Brandon George's Blog for Incorporating Writing in the Classroom
Where Do I Start?
As an elementary education teacher, I more than often find it hard to motivate students when it comes to writing. I am looking for various ideas or tips on how to motivate students in the writing process. Please share any ideas or tips you use in your classroom to motivate students. Thanks for your help in advance.
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI have found a great way to motivate students to write is to give them something exciting to write about. For example, my class was doing a unit about dinosaurs. It was a very exciting unit and the kids loved it. We got all the way to the part of the lesson were we discussed fossils and where people found them. We made fossils that day out of plaster. The next morning I got to school early and made a dig site in our sand box at school. I buried the fossils we made. We went on an expedition to find fossils. It was a super fun activity. When we got back in the room with our fossil the students did not mind writing about their adventure. It helps if you are able to bring what the children are writing about to life. Many time it helps them understand the subject better. I hope this helps!
My own children have always enjoyed Mad Libs. What a fun way to generate learning about parts of speech. Wacky Tales can be found at funbrain.com and provides lists of words that could be used to ease children into the process. One thing is for sure, stories will be hilarious and provide lots of laughs. I think this would be a really fun, engaging activity for students.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the club. I am in a school where my students absolutely hate to write. They feel that way because they are not used to it. The easiest way is to start having the students write about subjects that they like or are interested. Also, try to have classroom discussions in any subject because with common core our students have to be able to write in all the subjects. Have your students explain their thinking and then afterwards tell them to put it on paper. Explain writing is just putting what we say on paper.
ReplyDeleteI know that motivating students to write can definitely be difficult task. I think a great way to motivate students to write is to allow them to write to a friend or buddy in the classroom. Usually students write more when the have a targeted audience in mind. This practice has always helped with the writing process with my students.
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