bigger, longer-term projects.

Cover for It's Lit Teaching Resource: Show. Don't Tell Creative Writing Mini Lesson Workshop

The previously mentioned Fairy Tale Retelling Project is a great example of offering a narrow selection of choices that uphold expectations without dictating what students write.

Another one of my favorite examples of offering students choices is my “Show. Don’t Tell” Mini-lesson . This lesson touches on everything students need to successfully learn creative writing.

First I teach them the concept of showing vs. telling in writing through direct instruction. I show them lots of examples of expanding a “telling sentence” into a “showing paragraph.”

Then I model for students how I would write a paragraph that shows crucial information, rather than telling it.

Lastly, I have students pick a strip of paper from a hat or a bag. Each strip of paper contains a “telling sentence” that they must then write as a “showing paragraph.” Students are limited by the sentences I provide, but they still have complete freedom over how they achieve that detailed paragraph.

If you wanted to give students even more freedom, you could let them pick their sentences or trade with a peer rather than blindly choosing.

Any time you can give students a choice, you give them permission to use their creativity and allow them to take some of the initiative in their own learning.

Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #8: Encourage Peer Collaboration and Feedback

We can tell students something a hundred times, but they won’t listen until a peer says the same thing. Us educators know the value of positive peer interaction, so don’t limit it in a creative writing class!

There are a ton of ways to implement peer interaction in a creative writing class. I often do this on the first day of class with a writing game. You’ve probably heard of it: everyone writes a sentence on a piece of paper, then everyone passes the paper and adds a sentence, and so on.

I highly encourage you to use peer feedback throughout the class. I usually start having students share their work from day one with my free “I Am” Poem Lesson so that they can start getting used to having their work read by others immediately.

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Make getting feedback so routine in your room that students don’t even question it.

It’s really tempting to let students get away without sharing their work. We don’t want to make shy or anxious students uncomfortable. I mean, what better way to completely ruin creative writing for a student than to make them feel embarrassed all the time, right?

But keep trying to encourage shy students to share. Even if that means you share it anonymously or read it aloud for them.

I recommend including some kind of peer feedback with every writing assignment . Yes, even short practice assignments. This will work as a kind of “immersion therapy” for receiving feedback on more involved work.

After some time, you might find that your students even begin to share their work without your prompting!

I like to organize the desks in my Creative Writing class so that students are in little groups. I’ve found that at least half of my classes will begin talking and sharing with one another in their little groups while working on projects.

They’ll ask each other questions or to remind them of a word. They’ll read sentences aloud and ask if they sound right. Personally, I would much rather hear this kind of chatter in my class than have a dead silent room of boring writers!

However you decide to allow students to work together, be sure to provide the opportunity. Reading and getting feedback from peers could possibly teach students more about writing than any of your instruction (sorry!).

One of the truly great things about teaching creative writing to high school students is that there often isn’t a rigid curriculum. Of course, this is also sometimes one of the worst things about teaching creative writing to high school students!

You have total freedom over the assignments you give, the standards you teach, and how you organize and structure your classroom. After a few years of teaching Creative Writing, however, I’ve found that sticking to these six steps is a great way to have a successful semester.

If you’re excited about teaching your Creative Writing class, but are running low on prep time, check out my complete 9-week Creative Writing course ! Included are two different types of warm-ups, poetry analysis activities from well-known authors, mini-lesson, projects, and more!

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Creativity and Innovation in the Writing Classroom

Learn more about how to teach creativity and innovation along with, and as an important part of, traditional writing and research skills.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” —Maya Angelou

Creativity is fundamental to the teaching of writing. Although WR 153 focuses specifically on creativity and innovation, all WR courses ask students to approach their reading, viewing, writing, and research in creative ways. One important approach to creativity is “design thinking,” which emphasizes that creativity is a non-linear, iterative process. Design thinking is based on two foundational assumptions:

Everyone can be creative.
Creativity can be taught.

The principles of design thinking can be used in any WR course to teach students that creativity is a process of asking questions, using multiple strategies and approaches in answering those questions, taking risks in conceiving and executing original work, developing and refining ideas in response to feedback, and learning from productive failure. The metacognitive aspects of design thinking invite students to think about their own creative processes and identify factors that promote creativity.

Although WR 153 is structured by the steps of the design process (understand, empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, assess/reflect), all WR courses can benefit from incorporating elements of design thinking and an emphasis on creativity and innovation. Approaching writing instruction in this way can:

Increase student engagement by focusing on creative responses to problems that students care about;
Give students a sense of agency as a result of greater choice in what to write and how to write about it;
Encourage taking intellectual risks and reward productive failure as a means of learning;
Help students develop skills that are transferrable to other academic situations and their professional lives; and
Enhance students’ personal lives by allowing them to learn about themselves and their own creative potential.

Principles of Design Thinking

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative approach to creativity that involves between three and seven steps. Although it is based on theories of design practice that go back to the early twentieth century, it has most recently been popularized by the design firm IDEO and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, commonly known as the d.school. The process involves understanding the issues involved in a design project, empathizing with the audience for an end product, defining the scope of the project, generating ideas for and creating prototypes of the product, testing and assessing those ideas and prototypes, and revisiting the steps of the design process until a final product is created.

The complete set of seven steps can be applied to the writing process in a WR course:

Understand: Students develop a foundation for their work by exploring issues and approaches relevant to the course topic, as well as previous work in the field.

Empathize: Students practice empathy by demonstrating their awareness and understanding of the audience for whom they write or create.

Define: Based on their observations and insights, students articulate a problem or question that will motivate their work over the course of the semester.

Ideate: Students generate new ideas and possible solutions by challenging assumptions and engaging in a variety of creative activities.

Prototype: Students start to create solutions and implement their ideas into written, digital or other forms in order to capture ideas, but also redefine choices.

Test: Students share drafts with others in order to gain feedback and insight into improving final versions.

Assess/Reflect: Students reflect on and evaluate their peers’ and their own processes and final outcomes.

The steps of the design thinking process are not meant to be followed in a rigid way. They should be flexible and customizable to the particular project: students may need to define, ideate, and prototype multiple times and in various modes/genres before they are ready to create a final draft. The skills students gain in going though these steps should be transferrable to other projects and courses.

Learn more about design thinking:

“What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular?” by Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang provides an overview of design thinking.
David Kelly of IDEO explains the history of design thinking in “How to Design Breakthrough Inventions,” an interview with 60 Minutes .
“How to Solve Problems Like a Designer,” which includes an interview with Tim Brown of IDEO, explains the basic principles of design thinking.

Understand and Empathize

The first step of the design process asks students to understand not only the course material, but also the resources necessary for their particular project. Since this usually involves additional reading/viewing, the “understand” step is part of the research and information literacy component of WR15X. Assignments that focus on this step may include conducting library or online research, categorizing research material using BEAM/BEAT, and creating annotated bibliographies.

Define, Ideate, and Prototype

Before they begin the process of generating ideas, it is often useful for students to define, at least in a preliminary way, what question or problem their paper/project is addressing. Assignments that help students define their projects may include questionnaires that ask students to state what they intend to work on and why, as well as more formal paper/project proposals.

In the IDEO design process, the goal of ideation is to generate a multitude of ideas without rejecting those that may seem impractical or even silly. Ideas can be rejected later, after a sufficient number of ideas have been generated. The most common ideation assignment involves various forms of brainstorming, often in teams. Ideas should be written down in some way, such as on sticky notes or index cards. To encourage divergent thinking in the brainstorming process, consider posting some fundamental principles in the classroom, such as these from IDEO:

Defer judgment.
Encourage wild ideas.
Stay focused on the topic.
Build on the ideas of others .

In the IDEO design process, prototypes are models that can be easily revised and even discarded if necessary. Prototypes for writing courses might include outlines, storyboards, slide decks, oral or video presentations, and preliminary drafts. Prototypes should be tested and assessed in some way that allows for reconsideration and revision before students turn in their final products.

Learn more about brainstorming and prototyping:

“What is Brainstorming?” by Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang provides helpful information and ideas for the ideation step of the design process.
This example of “Brainstorming at IDEO” shows one popular way of brainstorming with sticky notes.

Test and Assess/Reflect

The final steps of the design process, testing and assessing/reflecting, are not meant to be the final steps in completing a student’s paper/project. After testing and assessing a prototype, students will likely need to reconsider and revise their papers/projects, which will take them back to earlier steps—they may need to conduct further research, generate additional ideas, or refine their prototypes. The design process is meant to be iterative, with students returning to steps in the process as needed until they have completed a final draft.

Just as designers test their prototypes, students should test drafts of their papers/projects by sharing them with others. Assignments that focus on this step usually involve workshopping with one or more peers, but testing may also include making an oral or video presentation to the class, meeting with the professor or a writing tutor, or sharing the student’s work with any other reader/viewer capable of providing feedback. Students may also test their papers/projects using techniques such as reverse outlining to assess the strength and clarity of their arguments.

The final step in the design process, assessing the student’s work, may lead back to any earlier step as students come to understand what they still need to work on to complete their papers/projects. This step may also involve the broader metacognitive task of reflecting on the student’s creative process. Assignments that focus on this step may include a variety of reflective exercises, including a final reflection for the course.

A Note on Assessment

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” —Samuel Beckett

Because WR 153 courses can include such a wide range of papers and project, contract grading is recommended. Other WR courses that incorporate creativity and innovation may also wish to use contract grading, either for specific assignments or the course as a whole. More information on contract grading can be found here .

An important component of creativity and innovation is productive failure. We learn to create new things or develop new skills by failing and trying again until we succeed. Productive failure is failure that leads to new knowledge, insight, or innovation. Courses that focus on creativity can encourage productive failure by requiring prototypes that will be reconsidered and revised extensively, asking students to share examples of failure as valuable learning experiences, and assigning reflective work on how students have grown through failure over the course of the semester.

Learn more about productive failure:

Both readings below argue for the importance of productive failure. The Burger article contains specific examples of how to validate and reward productive failure in the classroom.

“Next Time, Fail Better” by Paula M. Krebs, The Chronicle of Higher Education , May 11, 2012.

How to Teach Creative Writing

Last Updated: March 13, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 116,990 times.

Creative writing is one of the most enjoyable types of writing for students. Not only does it allow students to explore their imaginations, but it helps them to structure their ideas and produce writing that they can be proud of. However, creative writing is a relatively difficult type of writing to teach and offers challenges to both new and seasoned teachers alike. Fortunately, though, with some work of their own, teachers can better develop their own abilities to teach creative writing.

Providing Students with the Fundamentals

Step 1 Introduce the important elements of storytelling.

Theme. The theme of a story is its message or the main idea behind it.
Setting. The setting of a story is the location or time it takes place in.
Plot. The plot is the overall story, narrative, or sequence of events.
Characterization. Characterization is how a character or person in a story is explained or presented to the reader.
Conflict and dramatic action. Conflict and dramatic action are the main events of focus in the story. These events are often tense or exciting and are used to lure the reader in. [1] X Research source

Step 2 Encourage students to engage the reader.

Explain how your students, as writers, can appeal to the humanity of their readers. One great way to do this is to ask them to explore character development. By developing the characters in their story, readers will become invested in the story.
Discuss the triggers that engage readers in an effective story. Most great stories start with a problem, which is solved with the resolution, or conclusion of the story. Encourage students to create an engaging problem that will hook the readers in the first few pages of a short story or novel. [2] X Research source

Step 3 Explain the importance of tone and atmosphere.

By setting the tone and atmosphere of a story, the author will establish his or her attitude to the subject and the feel of the story.
Tone can be positive, neutral, or negative. [3] X Research source
Atmosphere can be dark, happy, or neither.
Descriptive words like “darkness” or “sunshine” can help set both the tone and atmosphere. [4] X Research source

Active verbs are used to show action in the story.
Active verbs are very often a better alternative to passive voice, as it keeps your writing clear and concise for your readers. [5] X Research source
For example, instead of writing “The cat was chased by the dog” your student can write “The dog chased the cat.”

Guiding Students through the Process

Step 1 Allow students to pick their topic.

Tell your students to brainstorm about ideas they are truly interested in.
If you must restrict the general topic, make sure that your students have a good amount of wiggle room within the broad topic of the assignment.
Never assign specific topics and force students to write. This will undermine the entire process. [6] X Research source

Step 2 Have your students write a flexible outline.

Letting your students know that the outline is non-binding. They don’t have to follow it in later steps of the writing process.
Telling your students that the parts of their outline should be written very generally.
Recommending that your students create several outlines, or outlines that go in different directions (in terms of plot and other elements of storytelling). The more avenues your students explore, the better. [7] X Research source

Step 3 Avoid teaching a story “formula.”

Tell students that there is no “right” way to write a story.
Let students know that their imaginations should guide their way.
Show students examples of famous writing that breaks normal patterns, like the works of E.E. Cummings, William Faulkner, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare.
Ask students to forget about any expectations they think you have for how a story should be written. [8] X Research source

Step 4 Provide feedback on rough drafts.

Gather the first drafts and comment on the student's work. For first drafts, you want to check on the overall structure of the draft, proper word use, punctuation, spelling, and overall cohesion of the piece. [9] X Research source
Remind them that great writers usually wrote several drafts before they were happy with their stories.
Avoid grading drafts for anything other than completion.

Let students pair off to edit each others' papers.
Have your students join groups of 3 or 4 and ask them to go edit and provide feedback on each member’s story.
Provide guidance so students contribute constructively to the group discussion. [10] X Research source

Step 6 Evaluate your students based on their creativity.

Reward your students if they are innovative or do something unique and truly creative.
Avoid evaluating your students based on a formula.
Assess and review your own standards as often as you can. Remember that the point is to encourage your students' creativity. [11] X Research source

Spurring Creativity

Step 1 Inspire students with an appreciation of literature.

Teach your students about a variety of writers and genres.
Have your students read examples of different genres.
Promote a discussion within your class of the importance of studying literature.
Ask students to consider the many ways literature improves the world and asks individuals to think about their own lives. [12] X Research source

Step 2 Provide your students with a large number of resources.

Make sure your room is stocked with a wide variety of fiction stories.
Make sure your room is stocked with plenty of paper for your students to write on.
Line up other writing teachers or bring in writers from the community to talk to and encourage your students.

Step 3 Have your students write practice stories based on random photos or pictures you provide.

Cut out pictures and photographs from magazines, comic books, and newspapers.
Have your students cut out photographs and pictures and contribute them to your bank.
Consider having your students randomly draw a given number of photos and pictures and writing a short story based on what they draw.
This technique can help students overcome writer's block and inspire students who think that they're "not creative." [13] X Research source

Pair your students with students from another grade in your school.
Allow your students to write stories that younger students in your school would like to read.
Pair your students with another student in the class and have them evaluate each others' work. [14] X Research source

If you just have a typical classroom to work with, make sure to put inspirational posters or other pictures on the walls.
Open any curtains so students can see outside.
If you have the luxury of having an extra classroom or subdividing your own classroom, create a comfortable space with a lot of inspirational visuals.
Writing spaces can help break writer's block and inspire students who think that they're "not creative." [15] X Research source

Involve students in the printing process.
Publication does not have to be expensive or glossy.
Copies can be made in the school workroom if possible or each student might provide a copy for the others in the group.
A collection of the stories can be bound with a simple stapler or brads.
Seek out other opportunities for your students to publish their stories.

Expert Q&A

↑ https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/creative-writing-101
↑ https://kobowritinglife.com/2012/10/14/six-tips-for-engaging-readers-within-two-seconds-the-hook-in-fiction-and-memoir/
↑ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/in-writing-tone-is-the-author%E2%80%99s-attitude/
↑ http://ourenglishclass.net/class-notes/writing/the-writing-process/craft/tone-and-mood/
↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/02/
↑ http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/choices-children/
↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/7-steps-to-creating-a-flexible-outline-for-any-story
↑ http://thewritepractice.com/the-formula-to-write-a-novel/
↑ https://student.unsw.edu.au/editing-your-essay
↑ http://orelt.col.org/module/unit/5-promoting-creative-writing
↑ http://education.seattlepi.com/grade-creative-writing-paper-3698.html
↑ http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/educating-teenagers-emotions-through-literature/476790/
↑ http://www.wrightingwords.com/for-teachers/5-tips-for-teaching-creative-writing/

About This Article

To teach creative writing, start by introducing your students to the core elements of storytelling, like theme, setting, and plot, while reminding them that there’s no formula for combining these elements to create a story. Additionally, explain how important it is to use tone and atmosphere, along with active verbs, to write compelling stories that come alive. When your students have chosen their topics, have them create story outlines before they begin writing. Then, read their rough drafts and provide feedback to keep them on the right path to storytelling success. For tips from our English reviewer on how to spur creativity in your students, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Creative writing in the classroom: five top tips for teachers

1. The rules of writing

I always tell students that there are no set rules for writing and they can write whatever they like. I don't subscribe to the notion that all good stories must have, for example, an attention-grabbing opening, a turning point, a twist at the end and an extended metaphor. Incorporating these into writing doesn't automatically mean a story works, and you will read wonderful writing follows none of these rules. Pupils should be aware of what they are, of course, and why and where they might choose to use them, but it shouldn't be prescriptive.

That said, there are two rules of writing that I encourage them to follow. These rules are: "show, don't tell" and "all adverbs must die". Not the most original rules, perhaps, but if kids can master them their writing becomes much more powerful.

For "show, don't tell", I display a selection of sentences that tell the reader something and ask the pupils to rewrite them in a way that shows the same information. For example, "the man was angry" could become, "the man clenched his fists and hissed beneath his breath". It's about unpacking the emotions and finding ways to let the reader see the story for themselves.

When teaching "all adverbs must die", I concentrate on the importance of giving the power to the verb. "I ran quickly" becomes "I sprinted". "I shouted loudly" becomes "I screamed". Once pupils realise the potential in this, they quickly kill adverbs and load the power of the action onto the verb.

2. Characterisation

Not the most original method I'll wager, but this is tried and tested. Pupils divide a page in their jotter and give each quarter the headings likes, dislikes, motivations and flaws. These need to be explained and discussed; I use Homer Simpson and Edward Cullen as models. What makes these complex and rich characters? What makes them get out of bed every morning? What stops them from achieving their ultimate goals in life? How would they react in various situations?

Once pupils have thought about these characters, I ask them to complete the page in their jotter with as many pieces of detail as they can for their own character. They swap with a partner and, using another person's character notes, write a monologue beginning with the line, "I lay away, unable to sleep, and all because…" What is this new character excited about, or scared of? What have they done or what will they have to do? This exercise is always busy, exciting and produces promising and complex pieces of writing.

3. Video clips

There's something a bit weird about the idea of being a writer; it's a vague, wishy-washy concept for students. They don't yet understand the hours of admin, self-promotion, editing, graft, grief and rejection that writers go through. Many pupls seem to think writers have great lives, are fabulously wealthy and sit around all day making up stories, all of which go on to be published without much bother at all. So I always like to find video clips of writers talking about writing, sharing the pain they've gone through, their thought processes and daily routines. If you can find video clips of a writer whose work you're using as a model or studying in class, then this can really help pupils to engage with their work.

YouTube is full of interviews with writers, recordings of book festival appearances and spoken-word performances. Being a Scottish teacher working in Scotland, I use of a suite of videos filmed and hosted by Education Scotland , which features a number of writers discussing their inspirations and motivations, how to create characters, how to write in genre and how to redraft. The videos are all around five minutes long which makes them excellent starter activities; you can find them here .

4. Narrative distance

This can be modelled in class by the teacher projecting their work onto the whiteboard. Most pupils assume that once they've chosen a narrative perspective and tense, their narrative voice will take care of itself. But with a little coaching and training, maybe we can hone their skills and abilities that much more.

Narrative distance is the proximity of a reader's experience to the character's thoughts. How close will we get? A close-up narrative would allow us to share the character's complete thought process, hear their heartbeat, feel their discomfort. A mid-distance narrative would give us key insights into pertinent thoughts the character has, but not bother us with every detail; we would see the character going into a coffee shop and have to surmise their mood and personality by observing how they react and interact. This is more of a film director's vantage point. And for a long-distance narrative, we only see the character from a distance – in the midst of other people, operating in a vast and complex society. We would come to understand them from the way they move through the world and the opinions that other characters have of them. It's a bird's eye view.

There is a lot in here, and mastering these narrative distances would take considerable effort and time. But if pupils could get to grips with them and become comfortable in zooming in and out on a story, then they will have developed some intricate and powerful writing abilities.

5. Story prompts

The oldest trick in the book, perhaps, but still a good one. Writing Prompts is an excellent website full of creative writing resources to use in class. I get pupils to choose one at random, and as they write, I write. It's important to set attainable goals for this – agree that by the end of five minutes everyone will have written 50 words, say, including the teacher.

Plug away at this and I always check the class for any strugglers at the end of regular intervals; if someone is stumped, I'll ask them what the problem is, what they tried to start writing at the beginning, what their last sentence is, and give them a couple of options for where to go next. By writing together it's possible to get a whole class writing happily, and at some stage they'll be content and confident enough with their stories to want to be let free to write without being asked for regular progress reports.

Alan Gillespie teaches English at an independent school in Glasgow. He writes stories and tweets at @afjgillespie

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12 ideas for teaching creative writing

Teaching creative writing to kids can be one of the most rewarding parts of teaching the English curriculum. But with so many statutory requirements to hit in a portfolio of writing, it can be difficult to capture truly creative writing as well as instil enthusiasm for the art.

Some of your class will really enjoy creative writing from scratch. For others, this will be a daunting experience. We have gathered together a collection of simple ideas for teaching creative writing to help your pupils smash writing tasks.

Creative writing tips for teachers

Use a workshop-style environment
Show your class how it’s done
Draw up a storyboard
Encourage book reading
Re-write a known story
Show, don’t tell
Inspire them with video
Deconstruct characters
Give your pupils freedom
Use story-starters and prompts
Elaborate with a story generator
Get the children to take creative writing home

1. Use a workshop-style environment

Separate your class into groups or tables, each group will then be able to choose what they work on. Some may look to write fiction pieces and use ideas around storytelling. Another group could focus on word games, spelling and puzzle-solving. There could even just be a group for reading stories and learning the craft!

All children are able to work in groups, but each pupil will have one-to-one time with you too. As long as assignments and tasks are rotated, children will find their favourite part and be more engaged as a result. Working this way can also lead to competitions and collaborative creative writing work.

2. Show your class how it’s done

The adage is ‘practise what you preach’. When it comes to creative writing, this means you should be showing the class what the process is.

Doing live creative writing sessions for your class can give them perspective on how to build a story effectively. More importantly, it gives them chance to see how it’s OK to make mistakes, how to take criticism and that they shouldn’t be afraid to create whatever they feel they want to. You could even get your more able (and confident!) pupils to live write on the board for the class to gather inspiration from; pupil modelling can be a really fantastic assessment for learning activity.

3. Draw up a storyboard

Some visual cues might be the key to unlocking greater creativity in your pupils. Instead of writing out a story, why not begin with a storyboard? It doesn’t need to be a work of art – simple stick people will do the job.

Once you’ve drawn out the basis of your story, you can then start to write down more detail to really flesh out their story.

4. Encourage book reading

If there is one place anyone can go to experience good storytelling, it’s in books. Reading brings a whole host of benefits to children form an educational standpoint – many of which apply to creative writing.

To increase vocabulary, improve creativity and enflame imaginations (plus a whole lot more), we should always be looking for more reading opportunities for pupils in class. Beyond the classroom, encourage them to do as much reading as possible at home too.

5. Re-write a known story

If you’re struggling for ideas, why not take inspiration from one of the countless legendary stories already out there. Give a classic story a twist and ask the class to elaborate on it:

Three Billy Goats Gruff are the ones under the bridge, and you’re trying to cross it
At the top of Jack’s Beanstalk is Mars
Aladdin rubs his lamp, but what are his three wishes?
The three bears are the ones sneaking into Goldilocks’ house

6. Show, don’t tell

It’s a tenant of good storytelling across many different mediums. The idea of show, don’t tell means the writer should avoid explaining every aspect of what a character is feeling or thinking and instead focus on different ways of revealing that information in the story.

For example, give your class some basic information like “the boy was sad”, and ask to write a sentence that would display that information more creatively. It could become, “the boy’s heart sank, his head bowed and he sniffled as the tears began to fall.”

This way, the reader is able to unravel the emotions involved in the story themselves, rather than being told.

7. Inspire them with video

YouTube is a treasure trove of learning resources and other helpful content that can boost a pupil’s creative writing capability. With a quick search, you’ll find plenty of interviews with famed writers sharing their experiences in the job.

Use these to dig a little deeper into the mind of a writer. What is there process for coming up with ideas? What are the challenges they face? This type of content can provide key takeaways that pupils can bring into their next creative writing task.

8. Deconstruct characters

A simple but effective method for getting into the routine of character building involves writing down what makes them tick. Take a famous character from a book or a famous children’s TV show. Split a piece of paper into a grid, and label them with things like “what makes them happy”, “what makes them angry” “How would they react in a certain situation?”

Then as a class fill out the grid. You could use them method when a pupil comes up with a new character for their story, helping them to get in the correct mindsight for creating characters.

9. Give your pupils freedom

There will be a lot of children in your class who thrive when given the freedom to write. Always remember to set aside time for your pupils to have an open-ended opportunity to write, allowing them to express their favourite topics. If it’s too open for some children, then proposing a particular topic for this time can help too.

10. Use story-starters and prompts

Story-starters or prompts are great for getting the creative juices flowing. It helps pupils to avoid the dreaded ‘writer’s block’. We’ve got a whole load of story starters for KS1 and KS2 creative writers, but here are just a few to get the juices flowing:

It was there and then it was gone! As quick as a flash…
This was it! I now had the power to change anything.
A million pounds sat there in the suitcase. “What should we do with it?” I said.
The three friends set out on their journey, with nothing but each other to help them for what lied ahead.
The car lurched down the road when suddenly a thud came from below.
The tap on my shoulder woke me. “Shhh” she said with a finger pressed to her lips. “Follow me.”

11. Elaborate with a story generator

Generate ideas and get a story rolling with a tried and tested method: the story generator. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Find three bags
Create three lists: one for characters (a footballer, a dog, an astronaut etc), one for scenes (an unknown planet, a bedroom, a park etc) and one for the situation (looking for a lost coin, meets a talking dog, during a big thunderstorm etc)
Cut out each of the ideas and group them together in the bags. You have three bags filled with dozens of possibilities for different stories.
Ask a pupil to reach into each bag so they then have a character, a scene and a situation. This is the basis of their story.

12. Get the children to take creative writing home

The home environment will be a more comfortable or possibly, a more inspiring place for children to write their stories. Encouraging parents to get onside with this can sometimes be a battle, but one worth fighting. Sharing their stories and creations across different audiences is a valuable experience for children, whether that be in class, at home or safely online. The perfect flipped classroom experience!

Amber Vaccianna

Hope Education writer

Advice & Inspiration | Primary

9 october 2020.

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A Guide to Effective Writing Instruction

Teacher providing individualized writing support to two students seated at a table, engaging in one-on-one instruction and collaborative writing guidance."

In this blog post, Dr. Gary Troia explores the world of effective writing instruction, linking structured literacy practices with the art of teaching writing effectively to provide valuable insights for educators. Throughout this post, readers will gain a deep understanding of the essential elements of effective writing instruction and how to seamlessly incorporate them into the structured literacy classroom.

Table of Contents

Understanding Structured Literacy

The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita

Characteristics of effective writing curriculum, references and further reading, introduction to structured literacy, understanding structured literacy and its role in reading and writing education.

In structured literacy classrooms in which principles associated with the science of reading are employed, teachers use comprehensive, systematic, and explicit instruction to address the fundamental building blocks of successful reading—phonological awareness, phonics patterns, reading fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension (which is addressed primarily through the development of topic and discourse knowledge). Of course, reading is only one aspect of literacy that requires teachers’ expertise and focus; writing development and instruction also benefit from a structured literacy approach. However, many teachers may be unfamiliar with teaching writing using this approach, in part because most teachers have little preparation to teach writing and because there has been a dearth of high-quality writing curricula and instructional materials available for teachers to use.

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The Essential Components of Writing Instruction

The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita (2022) offers a convenient way of remembering the critical building blocks of writing in a structured literacy classroom. These are: (1) transcription skills, namely spelling, handwriting, and keyboarding; (2) text structures, including types of writing genres and their main structural elements (e.g., narratives have a setting, a plot with a climax, and character reactions), varied discourse patterns within genres (e.g., compare-contrast versus cause-effect, flashbacks, and flashforwards, haiku versus sonnet), paragraph organization, and vocabulary used to signal linkages and transitions between ideas; (3) syntax, which includes awareness and use of appropriate grammatical structures to most effectively convey meaning; sentence elaboration and combining; and punctuation used to signal syntactic elements; (4) writing craft, namely precise and varied word choice, literary devices (e.g., allusion, symbolism, onomatopoeia), and awareness of task, audience, and purpose; and (5) critical thinking, which includes gathering information through reading source materials and/or performing their own investigations, generating and organizing ideas (i.e., planning), drafting text by hand or through digital means in manageable segments, and revising and editing a text for communicative effectiveness.

All these building blocks in the structured writing classroom must be thoughtfully coordinated to form a comprehensive writing program for students, which is necessary across grades and across disciplines taught in schools to help all students become competent writers. An exemplary writing program also will typically have the following characteristics (see Troia, 2013 for more information):

• Meaningful writing experiences and authentic writing tasks that promote personal and collective expression, reflection, inquiry, discovery, and social change whenever possible to motivate students.

• A sense of community in which risks are encouraged, children and teachers are both viewed as and engage as writers, personal ownership is expected, and collaboration is a cornerstone so that students are willing to experiment with their writing.

• Predictable routines that involve both explicit instruction (i.e., modeling with teacher think-aloud, guided collaborative practice with feedback, and independent practice opportunities with feedback) and sustained student practice; in kindergarten, at least 30 minutes daily is recommended, while beyond kindergarten at least one hour daily is recommended, with half the time allocated to explicit instruction (see Graham et al., 2012).

• A common language for shared expectations and feedback regarding writing quality, which might include the use of traits (e.g., organization, ideas, sentence fluency, word choice, voice, conventions, and presentation).

• Procedural supports such as anchor charts, student-teacher and peer conferences, graphic organizers, checklists for revision/editing, “booster” lessons to help students attain mastery, and computer tools for removing transcription barriers when necessary.

• Integration of writing instruction with reading instruction and content-area instruction (e.g., use of touchstone or mentor texts to guide genre study used for all literacy activities, use of common themes across the curriculum, maintaining learning notebooks in math and science classes as source material for writing, teaching decoding and spelling of the same phonics patterns, teaching letter formation while introducing letter-sound correspondences).

• Intentional adjustments to emphasis on teaching the writing process, form, and meaning to meet learners’ needs.

• Differentiated instruction for struggling learners, multilingual learners, and advanced learners.

• Resident writers and guest authors who share their expertise, struggles, and successes so that children and teachers have positive role models and develop a broader sense of writing craft.

• Opportunities for teachers to upgrade and expand their own conceptions of writing, the writing process, and how children learn to write, primarily through professional development activities but also through being active members of a writing community (e.g., the National Writing Project).

? Blog Post : Read “11 Science of Reading Resources Every Educator Should Know About” blog post here! Our literacy specialists curated a list of 11+ NEW resources for educators who wish to further their knowledge about the Science of Reading.

Empowering Writers Through Self-Regulation

To assist students with navigating all the complex aspects of writing, teachers should consider the role of self-regulation in writing, as successful writers are highly aware of themselves as writers, of factors that influence their writing performance, and of how to use diverse strategies to manage these factors effectively. Self-regulation in writing includes at least three coordinated components: (1) goal setting, (2)self-talk, and (3) self-evaluation. Incorporating self-regulation components in writing instruction has been shown to positively affect both strong and weak writers’ composing abilities (e.g., Graham, Harris, & Mason, 2005; Graham & Perin, 2007).

The Power of Goal Setting in Writing

Setting goals enhances attention, motivation, and effort and facilitates strategic behaviors (e.g., planning before drafting) through the valuation of goal attainment. In other words, if a goal is sufficiently important, a student will do all that is necessary to attain it. Research has demonstrated that goal setting improves writing skills (e.g., De La Paz, 2007; Page-Voth & Graham, 1999). For goals to have the most beneficial impact on writing behavior and performance and to encourage the student to marshal sufficient effort, they should be challenging (i.e., just beyond the student’s current level of writing skill), proximal (i.e., attainable within a short period of time), concrete, and self-selected or collaboratively established (because real or perceived control boosts achievement motivation). Goals can focus on a writing process (e.g., “I will use my graphic organizer to help me write”; “I will have my writing partner check my paper for mistakes before I put it in my portfolio”) or an aspect of the product (e.g., “I will be sure to have at least three main ideas and, for each idea, two supporting details in my informative paper”; I will include at least five action helpers, descriptive words, or transition words to improve my word choice”).

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The Magic of Self-Talk for Young Writers

Self-talk (instructions, questions, affirmations, or exhortations directed to oneself) helps orient attention to relevant information, organize thoughts, plan actions, and execute behaviors. In addition, self-talk helps one cope with anxiety, frustration, self-doubt, and impulsivity, which tend to plague struggling writers and even those who are more accomplished writers. Self-talk has been widely investigated for several decades by researchers in many areas of psychology—sports, counseling, psychotherapy, and education—with promising results (e.g., Dobson, 2010; Manning & Payne, 1996). With respect to teaching young writers to use self-talk, it is most effective when (1) the content is tailored to the demands of the task and the individual’s needs; (2) it is rehearsed aloud to automaticity and then used as a form of “inner speech” to control thoughts, feelings, and actions; and (3) it is monitored for fidelity of use by the teacher. Examples of self-talk include, “Have I used my revising checklist to check my work?,” “This is hard, but I can do it if I try my best,” “I am good at coming up with ideas, so I will turn in a good paper,” and “Keep concentrating so you do not get distracted!”

Encouraging Self-Evaluation and Growth in Young Writers

Self-evaluation consists of self-monitoring and self-recording behavior and can be used to assess attention, strategy use, and task performance. Frequently, self-evaluation is accomplished through the graphic representation of a target behavior’s occurrence with a goal (thus, these two aspects of self-regulation are functionally interdependent). For instance, students might quantify their use of story structure elements in fictional narratives produced over time on a chart with the maximum score at the top (the goal). Likewise, students can track how many words they have written per time interval, with the goal of increasing their productivity by 25% over baseline. Self-evaluation has been found to positively affect behavior and academic performance (e.g., Lloyd, Bateman, Landrum, & Hallahan, 1989; Maag et al., 1993). Self-evaluation helps students establish worthwhile goals because the concrete data collected during this process provide feedback on their status relative to an external benchmark or a personal goal.

Fostering Writing Skills with Mentor Texts

Several other practices based on empirical research and informed professional practice can help teachers foster writing development (see Graham & Perin, 2007). The examination of touchstone or mentor texts for attributes that students can mimic in their own writing (e.g., a strong lead for an informative article, the use of dialogue to advance the plot in a story, applying onomatopoeia to create vivid sensory details, the use of punctuation and capitalization to mark and build cadence in a poem) helps them internalize a mental model for the written product and identify rhetorical goals. It thus gives students a focus for their planning and revising efforts. The use of mentor texts is enhanced when strong models of particular aspects of writing are contrasted with weak examples. A related instructional practice involves activities to develop genre and topic knowledge. Again, such knowledge can help students acquire internal frames of reference or performance benchmarks for planning and making meaningful revisions to their writing. In many cases, knowledge about a genre is appropriated through immersion in texts that exemplify the canonical genre traits (e.g., story structure) and discussion of (1) how the genre reflects a unique way of communicating ideas within specific contexts (its purposes and functions) and (2) how the genre is embodied in the structure of the text (its form). Explicit and systematic instruction in genre structure, coupled with authentic purposes for reading and writing in that genre, positively impacts the quality of students’ writing within a genre (e.g., Purcell-Gates, Duke, & Martineau, 2007).

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Elevating Writing through Effective Peer and Teacher Conferencing

Finally, peer and teacher conferencing, whether one-on-one or in small groups, is frequently used in structured writing classrooms to engineer better student papers. However, conferencing between students and teachers often has the “flavor” of typical instructional discourse (teacher-controlled and centered on assignment requirements and teacher expectations) rather than egalitarian conversations regarding writing craft and composition content, especially when the teacher is more knowledgeable about the writing topic. Moreover, peer respondents often provide vague and unhelpful comments and suggestions to authors unless they are explicitly taught to give meaningful feedback. Thus, the positive impact of conference feedback on the quality of students’ papers is likely because many students benefit from attention to even the most global aspects of composition, such as text structure and form, and notably improve their texts with even limited revision. To maximize the effectiveness of writing conferences, a teacher should aim to do the following (see Martin & Certo, 2008):

• Establish a conversational stance to understand students’ goals and ideas before discussing specific textual issues.

• Provide frequent and varied opportunities for conferencing about pieces of writing.

• Encourage flash drafting, a technique in which smaller segments of text (e.g., the climax of a story) are drafted, examined (through conferencing), and revised to help the student feel less invested in a completed draft of the whole paper.

• Collaboratively establish concrete goals for planning, drafting, and/or revision.

• Give weaker writers more conference time that is also of high quality.

• Along with a student’s text, use checklists, questionnaires, and graphic aids as touchpoints during conferences to help link concrete tools with strategic behaviors.

Empowering Educators Through Effective Writing Instruction

In conclusion, effective writing instruction is a vital component of literacy education, and when coupled with structured literacy practices, it can genuinely empower educators and students alike. I hope this blog post has shed light on the critical elements of effective writing instruction and how they can be harnessed within structured literacy classrooms. For those eager to explore this topic further, I invite you to learn more about Bridge to Writing at heggerty.org/bridgetowriting, where you can access valuable resources and tools to enhance your teaching journey. Together, we can help students become proficient and confident writers.

? Ready to dive into more learning? Take a peek at some of our popular structured literacy resources:

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De La Paz, S. (2007). Managing cognitive demands for writing: Comparing the effects of instructional components in strategy instruction. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 23, 249-266.

Dobson, K S. (Ed.). (2010). Handbook of cognitive-behavioral therapies (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.

Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D’Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse,

N. (2012). Teaching elementary school students to be effective writers: A practice guide (NCEE 2012-

4058). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications_reviews.aspx#pubsearch.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Mason, L. (2005). Improving the writing performance, knowledge, and self-efficacy of struggling young writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 207-241.

Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools—A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York . Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Lloyd, J. W., Bateman, D. F., Landrum, T. J., & Hallahan, D. P. (1989). Self-recording of attention versus productivity. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 22, 315-323.

Maag, J. W., Reid, R., & DiGangi, S. A (1993). Differential effects of self-monitoring attention, accuracy, and productivity. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 329-344.

Manning, B. H., & Payne, B. D. (1996). Self-talk for teachers and students: Metacognitive strategies

for personal and classroom use . Allyn & Bacon.

Martin, N. M., & Certo, J. L. (2008, February). Truth or tale? The efficacy of teacher-student writing conferences . Paper presented at the Third Writing Research across Borders Conference, Santa Barbara, CA.

Page-Voth, V., & Graham, S. (1999). Effects of goal setting and strategy use on the writing performance and self-efficacy of students with writing and learning problems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 230-240.

Purcell-Gates, V., Duke, N. K., & Martineau, J. A (2007). Learning to read and write genre-specific texts: Roles of authentic experience and explicit teaching. Reading Research Quarterly, 42, 8-45.

Sedita, J. (2022). The writing rope: A framework for explicit writing instruction in all subjects . Brookes Publishing.

Troia, G. A. (2013). Effective writing instruction in the 21st century. In B. M. Taylor & N. K. Duke (Eds.), Handbook of effective literacy instruction: Research-based practice K-8 (pp. 298-345). Guilford Press.

Gary A. Troia, PhD, CCC-SLP

Gary A. Troia, PhD, CCC-SLP, is Associate Professor of Special Education at Michigan State University. Prior to receiving his doctorate from the University of Maryland in 2000, he worked 10 years in the public schools as a special educator and speech- language pathologist, and 6 years as a university clinical supervisor. Dr. Troia is co- editor of the journal Topics in Language Disorders and serves on the editorial boards of several top special education journals. With colleagues Froma Roth and Colleen Worthington, he developed a phonological awareness intervention program for young at-risk children called Promoting Awareness of Speech Sounds (PASS), published by Attainment Company. With fellow researchers Lori Skibbe and Ryan Bowles and funding through the Institute of Education Sciences, he has developed an online phonological awareness assessment for young children with complex communication needs called ATLAS-PA, one component of the Access to Literacy Assessment System. Dr. Troia has authored over 70 research papers, book chapters, and white papers and has given numerous presentations about his work in the areas of phonological processing and awareness, writing assessment and instruction, and teacher professional development in literacy. He has been awarded over $6.5 million in intramural and extramural grants and contracts.

8 Smart Strategies for Teaching Writing

Inside: Teaching writing DOESN’T have to be complicated! With these simple strategies, you can improve students’ writing without having to work so hard.

I turned around to an outstretched notebook in a kid’s hands.

“I don’t know what to do next,” said the student.

I leaned closer to decipher the 2nd-grade handwriting. Then with my most positive I’ll-guide-you-on-the-right-path tone, I gave the student an idea to run with.

I straightened up, ready to move about the class, peering over shoulders, offering feedback as needed.

My bubble was abruptly burst.

Standing behind me was a whole line of kids that didn’t know what to do next!

Teaching writing for kids can feel complicated, especially when ever body needs help all at once. Use these strategies to help students learn to write!

Have you been there, too? What you need are writing strategies for students that break down a complicated process into pieces they can tackle.

What follows are some of the best methods for teaching writing that I discovered over the years:

Teaching Writing Strategies for Students

Find out how to teach writing to students without working so hard! Ideas, activities, and strategies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers. #teachingwriting #1stgrade #2ndgrade #3rdgrade #writing

Use Mentor Texts

If you wanted to learn how to decorate your mantle, you might look for great examples on Pinterest and then try to make yours look like that.

Similarly, kids can look at the work of published authors to see how a pro writes.

Mentor texts are published pieces that serve as a good example of the type of writing you’re helping your students to produce.

If you’re teaching how-to writing, find books about making crafts, cooking, or other DIY topics. If you’re teaching report writing, look at nonfiction books.

Read these books (or parts of them) to your students.
Talk as a class about the special features you notice.
Make a list of these features (how-to books have numbered steps, pictures to match, sequence, etc.)

Demonstrate

Cooking shows are popular because it’s easy to watch how a good cook puts together a recipe and then do the same yourself. Writing demonstrations are similar.

One method for teaching writing is writing demonstrations. Students watch as a proficient writer writes, and thinks aloud, similar to an audience watching a chef on a cooking show.

Write in front of your students and think aloud as you’re doing it. Thinking aloud is a research-based teaching strategy . You are the proficient writer in the room and you want your students to begin modeling their thinking processes after yours.

Some writing skills you might demonstrate are:

brainstorming topics to write about
creating a plan for writing
orally rehearsing sentences and then writing them down
stretching out sounds in words for spelling
rereading and editing writing
looking for places to add more interesting vocabulary
making a final copy that incorporates editing and revisions

Use Sentence Starters

Staring at a blank page can be so intimidating!

Help kids get started with a list of possible sentence starters. Here’s an example list of sentence starters that work well for opinion writing .

Help kids improve their writing with sentence starters

Join my weekly newsletter and as a bonus, you’ll get the sentence starter page pictured above. Just click here to download and subscribe .

Color Coding

One method for teaching writing is using color coding between the plan and the draft.

(you can find the pictured graphic organizer HERE )

Use color-coding to make writing organization obvious and to connect a student’s plan to their draft.

Assign a different color to each element of a piece.
Mark whatever planning graphic organizer you’re using with these colors.
During drafting, underline the sentences for each section with the appropriate color.

This technique helps students make sure nothing is left out and that everything is in the right order

Integrate Vocabulary

One of the things we know about teaching vocabulary is that it’s not enough to talk about a word once. It needs to be seen, heard, and used several times before it is mastered.

Writing is the perfect place to incorporate some vocabulary instruction.

Choose two or three words that might be useful to students for the topic they are writing about. Teach these words, give example sentences, and share sentences where students were able to work them in.

You can either teach the words before students write their rough draft or teach them before students revise. You may want students to keep a record of these words in a notebook.

Use a Rubric

There’s no point in making kids guess what they’re aiming for with their writing.

Research shows that when students have criteria against which to judge their writing, they begin to internalize that criteria and use it when they write new pieces.

Try teaching critique lessons where you share a few short pieces of writing with different strengths and weaknesses and evaluate them with students using a rubric.

Talk about what made a piece successful and what could be better about it. Invite students to use the successful techniques in their own writing. Click on the picture to get a free copy of a personal narrative rubric that I like to use.

Peer Conferencing

Many students find working with a partner to be very motivating.

It’s important to carefully structure peer writing conferencing because it can get out of hand easily.

Set a specific goal such as helping each other check for capital letters at the beginning of every sentence, rereading to make sure each sentence makes sense, or looking for words that could be traded out for something more interesting.

Another way to structure peer conferencing is to use the “Love and a Wish” system. Students read each other’s writing. Then they share one thing they loved about it and one thing they wished. For example, maybe they loved how their partner described the taste of their birthday cake and they wished there was more about the games that were played at the party.

Create an Incentive

Taking a piece of writing from the planning process all the way to a final draft is a lot of work. Find a way to celebrate that work to keep students motivated.

A chance to share their work is motivating to students. You can build in sharing while you’re roving the classroom. At the mid-point or the end of the lesson, have a few students share how they revised a sentence to add an interesting word or the great hook that they chose.

You can give students time to share their work with a neighbor. This way everyone gets to share in a short amount of time.

Allow students to share writing in those 5-minute blocks of time you find every now and then when you finished something else early.

A favorite writing incentive in my classroom was the “publishing party.” After a 5 week writing unit, each student chose their best piece and we all sat in a circle and listened to each other’s work.

At the end, we toasted to our hard work with a small cup of apple juice. Parents would share with me that this simple celebration really motivated their child to work hard in writing so they would have something great to read to the class.

Strategies for Teaching Writing to Kids - Publishing Party

If you’re looking for resources to help you teach writing, check out the classroom-tested products HERE :

Follow my literacy board on Pinterest for more ideas!

Author: Hannah Braun

Hannah Braun is a former teacher with 8 years of experience in the classroom and a master's degree in early childhood education. She designs engaging, organized classroom resources for 1st-3rd grade teachers.

Just found your site and teacherspayteachers products. Love it all! Laughed out loud at your posters and comments on students. Thought I was the only one who noticed (was confused/irritated/baffled) at some of the things students think up to do with school equipment and behaviors. Nice to know we can laugh about it all! Thank you.

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Illustration of person writing on a long jumbled piece of paper

Creative Ways to Jumpstart Student Writing

Helping students develop a better understanding of what they should do before, during, and after writing can make the actual process less intimidating.

Before pens and pencils even hit paper, students in Jamie Sears’ class would moan and groan with reluctance. “Ugh,” they’d mutter, “do we have to do writing today?”

Some simply don’t like to write “because their previous writing experiences haven’t been enjoyable,” the former elementary school teacher explains . Whether it’s lack of interest in the assigned topic, fear of being judged for their mistakes, or good old fashioned writer’s block, the act of putting your thoughts down on (virtual) paper can be daunting. By the time students reach middle and high school, the pressure has peaked, and the prospect of writing a flawless research paper or the perfect essay is enough to send shivers down their spines.

But writing can be made easier for those who are reluctant or anxious, and “how we mediate student perception of writing is as important as teaching the skills” of writing, explains education consultant Jonathan McCarthy . Getting kids to write more often across a range of styles—supported by an equally rich range of strategies—ensures “that when a student struggles to write, a different approach is readily available.”

From film scripts and short stories to poetry, book reviews, and travel journals, providing myriad low-stakes opportunities to explore what writing looks like in all of its different forms can help put students on a path toward “refining one’s voice, organizing and reorganizing one’s thoughts, and learning how words spill out of one’s head and onto the page,” says English teacher Matthew M. Johnson .

For some students, getting started is often the hardest part, especially if they think of writing as purely “fixed and formal,” writes assistant headteacher Clare Jarmy recently for TES Magazine . She, like McCarthy, recommends demystifying the process with lots of “specific activities for students to do before and after writing,” which help them to “trial ideas, structures and arguments—while not losing their own views along the way.”

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION

Students can often be their own worst critics, tearing their work to shreds to get ahead of the negative critique they fear they’ll receive, writes eighth-grade English teacher Christina Torres Cawdery . Allotting time for students to “break through their own judgments” and practice low-stakes writing can help them move away from a “mindset of defeat” when it’s time to be graded.

Build the Habit: According to writing researchers and teachers, students should spend “between 30 and 60 minutes every day” writing, Johnson says, but it’s fine to start a bit smaller. English teacher Meghan Rosa uses daily seven-minute writes while in Cawdery’s classroom, for the first five minutes of each period, students engage in daily journaling—responding to a range of prompts like “Tell me about your favorite place,” discussing assigned reading, or reflecting on a piece of media. But if they’d like, students can write about anything.

When time is up, they record their word count with an aim of reaching 200 words daily. Every two weeks, journals are submitted and Cawdery reads them. “I will also occasionally make casual comments on what they write, like sharing that I also love watching reruns of The Office,” she says. “It’s a great way to get them writing and also build connections with them.”

Bolster Their Authority: Who am I to say what the author meant, a student might wonder. That’s a common problem, Jarmy says. “Students often feel they lack the authority to make their own contribution to the subject and question their ability to write something well-informed.”

To help them understand that their theories and analysis are important, Jarmy has classes evaluate and critique essays produced by generative AI like ChatGPT. Using assessment criteria discussed in advance, students study ChatGPT’s outputs and find places where they can strengthen or improve the work they’re reading. “They might find an essay that ChatGPT produces on Plato and Aristotle’s views on mind and body is largely accurate, but that it lacks judgment or evaluation,” she writes.

Motivate With Mentor Texts: One of the best ways to inspire kids to write well is to get them reading great writing, Sears suggests. Provide examples of what success looks like across a variety of genres, and as different skills present themselves—from realistic dialogue and descriptive details to a strongly communicated argument—students can mark them, saving each passage as a resource for when they need to do the same themselves.

“Pick fun, engaging stories that students will relate to,” she says. “When they see examples of good writing, they’ll be motivated to write better themselves.”

OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF GETTING STARTED

Filling a blank page can be intimidating, but much less so with a plan of action. Pre-planning activities allow students to carve a path forward for themselves in a “safe and well-resourced environment,” Jarmy writes. “It helps to build their confidence and allows them to break up the task of essay writing into manageable chunks.”

Share a Snowball: Writing can be a lonely pursuit, so allowing students to put their heads together and swap ideas can de-escalate any negative feelings. Try a snowball task, where each student begins an outline for what they’re writing—an essay, blog, or the beginnings of a debate argument—then passes it to a classmate, who builds on the ideas of their peers. The process continues, Jarmy says, until a fully fleshed out plan has been created.

An alternative she uses is the three-minute planner, where students map out the main features of what they’re about to write: for example, “three key argumentative points they’d make, plus a conclusion,” in three minutes' time.

Writing Your “Worst Draft” First: Students often misconstrue the writing process as linear and squeaky clean, but the etymology of the word “essay,“ Jarmy writes, stems from the French word essayer, meaning “to try.” Sharing this with students leads them to see writing as something malleable “they can play with, rethink and redraft.”

But trying is much more difficult when you’re aiming for perfection, so Cawdery likes to encourage students to embrace the rough and even bad writing they may initially produce. In fact, she often tells them when they receive an initial assignment to “write the very worst version” of the paper or poem they can imagine. Everything from poor grammar and informal phrasing are fair game, because it can all be refined later. It’s even possible that in their pursuit of the worst first draft that a few pearls of wisdom rise to the surface.

Sketch to Start: When writer’s block inevitably comes knocking on students’ doors, assistant professor of secondary education Jonathan T Bartels briefly takes writing off the table and replaces it with drawing . "If I asked you to draw a picture of your topic, do you think you could?,” he asks. It’s helpful to model for students what this looks like with an example—“when writing about a sequence of things, I have often had students draw it out as a comic strip,” Bartels says.

While the act of drawing itself can help students better visualize the topic they want to write about, it's the discussion afterwards that’s most important, Bartels says. Try asking questions like:

Why did you decide to draw it this way?
What's happening here?
Why is this here? (in regards to spatial organization)
How are these specific items related?
What did you purposefully leave out?

“Discussing the students' drawing in this way gives me a very clear idea of what the student understands and thinks about the given topic,” he says. “For the student, it is an opportunity to articulate his or her thoughts about the topic in a non-threatening way.”

Talk First, Then Write: Similar to Bartels, educational consultant and former educator Alexandra Parrish Cheshire has also found taking writing out of the equation to be the best accelerant. When she observed that some of her students were able to speak at length about a topic but froze up when asked to translate their thoughts to paper, she had an idea.

“Identify a way your students can record themselves speaking their essay rather than writing it,” she says. Students can “step out in the hall and recite their essay,” for example, then return and write down what they recorded. Anything from a computer with a microphone to an audio recording app on a phone will do.

Alternatively, consider setting up one-on-one sitdown meetings to talk through a topic with students who are particularly struggling. Cheshire writes down students’ bright ideas while they’re talking, providing them not only with a starting point to work from but allowing them to “express their thoughts without the hesitation that makes some students’ minds go blank as they pick up that pen or pencil.”

GETTING THEM TO REFLECT AND REVISE

Revising is one of the “meatiest components of the writing process,” says educator Joanna Marsh . Her students often “resisted editing because they didn’t know how to make their work better.” Providing models of how to engage with critique, what revision looks like, and making the process collaborative can lower the stakes while laying out a clear road map for students.

Feedback Foresight: Before students receive any sort of feedback on their work, high school English teacher Marcus Luther has his students try to forecast what critique they may have received . This not only “increases engagement in feedback conversation/reflections,” but infuses the revision and reflection process with purpose, he says.

Luther creates a slide that he displays for the class to see, outlining six pieces of feedback he most widely identified as areas for growth. “Which do you think will be on your essay?,” he asks. Students can review their work through this lens, looking for places where “textual evidence is mishandled,” evaluating their “rushed finish,” or looking at paragraphs that need to “move beyond summary to analysis.”

Read-Aloud to Revise: Many don’t like to read their work aloud, McCarthy explains, but it’s a beneficial post-writing practice that “helps them catch problems in mechanics, word choice, and sentence fluency.”

First, students read their work aloud at low volume—just loud enough that only they can hear it. As they navigate their text, McCarthy suggests having students mark it up based on the focus problems suggested by the teacher like action verbs or passive voice. Lastly, writers circle back to the regions of the work they’ve indicated as areas for change, reflecting on what needs to be done to improve.

Peer-Powered Review: Feedback doesn’t always need to come from you, explains high school English teacher Jamie Kobs. “Besides relieving me of some of the pressure,” she says , “creating a classroom culture where students give each other feedback has helped me increase engagement and build community.”

In Mark Gardner’s high school English class, students edit each other often, though he admits few ninth graders have “mastered the conventions of writing well enough to function as reliable editors.” So he provides a bit of structure; students' feedback on each other’s work is always reflective, not corrective .

“My students focus on idea development, clarity, and arrangement to make sense of the writer’s text,” he explains. Emphasize providing feedback that is targeted, actionable, respectful, and inspires growth. For example: “I am confused about who ‘they’ are in this sentence” or “I like how you repeated keywords from your hook here in your conclusion.”

Summarize and Strengthen: Having students write an abstract for their essay “helps them to hone their line of argument, while also developing a sense of focus and precision,” Jarmy writes. She asks the class to create 200-word abstracts summarizing the main idea of the stance they took and its supporting points. “If they don’t understand their essay, or they have forgotten what they wrote,” Jarmy says, “this is a great way to get them to invest in their work and take ownership of it - all of which will help them to improve next time.

10 Strategies for teaching writing skills in the classroom

November 30, 2023

Darri Stephens

Education Tips & Tricks , Implementation , Lessons and Ideas

Often, teachers hesitate when it comes to teaching writing because they aren’t confident in their own writing skills. Although writing is a key pillar of literacy , the artistry involved and the vast styles and approaches can make it a tad daunting to teach. However, writing is not just an essential literacy skill that is foundational to personal and professional success—at its core, it is an amazing form of self-expression and creativity. As with most fundamental skills, it is vital to encourage students to write early and often. They should not let skills, or lack of them, thwart their attempts at storytelling and communication. As writers build their toolboxes of literary devices, they can begin to craft and hone their own style and voice.

What are the key components of effective writing instruction?

By taking a scaffolded approach, teachers can begin with writing mechanics and conventions such as spelling, punctuation and capitalization, and sentence construction structure. As kids literally grab hold of the fine motor skills of gripping a pencil, they can practice their handwriting. Then, layer by layer, they can begin to focus on meaning by broadening their vocabulary, playing with word choice, adding detail, and learning how best to organize their ideas with clarity. The core of teaching writing is introducing students to the writing cycle and helping them realize the artistry of revisiting drafts of ideas.

Flocabulary instructional writing examples

Flocabulary video lessons for Reading and Writing leverage hip-hop, engaging visuals, and compelling storytelling to enhance students’ writing skills and vocabulary acquisition, making the content more relevant and memorable. Every video lesson is paired with various activities and assessments: Vocab Cards, Vocab Game, Break It Down*, Read & Respond, and Lyric Lab. Students can specifically practice their skills with Read & Respond passages, use the Quiz to check their understanding, and create rhymes using Lyric Lab .

Additionally, Flocabulary offers a creative way to infuse the fundamentals of writing instruction into your lesson planning by creating Flocabulary Mix lessons *. First, select and preview a literacy skill from those listed by grade level. Then, select a video text . The skill video provides a spoken direct set of instructions that is paired with the hip-hop video text. Your students will view both, and afterward, they can dive deeper into the newly introduced vocabulary through assessments and analysis activities designed to help them develop and practice comprehension strategies.

*Break It Down and Flocabulary Mix is only available to users with a Flocabulary Plus subscription.

New to Flocabulary? Teachers can sign up for a trial to access our lesson videos and assessment activities. Administrators can get in touch with us to learn more about unlocking the full power of Flocabulary through Flocabulary Plus.

1. Keep reading

Author Stephen King claims in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft , “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” Expose students to all genres of literature, all types of authors, and instructional writing examples. As they begin to identify their favorites, pepper them with questions as to why. In English language arts classes, you can also challenge them to write in a style similar to a chosen author—imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (as they develop their own greatness, that is).

Find a plethora of K-12 video lessons in our Language Arts section, including stories, literature, and informational texts. These video lessons are perfect for covering classic stories to provide students extra context for their reading comprehension or to help them learn more reading strategies they can apply daily.

Explore these videos to support reading in your classroom:

Reading & Writing : Lessons on genres, figurative language, story structures and elements, and more.
Literature : Lessons and summaries of classical literature and Flocabulary stories for students.
Informational Text : Lessons and adaptations of non-fiction stories and informational texts.

The Odyssey Flocabulary literature video lesson

2. Practice storytelling

Almost all stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Students need to practice telling stories, whether in writing or verbally, to grasp the idea of sequencing events and the basics of story elements. Retelling stories provides explicit instruction for honing summarization skills (which is not an easy skill for any age!). For an added challenge, give students bookends to work within, such as a character or time limit—you can use social media posts as an example with Twitter/X’s 280-character limit, TikTok’s 90-second limit, or IG Story’s 60-second limit.

Underscore comprehension strategies using skill videos for Flocabulary Mixes. Here are some examples of lessons to use across grade levels:

Retelling Stories (Grades K-1)
Identifying the Main Topic (Grade 2)
Author’s Purpose (Grade 3)
Finding the Main Idea (Grades 3-5)
Summarizing (Grades 4-8)

*Skill videos and Flocabulary Mix are only available to users with a Flocabulary Plus subscription .

3. Build vocabulary

It sounds simple enough, but help your students be aware of words to boost vocabulary acquisition . Highlight when others make a conscious word choice. Encourage them to play with words. As babies begin to acquire vocabulary, they build a lexicon for their primary language. This lexical development continues as learners build a sense of meanings and form and how to use words in relationship with one another. As a teacher, I encouraged my students to avoid bland “four-letter words” such as SAID or GOOD. You can encourage students to keep personal dictionaries, where they make note of new words or those that intrigue them. A thesaurus can be a budding writer’s best ally in written work!

Explore our 5 essential strategies to teach vocabulary to understand the vital role of vocabulary acquisition as a valuable tool to enhance students’ language depth and writing abilities. Using strategies like multiple exposures and structured models such as the Frayer model, explore the importance of using and applying words creatively—a skill essential for effective writing.

4. Don’t forget the technical

While creative writing can help capture the soul and talent of young authors, they also can begin to sharpen their technical writing skills for expository and persuasive writing. Students can learn effective writing strategies for informational pieces such as essays, newsworthy articles, op-eds, advertisements, debates, and research reports. Such writing strategies teach students that there are different types of writing for different purposes: descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive.

Here are some lessons you can use:

Main Idea (Grades K-6)
Paragraph Writing (Grades 2-5)
Persuasive Language (Grades 3-8)
The Writing Process (Grades 5-12)
The Five Paragraph Essay (Grades 5-12)

5. Build up toolboxes

As students amass strategies and analyze best practices in writing, they can begin to develop their own writer’s toolbox. These toolboxes can catalog story elements such as plot, setting, characters, point of view, and conflict. Students can add definitions and examples of literary and poetic devices such as irony , alliteration, metaphors , hyperbole, and oxymoron … just to name a few. Such techniques will embolden them to use symbolism and figurative language to differentiate their prose and their writing from others. Students will delight in the sophistication they can bring to their writing by not only understanding but also employing such devices.

Showcase examples for their toolboxes by using these lessons:

Topic Sentences (Grades 2-5)
Conflict (Grades 5 to 8)
Five Elements of a Story (Grades 3-12)
Onomatopoeia (Grades 3-5)
Similes & Metaphors (Grades 3-8)
Irony (Grades 6-12)

6. Go around the writing cycle

Early in elementary school, many teachers introduce the concept of the writing cycle, which typically varies from five to seven stages. However, all versions of the writing cycle depict the idea that the process of writing is continuous and that high-quality writing benefits from being revisited repeatedly. Pre-writing begins with seed ideas that take shape with graphic organizers or outlines. Students write multiple drafts, getting their ideas down on paper. Revising is when they continue to add or subtract pieces to refine their work. And then editing is when the more mechanical aspects of writing are revisited and polished by the author or peer reviewers. Often, the most challenging part of the writing cycle is knowing when you’re done and ready to share and celebrate via publication.

During the writing cycle, encourage students to go back and revise their writing for clarity—which often means revisiting grammar. Flocabulary has tons of video lessons on grammar, including the following:

Commas (Grades 1-8)
Nouns (Grades K-3)
Run-On Sentences (Grades 4-6)
Synonyms & Antonyms (Grades 2-8)
Parts of Speech (Grades 2-8)

7. Differ your point of view

Help students realize that writing is quite personal and often is based on an author’s experiences and biases (recognized or not). Challenge them to not only identify the point of view but also try seeing the story from another person’s perspective. Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is a wonderful way to illustrate this for young readers and writers. Similarly, Gregory Maguire has found success in novels—and on stage—with his unique perspectives in books such as Wicked .

Teach about point of view using the following video lessons:

Point of View (Grades 3-12)
Nearpod Original*: Point of View (Grades 3-5)
Skill video*: Identifying Point of View (Grade 4)
Skill video*: Differing Perspectives (Grade 7)

*Skill videos and Nearpod Originals are only available to users with a Flocabulary Plus subscription .

8. Play with word choice and structure

Playing with words comes down to personal word choice as well as word structure. Challenge your students to take a simple phrase such as “The sky is blue” and mold it into something more by toying with word selection and placement. Remind students to have fun with writing—sometimes, that may mean abandoning conventions such as spelling and punctuation in a first draft. Let them “word vomit” and then go back and revise the piece with conventions that make it more readable by others. Don’t let convention get in the way of creativity.

Here are some lessons you can use in your classroom to teach about word choice, structure, and figurative language:

Word Choice (Grades 5-12)
Text Structure (Grades 3-8)
Skill video: Author’s Word Choice (Grades 6-8)
Skill video: Analyzing Word Choice (Grades 9-12)

9. Invoke sensory details

Many teachers encourage their students to “show, don’t tell” in their writing. Students can lean on their five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch—to bring their writing alive with sensory details. I often ask kids to use their “mind’s eye” to share details that would, in turn, awaken their reader’s mind’s eye. We know how important an active imagination is, and we should encourage kids to sharpen theirs and not dull it with age.

“Young human beings need exercises in imagination as they need exercise in all the basic skills of life, bodily and mental: for growth, for health, for competence, for joy,” author Ursula K. Le Guin wrote. “This need continues as long as the mind is alive.” KQED

Encourage students of all ages to use descriptive and figurative language using these lessons:

Using Descriptive Language (Grades 3-12)
Figurative Language (Grades 5-12)

10. Lean into technology

There are so many dynamics to learning how to write, but technology can ease some of the common obstacles. If a child struggles with penmanship, keep working on those fine motor skills but give him a keyboard to learn how to type early. Don’t let a pencil grip get in the way of words and ideas flowing. Similarly, assistive and adaptive technologies can turn voice recording into text to encourage the art of storytelling. Aids like spelling and grammar checker software can provide tips and tricks that students can begin to internalize over time.

Use Flocabulary for writing instruction

If you grapple with how to teach writing skills, start by seeking out best practices in writing instruction. Flocabulary has a clear scope and sequence by grade level to begin building those foundational writing and research skills. Teaching writing can be a rewarding endeavor, as students will relish the agency and independence of finding their own voice and having a channel for true self-expression. With a focus on 21st-century learning skills, creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration all come when students put pen to paper or fingers to a keyboard.

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

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Research-Based Teaching Tips

Efficient Ways to Improve Student Writing

Strategies, Ideas, and Recommendations from the faculty Development Literature

General Strategies

View the improvement of students’ writing as your responsibility. Teaching writing is not only the job of the English department alone. Writing is an essential tool for learning a discipline and helping students improve their writing skills is a responsibility for all faculty.
Let students know that you value good writing. Stress the importance of clear, thoughtful writing. Faculty who tell students that good writing will be rewarded and poor writing will be penalized receive better essays than instructors who don't make such demands. In the syllabus, on the first day, and throughout the term, remind students that they must make their best effort in expressing themselves on paper. Back up your statements with comments on early assignments that show you really mean it, and your students will respond.
Regularly assign brief writing exercises in your classes. To vary the pace of a lecture course, ask students to write a few minutes during class. Some mixture of in-class writing, outside writing assignments, and exams with open-ended questions will give students the practice they need to improve their skills.
Provide guidance throughout the writing process. After you have made the assignment, discuss the value of outlines and notes, explain how to select and narrow a topic, and critique the first draft, define plagiarism as well.
Don't feel as though you have to read and grade every piece of your students' writing. Ask students to analyze each other's work during class, or ask them to critique their work in small groups. Students will learn that they are writing in order to think more clearly, not obtain a grade. Keep in mind, you can collect students' papers and skim their work.
Find other faculty members who are trying to use writing more effectively in their courses. Pool ideas about ways in which writing can help students learn more about the subject matter. See if there is sufficient interest in your discipline to warrant drawing up guidelines. Students welcome handouts that give them specific instructions on how to write papers for a particular course or in a particular subject area.

Teaching Writing When You Are Not an English Teacher

Remind students that writing is a process that helps us clarify ideas. Tell students that writing is a way of learning, not an end in itself. Also let them know that writing is a complicated, messy, nonlinear process filled with false starts. Help them to identify the writer's key activities:
Developing ideas
Finding a focus and a thesis
Composing a draft
Getting feedback and comments from others
Revising the draft by expanding ideas, clarifying meaning, reorganizing
Presenting the finished work to readers
Explain that writing is hard work. Share with your class your own struggles in grappling with difficult topics. If they know that writing takes effort, they won't be discouraged by their own pace or progress. One faculty member shared with students their notebook that contained the chronology of one of his published articles: first ideas, successive drafts, submitted manuscript, reviewers' suggested changes, revised version, galley proofs, and published article.
Give students opportunities to talk about their writing. Students need to talk about papers in progress so that they can formulate their thoughts, generate ideas, and focus their topics. Take five or ten minutes of class time for students to read their writing to each other in small groups or pairs. It's important for students to hear what their peers have written.
Encourage students to revise their work. Provide formal steps for revision by asking students to submit first drafts of papers for your review or for peer critique. You can also give your students the option of revising and rewriting one assignment during the semester for a higher grade. Faculty report that 10 to 40 percent of the students take advantage of this option.
Explain thesis statements. A thesis statement makes an assertion about some issue. A common student problem is to write papers that present overviews of facts with no thesis statement or that have a diffuse thesis statement.
Stress clarity and specificity. The more the abstract and difficult the topic, the more concrete the student's language should be. Inflated language and academic jargon camouflage rather than clarify their point.
Explain the importance of grammar and sentence structure, as well as content. Students shouldn't think that English teachers are the only judges of grammar and style. Tell your students that you will be looking at both quality of their writing and the content.
Distribute bibliographies and tip sheets on good writing practices. Check with your English department or writing center to identify materials that can be easily distributed to students. Consider giving your students a bibliography of writing guides, for example:

Crews, F.C. Random House Handbook. (6th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992.

A classic comprehensive textbook for college students. Well written and well worth reading.

Lanham, R.A. Revising Prose . (3rd ed.) New York: Scribner's, 1991. Techniques for eliminating

bureaucratese and restoring energy to tired prose.

Tollefson, S. K. Grammar Grams and Grammar Grams II . New York: HarperCollins, 1989,

1992. Two short, witty guides that answer common questions about grammar, style, and usage. Both are fun to read.

Science and Engineering Barrass, R. Scientists Must Write. New York: Chapman and Hall, 1978. Biddle, A. W., and Bean, D. J. Writer's Guide: Life Sciences. Lexington, Mass.: Heath, 1987.
Arts and Humanities Barnet, S. A Short Guide to Writing About Art . Boston: Little, Brown, 1989. Goldman, B. Reading and Writing in the Arts. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1978.
Social Sciences Biddle, A. W., Fulwiler, T., and Holland, K.M. Writer's Guide: Psychology . Lexington, Mass,:

Heath, 1987. McCloskey, D. N. The Writing of Economics . New York: Macmillan, 1987.

Ask a composition instructor to give a presentation to your students. Invite a guest speaker from the composition department or student learning center to talk to your students about effective writing and common writing problems. Faculty who have invited these experts report that such presentations reinforce the values of the importance of writing.
Let students know about available tutoring services. Individual or group tutoring in writing is available on most campuses. Ask someone from the tutoring center to give a demonstration in your class.
Use computers to help students write better. Locally developed and commercially available software are now being used by faculty to help students plan, write, and revise their written work. Some software available allows instructors to monitor students' work in progress and lets students collaborate with their classmates.

Assigning In-Class Writing Activities

Ask students to write what they know about a topic before you discuss it. Ask your students to write a brief summary of what they already know or what opinions they hold regarding the subject you are about to discuss. The purpose of this is to focus the students' attention, there is no need to collect the summaries.
Ask students to respond in writing to questions you pose during class. Prior to class starting, list two or three short-answer questions on the board and ask your students to write down their responses. Your questions might call for a review of material you have already discussed or recalling information from assigned readings.
Ask students to write from a pro or con position. When presenting an argument, stop and ask your students to write down all the reasons and evidence they can think of that supports one side or the other. These statements can be used as the basis for discussion.
During class, pause for a three-minute write. Periodically ask students to write freely for three minutes on a specific question or topic. They should write whatever pops into their mind without worrying about grammar, spelling, phrasing, or organization. This kind of free writing, according to writing experts, helps students synthesize diverse ideas and identify points they may not understand. There is no need to collect these exercises.
Have students write a brief summary at the end of class. At the end of the class period, give your students index cards to jot down the key themes, major points, or general principles of the day's discussion. You can easily collect the index cards and review them to see whether the class understood the discussion.
Have one student keep minutes to be read at the next class meeting. By taking minutes, students get a chance to develop their listening, synthesizing, and writing skills. Boris (1983) suggests the following:
Prepare your students by having everyone take careful notes for the class period, go home and rework them into minutes, and hand them in for comments. It can be the students' discretion whether the minutes are in outline or narrative form.
Decide on one to two good models to read or distribute to the class.
At the beginning of each of the following classes, assign one student to take minutes for the period.
Give a piece of carbon paper to the student who is taking minutes so that you can have a rough copy. The student then takes the original home and revises it in time to read it aloud at the next class meeting.
After the student has read their minutes, ask other students to comment on their accuracy and quality. If necessary, the student will revise the minutes and turn in two copies, one for grading and one for your files.
Structure small group discussion around a writing task. For example, have your students pick three words that are of major importance to the day's session. Ask your class to write freely for two to three minutes on just one of the words. Next, give the students five to ten minutes to meet in groups to share what they have written and generate questions to ask in class.
Use peer response groups. Divide your class into groups of three or four, no larger. Ask your students to bring to class enough copies of a rough draft of a paper for each person in their group. Give your students guidelines for critiquing the drafts. In any response task, the most important step is for the reader to note the part of the paper that is the strongest and describe to the writer why it worked so well. The following instructions can also be given to the reader:
State the main point of the paper in a single sentence
List the major subtopics
Identify confusing sections of the paper
Decide whether each section of the paper has enough detail, evidence, and information
Indicate whether the paper's points follow one another in sequence
Judge the appropriateness of the opening and concluding paragraphs
Identify the strengths of the paper

Written critiques done as homework are likely to be more thoughtful, but critiques may also be done during the class period.

Use read-around groups. Read-around groups are a technique used with short assignments (two to four pages) which allows everyone to read everyone else's paper. Divide the class into groups no larger than four students and divide the papers (coded for anonymity) into as many sets as there are groups. Give each group a set and ask the students to read each paper silently and decide on the best paper in the set. Each group should discuss their choices and come to a consensus on the best paper. The paper's code number is recorded by the group, and the same process is repeated with a new set of papers. After all the groups have read all the sets of papers, someone from each group writes on the board the code number from the best paper in each set. The recurring numbers are circled. Generally, one to three papers stand out.
Ask students to identify the characteristics of effective writing. After completing the read-around activity, ask your students to reconsider those papers which were voted as excellent by the entire class and to write down features that made each paper outstanding. Write their comments on the board, asking for elaboration and probing vague generalities. In pairs, the students discuss the comments on the board and try to put them into categories such as organization, awareness of audience, thoroughness of detail, etc. You might need to help your students arrange the characteristics into meaningful categories.

The Strategies, Ideas and Recommendations Here Come Primarily From:

Gross Davis, B. Tools for Teaching . San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1993.

And These Additional Sources…

Boris, E. Z. "Classroom Minutes: A Valuable Teaching Device." Improving College and

University Teaching, 1983,31(2), 70-73.

Elbow, P. "Using Writing to Teach Something Else." Unpublished paper, 1987.

Hawisher, G. E., and Selfe, C. L. (eds.). Critical Perspectives on Computers and

Composition Instruction. New York: Teachers College Press, 1989.

Holdstein, D. H., and Selfe, C. L. (eds.). Computers and Writing: Theory, Research,

Practice. New York: Modern Language Association, 1990.

Lowman, J. Mastering the Techniques of Teaching . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984.

Petersen, B. T. "Additional Resources in the Practice of Writing Across the Disciplines."

In C. W. Griffin (ed.), Teaching Writing in All Disciplines . New Directions in Teaching and Learning, no. 12. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1982.

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education.

Bright Idea Network , 1989. (For information contact David Graf, Iowa State University, Ames.)

Pytlik, B. P. "Teaching Teachers of Writing: Workshops on Writing as a Collaborative

Process." College Teaching , 1989, 37(1), 12-14.

Tollefson, S. K. Encouraging Student Writing . Berkeley: Office of Educational

Development, University of California, 1988.

Walvoord, B. F. Helping Students Write Well: A Guide for Teachers in All Disciplines.

(2nd ed.) New York: Modern Language Association, 1986.

Watkins, B. T. "More and More Professors in Many Academic Disciplines Routinely

Require Students to Do Extensive Writing." Chronicle of Higher Education, 1990, 36(44), pp. A13-14, A16.

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A Lesson Plan for Effective Brainstorming: Creative Teaching Strategies

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

A Lesson Plan for Effective Brainstorming: Creative Teaching Strategies

1. Understanding the Power of Brainstorming: Unleashing Creativity in the Classroom

2. techniques for setting the stage: creating an optimal environment for brainstorming, 3. preparing for a successful brainstorming session: step-by-step guide for teachers, 4. facilitation strategies: encouraging active participation and diverse perspectives, 5. nurturing innovative ideas: effective feedback and validation techniques, 6. overcoming obstacles: addressing challenges and fostering collaboration, 7. incorporating technology tools: enhancing brainstorming sessions for modern learners, 8. engaging beyond the classroom: extending brainstorming skills to real-world applications, frequently asked questions, future outlook.

Brainstorming is a powerful technique that can unlock students’ creative potential, transforming the classroom into a hub of innovation and imagination. By encouraging open discussion and free-flowing ideas, brainstorming provides an inclusive platform for students to contribute their thoughts and build upon each other’s ideas. Collaborative brainstorming sessions can foster a sense of community and enhance communication skills, while empowering students to think outside the box and explore unconventional solutions.

The Benefits of Brainstorming in the Classroom

One of the key advantages of incorporating brainstorming techniques in the classroom is that it promotes critical thinking and problem-solving abilities . Through brainstorming, students can analyze complex problems from different perspectives and develop innovative solutions. This encourages them to challenge their own assumptions and broaden their understanding of various topics. Additionally, brainstorming nurtures teamwork and cooperation among students, as they learn to listen, respect, and build on each other’s ideas. This collaborative atmosphere not only enhances their social skills but also instills confidence and self-expression, creating a safe space for students to freely share their thoughts.

Strategies to Maximize Brainstorming Sessions

To make the most out of brainstorming sessions, educators can follow certain strategies. Firstly, setting clear guidelines and expectations ensures that students understand the purpose and rules of brainstorming, enabling a more productive session. Secondly, using visual aids and multimedia resources can stimulate creativity and inspire students to think beyond the conventional. Additionally, incorporating technology tools and online platforms can encourage remote collaboration and engagement. Facilitators should also create a non-judgmental environment, encouraging all ideas and emphasizing that there are no wrong answers in a brainstorming session. By employing these strategies, educators can unleash the full potential of brainstorming, transforming the classroom into a vibrant hub of creativity.

2. Techniques for Setting the Stage: Creating an Optimal Environment for Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a powerful technique for generating creative ideas and solutions. To maximize its effectiveness, it is important to create an optimal environment that fosters open communication and encourages everyone to freely share their thoughts. Here are some techniques that can help set the stage for successful brainstorming:

Create a relaxed atmosphere: Make sure the space is comfortable and inviting. Consider using soft lighting, comfortable seating, and pleasant background music to put participants at ease.
Remove distractions: Minimize interruptions by turning off phones and other electronic devices. This will help maintain focus and allow participants to fully engage in the brainstorming process.
Set clear objectives: Clearly define the goals and objectives of the brainstorming session. This will provide a clear direction and focus for participants, ensuring that their ideas are aligned with the purpose of the session.

Furthermore, it is crucial to establish a positive and inclusive atmosphere where all ideas are valued. Here are some additional techniques to consider:

Encourage active participation: Create an environment where everyone feels comfortable contributing their ideas. Encourage participants to actively listen and build upon each other’s ideas, fostering a collaborative spirit.
Use visual aids: Consider using whiteboards, flip charts, or Post-it notes to document ideas visually. This not only helps participants visualize concepts better but also allows for easy organization and categorization of ideas.
Embrace diversity: Ensure diverse perspectives are represented in the brainstorming session. This can include individuals from different departments, backgrounds, or levels of expertise. The inclusion of diverse voices can lead to a richer and more innovative idea generation process.

3. Preparing for a Successful Brainstorming Session: Step-by-Step Guide for Teachers

Brainstorming sessions are an excellent way to foster creativity and critical thinking in the classroom. To ensure a successful brainstorming session, follow these step-by-step guidelines:

1. Define the objective: Clearly state the purpose and goals of the brainstorming session to provide focus and direction. Encourage students to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas.

2. Create a supportive environment: Set up the classroom in a way that encourages collaboration and openness. Arrange chairs in a circle or small groups to promote conversation. Consider using a whiteboard or flipchart to document ideas and facilitate group discussions.

3. Establish guidelines: Establish ground rules to create a safe and respectful space for brainstorming. Encourage active listening, open-mindedness, and the acceptance of all ideas. Remind students that there are no wrong or right answers during this creative process.

4. Warm-up activity: Begin the session with a warm-up activity to get students’ creative juices flowing. This could include a quick game or a thought-provoking question related to the topic. Engage students in a discussion to stimulate their thinking and generate initial ideas.

5. Provide stimuli: Use visual aids, props, or real-life examples to inspire students’ thinking. These stimuli can help generate ideas and stimulate imagination. Encourage students to consider multiple perspectives and explore different angles.

4. Facilitation Strategies: Encouraging Active Participation and Diverse Perspectives

Fostering active participation and embracing diverse perspectives are essential elements of successful group facilitation. To ensure an inclusive and productive discussion, facilitators can implement various strategies that encourage engagement and value different viewpoints. Here are some effective facilitation techniques to create an environment that promotes active involvement and celebrates diversity:

Create a Safe Space: Establish an atmosphere of trust and respect where participants feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas openly, without fear of judgment or retribution.
Set Clear Expectations: Clearly communicate the goals and objectives of the discussion, explaining how each participant’s contribution is vital in achieving the desired outcomes.
Active Listening: Demonstrate active listening skills by showing genuine interest in what others have to say. Encourage participants to build upon each other’s ideas, fostering a sense of collaboration and inclusivity.
Use Open-Ended Questions: Pose questions that require thoughtful responses, allowing participants to delve deeper into the topic and express their unique perspectives.

By utilizing these facilitation strategies, facilitators can nurture an environment that encourages active participation and embraces diverse viewpoints. Creating an inclusive space enables the group to tap into a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and experiences, leading to more innovative solutions and mutual respect among participants. Remember, embracing diversity is not just about hearing different opinions but actively valuing them.

5. Nurturing Innovative Ideas: Effective Feedback and Validation Techniques

When it comes to nurturing innovative ideas, providing effective feedback and validation techniques is crucial for their growth and success. Without proper guidance and evaluation, even the most promising ideas can wither away. Here are some essential techniques that can help in nourishing and advancing innovative concepts:

1. Active Listening: Engage in active listening when receiving pitches or ideas from team members. Give them your full attention, maintain eye contact, and acknowledge their thoughts with positive body language. Showing genuine interest and curiosity will foster an open and supportive environment for idea sharing.

2. Constructive Criticism: Offer constructive criticism to provide valuable insights without demoralizing the idea presenter. Focus on the strengths of the idea first, then suggest improvements or highlight potential challenges. By providing specific and actionable feedback, you can help refine the concept and encourage innovation.

6. Overcoming Obstacles: Addressing Challenges and Fostering Collaboration

In any project or organization, obstacles are bound to come up. However, by addressing these challenges head-on and fostering collaboration within the team, we can overcome any hurdles that may arise. Here are some strategies to navigate through obstacles and promote a culture of collaboration:

Open Communication: Encourage transparent and open communication among team members. Cultivate an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. This will help identify challenges early on and allow for a proactive approach in finding solutions.
Empathy and Understanding: Foster a sense of empathy and understanding within the team. Recognize that everyone comes from different backgrounds and experiences, and that diverse perspectives can lead to innovative solutions. Encourage active listening and mutual respect to build stronger bonds between team members.
Collaborative Decision-Making: Involve the entire team in the decision-making process whenever possible. By seeking input from all members, you harness the collective knowledge and expertise, resulting in more well-rounded and effective solutions. Create opportunities for brainstorming sessions or regular meetings where everyone has a chance to contribute.

The path to success is rarely smooth, but with a commitment to addressing challenges and fostering collaboration, any obstacle can be overcome. By prioritizing open communication, empathy, and collaborative decision-making, we create an environment where individuals feel supported and empowered to tackle challenges as a team. Embracing this mindset can lead to innovative solutions and strengthen the bonds within the team, driving us towards our shared goals.

7. Incorporating Technology Tools: Enhancing Brainstorming Sessions for Modern Learners

In today’s digital world, incorporating technology tools into brainstorming sessions is crucial for engaging and empowering modern learners. These tools not only enhance collaboration but also foster creativity and critical thinking skills. Here are some exciting ways to leverage technology and take your brainstorming sessions to the next level:

1. Collaborative Mind Mapping: Use online mind mapping tools like MindMeister or Coggle to visually organize and brainstorm ideas with participants. These tools allow real-time collaboration, making it easy for everyone to contribute and build upon each other’s thoughts. Plus, the ability to export or share the mind maps facilitates seamless group work and revision.

2. Idea Generation Apps: Encourage learners to use innovative mobile apps like Ideament or IdeaGrid to generate and capture ideas on the go. These apps provide a structured framework for brainstorming and offer features like sticky notes, categorization, and visual inspiration. By leveraging such tools, learners can easily brainstorm and capture their thoughts whenever inspiration strikes, ensuring that no idea goes unnoticed.

By incorporating these technology tools into your brainstorming sessions, learners will experience heightened engagement, improved collaboration, and a conducive environment for creativity and critical thinking. So, embrace the power of technology and unlock the full potential of modern learners.

When it comes to brainstorming, it’s not enough to limit the creative process to the confines of the classroom. By extending brainstorming skills to real-world applications, students can truly unleash their potential and make a positive impact on the world around them. Here are some exciting ways to take brainstorming to the next level:

Community Problem Solving: Encourage students to identify and tackle real issues within their community. Whether it’s finding innovative solutions for homelessness or improving local recycling programs, engaging students in brainstorming sessions focused on real-world problems can empower them to think critically and develop practical solutions.
Entrepreneurship Opportunities: Teach students how to apply brainstorming techniques to entrepreneurial endeavors. By challenging them to come up with unique business ideas, they can learn the importance of identifying market gaps, developing competitive advantages, and creating value for customers. This real-world application not only fosters creativity but also cultivates valuable skills for future success.

By broadening the scope of brainstorming beyond the classroom, students can connect theory with practice, develop empathy for others, and become more proactive problem solvers. So let’s inspire our future leaders to extend their brainstorming skills and create a better world!

Q: What is the significance of incorporating brainstorming techniques in the classroom setting? A: Brainstorming techniques play a significant role in the classroom as they encourage critical thinking, creative problem-solving , and collaboration among students. It fosters an inclusive environment where every student’s ideas are valued.

Q: How can teachers encourage effective brainstorming in their classrooms? A: To encourage effective brainstorming, teachers can create a safe and non-judgmental space where students feel comfortable sharing their ideas. They can also provide prompts or questions to guide the brainstorming process and help students generate ideas.

Q: Are there any specific strategies that can make brainstorming sessions more productive? A: Absolutely! Implementing strategies like mind mapping, round-robin brainstorming, or even using technology can enhance brainstorming sessions’ productivity. Additionally, setting clear goals and time limits, as well as providing constructive feedback, are effective strategies.

Q: How can teachers manage different learning styles and interests during a brainstorming session? A: To accommodate various learning styles and interests, teachers can diversify their brainstorming activities. Including visual aids, hands-on experiences, group discussions, or even online platforms allow students to engage in ways that best suit their individual preferences.

Q: Are there any challenges or obstacles teachers might face when implementing brainstorming lessons? A: Implementing brainstorming lessons may come with challenges, such as shy or reserved students who may hesitate to share their ideas. Additionally, time constraints or lack of structure might limit the effectiveness of the session. However, by providing sufficient support and creating a positive environment, these challenges can be overcome.

Q: How can teachers assess the effectiveness of brainstorming activities? A: Teachers can assess the effectiveness of brainstorming activities through various methods. They can evaluate students’ engagement, the quality and diversity of ideas generated, group dynamics, and the ability to apply those ideas to real-life situations.

Q: Can brainstorming be applied beyond traditional academic subjects? A: Absolutely! Brainstorming techniques are beneficial for subjects beyond traditional academics. Whether it’s problem-solving in science, creating narratives in English literature, or exploring innovative solutions in business studies, brainstorming can be utilized in various disciplines.

Q: Can you suggest any additional resources or references for teachers to explore effective brainstorming lesson plans? A: Certainly! Teachers looking to explore effective brainstorming lesson plans can consult books like “The Art of Innovation” by Tom Kelley or “Creative Confidence” by David Kelley and Tom Kelley. Additionally, online platforms such as teaching websites, educational blogs, or professional development courses can provide valuable insights into developing creative teaching strategies.

In conclusion, implementing creative teaching strategies that prioritize effective brainstorming can greatly enhance the learning experience for students and foster their critical thinking skills.

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How to Teach Creative Writing
We've outlined a seven-step method that will scaffold your students through each phase of the creative process from idea generation through to final edits. 7. Create inspiring and original prompts. Use the following formats to generate prompts that get students inspired: personal memories ("Write about a person who taught you an important ...
Four Strategies for Effective Writing Instruction
One, it is a great opportunity for the teacher to model the structures and functions of different types of writing while also weaving in lessons on spelling, punctuation, and grammar. It is a ...
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Teaching Creative Writing Tip #6: Use Hands-On Activities. If you're teaching a class full of students who are excited to write constantly, you can probably get away writing all class period. Many of us, however, are teaching a very different class. Your students may have just chosen an elective randomly.
How to Teach Creative Writing to High School Students
Teach Creative Writing to High School Students Step #6: Use Clear and Structured Expectations. While showing students excellent prose or perfect poetry should help inspire students, your writers will still need some hard parameters to follow. Academic writing is often easier for students than creative writing.
How to teach ... creative writing
Getting students to put pen to paper is a good way to spark their imaginations, develop reading and writing skills, and teach about empathy. To help you and your class get inventive, this week's ...
Creativity and Innovation in the Writing Classroom
the more you have.". —Maya Angelou. Creativity is fundamental to the teaching of writing. Although WR 153 focuses specifically on creativity and innovation, all WR courses ask students to approach their reading, viewing, writing, and research in creative ways. One important approach to creativity is "design thinking," which emphasizes ...
How to Teach Creative Writing (with Pictures)
Publish your students' work. One way to teach and promote creative writing is to do an informal publication of your students' stories. This way, your students will not only be able to be proud that their work is printed for others to read, but they'll be able to read each others' work and get ideas for their own future stories.
Creative writing in the classroom: five top tips for teachers
3. Video clips. There's something a bit weird about the idea of being a writer; it's a vague, wishy-washy concept for students. They don't yet understand the hours of admin, self-promotion ...
Guides to Teaching Writing
The Harvard Writing Project publishes resource guides for faculty and teaching fellows that help them integrate writing into their courses more effectively — for example, by providing ideas about effective assignment design and strategies for responding to student writing.. A list of current HWP publications for faculty and teaching fellows is provided below.
Teaching Creative Writing
Teaching Creative Writing. Creative writing plays an important role in a child's literacy development. This article makes suggestions for the instruction and evaluation of children's stories. Most children enter school with a natural interest in writing, an inherent need to express themselves in words (Graves, 1983).
12 ideas for teaching creative writing
Give your pupils freedom. Use story-starters and prompts. Elaborate with a story generator. Get the children to take creative writing home. 1. Use a workshop-style environment. Separate your class into groups or tables, each group will then be able to choose what they work on.
Introduction to Teaching Creative Writing
Creative writing is used in school, college, and university settings worldwide as a subject in its own right, and as a teaching technique for exploring and communicating ideas in almost any discipline. It's also increasingly being used within health and social care and criminal justice settings for therapy and personal development.
Theories and Strategies for Teaching Creative Writing Online
As the online world of creative writing teaching, learning, and collaborating grows in popularity and necessity, this book explores the challenges and unique benefits of teaching creative writing online. This collection highlights expert voices who have taught creative writing effectively in the online environment, to broaden the conversation ...
A Guide to Effective Writing Instruction
Self-regulation in writing includes at least three coordinated components: (1) goal setting, (2)self-talk, and (3) self-evaluation. Incorporating self-regulation components in writing instruction has been shown to positively affect both strong and weak writers' composing abilities (e.g., Graham, Harris, & Mason, 2005; Graham & Perin, 2007).
PDF How to Teach Creative Writing
6 Ways to Teach Writing reatively Teach your students the fun aspects of writing. Students of all ages write short stories and papers, from younger elementary-school writers through college-age students.
8 Smart Strategies for Teaching Writing
creating a plan for writing. orally rehearsing sentences and then writing them down. stretching out sounds in words for spelling. rereading and editing writing. looking for places to add more interesting vocabulary. making a final copy that incorporates editing and revisions.
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The hour should include at least 30 minutes dedicated to teaching a variety of writing strategies, techniques, and skills appropriate to students' levels, as detailed in Recommendations 2, 3, and 4 of this guide. The remaining 30 minutes should be spent on writing practice, where students apply the skills they learned from writing-skills ...
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Writing Your "Worst Draft" First: Students often misconstrue the writing process as linear and squeaky clean, but the etymology of the word "essay," Jarmy writes, stems from the French word essayer, meaning "to try.". Sharing this with students leads them to see writing as something malleable "they can play with, rethink and ...
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7. Differ your point of view. Help students realize that writing is quite personal and often is based on an author's experiences and biases (recognized or not). Challenge them to not only identify the point of view but also try seeing the story from another person's perspective.
Efficient Ways to Improve Student Writing
Teaching writing is not only the job of the English department alone. Writing is an essential tool for learning a discipline and helping students improve their writing skills is a responsibility for all faculty. ... The Strategies, Ideas and Recommendations Here Come Primarily From: Gross Davis, B. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass ...
Changing How Writing Is Taught
In the elementary grades, these evidence-based practices included writing for different purposes, teaching strategies for carrying out writing processes such as planning and revising, conducting formative assessments to guide writing instruction, and teaching students foundational writing skills like handwriting, spelling, and sentence ...
Theories and Strategies for Teaching Creative Writing Online
Description. As the online world of creative writing teaching, learning, and collaborating grows in popularity and necessity, this book explores the challenges and unique benefits of teaching creative writing online. This collection highlights expert voices who have taught creative writing effectively in the online environment, to broaden the ...
A Lesson Plan for Effective Brainstorming: Creative Teaching Strategies
1. Define the objective: Clearly state the purpose and goals of the brainstorming session to provide focus and direction. Encourage students to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas. 2. Create a supportive environment: Set up the classroom in a way that encourages collaboration and openness.