Charles Whitaker Best Practices In Teaching Writing

It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.

In today’s workforce, jobs are heavily based upon the skills that one has and how well one can perform them in their field of study. A major component skill that lacks in many young people today is writing. Writing plays is an important role in life, one needs it to communicate with other people. If young people are not taught this in their years of schooling and do not learn to master it, consequently they will come out on the bottom with poor writing skills. Which in

The framework for success is intended to serve as a foundation for college- level credit- bearing courses emphasizing habits of mind and experiences with writing, reading, and critical analysis. The ability to write well is basic to student success in college and beyond. Teaching writing and learning are central to education and to the development of a literate citizenry. Writing development takes place over time as students encounter different contexts, tasks, audiences, and purposes. To know more about these habits and experiences, let’s talk about how they acquire these tactics to teach and learn.

An article published by the International Literacy Association, “Implementing the Writing Process” gives a strategy guide for K-5 graders explains the writing process and offers practical methods that can be applied to students to help them become proficient writers. This article shows some similarity to the Bromley chapters. The article shows from research that students who learn the writing process score better on state tests compared to those who receive instructions in the skills assessed on the test. These students become writers who can apply their skill to all subjects. The writing process takes students’attitude, motivation, and engagement into account, as it allows them to plan their writing and come up with a final publishable draft they can be proud of. The writing process involves teaching students to write in a variety of genres that apply to different

Writing is an important skill for all students if they are to become successful in school and in the work place. Student writing skills are known to be a gateway for college success as well as employment and promotion in the workplace (Graham 2008). Data has shown that students at the Nebo School District, in grades 5 and 8 are functioning at or below the average level for writing when compared with

Teachers need to create a daily purpose for their writing. “Teachers need to make ELLs aware of the purpose and form that different types of writing, and ultimately communication, can take in their respective disciple” (DelliCaripini, 2012).Therefore, the more times the students are exposed to the different variety types of writing the more comfortable they will be in writing in their content-area classrooms. “English teachers are in a good position to implement the types of supports that can move ELLs toward success in academic writing by providing exposure to and practice with different genres of academic writing, finding ways to provide time for ELLs to engage in the task, building academic vocabulary, and providing effective feedback that ELLs can use to improve on what they are doing” (DelliCarpini,

Writing is a task that involves many cognitive processes. Because of this, it can hold some challenges and teachers can struggle with finding the right methods to teach the skill effectively. Fisher and Frey (2013) explain that “Writing needs to be taught” (p.96). A teacher cannot only give a prompt and tell their students to write about it without giving some instruction before it (Fisher & Frey, 2013). Also, writing cannot be limited to just English. Language Arts (ELA). It comes down to writing in every subject every day. Another point is that we cannot tell a student to write if we as teachers are not willing to write themselves. To teach students to be passionate about writing then teachers need to have that passion too. Young children

This semester I have learned many lessons such as the six traits of writing. I have copied this traits from the book Mr. Whitaker has provided us. These six important traits are ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Let me take a minute to explain into further detail what each of these are. Ideas help strong writings include a clear idea, message, or theme. Organization helps the reader present their writing in the correct order. Voice is what gives your writing a unique personality and message and allows the reader to connect with the story. Word choice helps capture your readers attention by using colorful, vibrant words. Sentence fluency helps a writer connect their sentences fluidly to one another.

Good writers are considered as role models who give us something to aspire to and there are too many to mention. I love reading Carroll, Lee Ann’s book. Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers. Lee Ann Carroll is a professor of English at Pepperdine University who specialize in composition theory. She shows how college students develop as good writers over several years of studying in college. At the same time Carroll argues for the developmental viewpoints that held by different faculties that students must be skilled to become creative writers. “Student writing may sometimes need to get "worse" before it can get "better." Because many col¬lege writing tasks are essentially new to students, they will need repeated practice

In today’s time, Writing well has become a more and more sought after skill. The reason being is that the skill is becoming endangered. But why is writing well important? Ultimately, writing is a form of communication. Being able to communicate well with others is often essential to solving problems that inevitably occur both in our private and professional lives Writing is the primary basis upon which one’s work, one’s learning, and one’s intellect will be judged. This judgement occurs in college, in the workplace, and in the community. Writing well promotes one’s ability to pose worthwhile questions, to explain a complex position to readers, and to give intelligent feedback. To write well one must be able to

“Writing is fundamental to students' success in school. Through writing, students not only are able to demonstrate their knowledge, but also to gather, remember, and share what they learn. Writing is also an essential skill that many students will use after their school careers.” (Zumbrunn 2012)

Cremin & Myhill (2012) describe being able to write, and read, as being a gateway to empowerment; this is because writing is a requirement of most academic schools and tertiary institutions. For this reason it is imperative that teachers engage in language education and help their students grow as writers.

Moreover, a writing strategy that would support the students become better writers would be Chalk Talk. This strategy would benefit the students since many of them have a difficult time establishing, and linking ideas. Moreover, the purpose of this activity is for students; assist each other in developing their ideas further and questioning one another. Also, this activity aids students to silently respond in writing both to the prompt and his or her peers. This strategy would not only enhance the students writing, but it creates a dialogue between them. According to the book Making Thinking Visible (2011) this silent conversation provides learners with time to follow through without interruption.

Writing is something that every student needs to be taught the importance of and how to do it well. Teachers have the ability to make every student a great writer; teachers just have to give students the tools to accomplish that. “Developing fluency in writing has always been a fundamental aim of education, even if the promise has never been fully realized.” (National Commission on Writing) Writing is just putting our thought down on paper and making sure that they make sense and are organized. All students can learn to do this it just takes proper instruction early on. This also means teachers have to have the time to teach writing and allow the student’s time to write as well.

Writing is the basis for all education and is too often overshadowed in schools today. With the excruciating pressure and anxiety standardized test put on students, it seems only logical to implement more writing exercises and practices, which can be quite therapeutic when dealing with such stress. It would not only benefit high school graduates to be more enlightened for college, but they would be better prepared for their careers as well. Writing has played a major part in influencing our history and will continue to affect our future. Without the application of more writing instruction and practice in our schools, future generations are to be severely hindered from potential brilliance and success.