Writing is one of the most important subjects to teach, but often one of the most overwhelming. When it comes to teaching writing, it can feel daunting to even know where to start. Especially when your students are at various levels and have a diverse range of needs. Some lack foundational skills, others struggle with focusing, and many kids may need extra motivation during independent writing time.
Want to try and give your class the best possible support in writing? Here are a few tried and true ways to help elementary students be successful writers.
6 Tips for Teaching Writing to Elementary Students
Start implementing the first 4 tips at the beginning of the year to help make writing time most effective.
- Establish Routines and Clear Expectations
- Get a Writing Sample ASAP
- Set a Growth Mindset Culture
- Review and Teach the Basics
- Identify, Model, and Practice Each Step of the Writing Process
- Keep Students Motivated & Make Writing Fun!
1. Establish Routines and Clear Expectations
The first few weeks of school are all about setting the foundation. While establishing classroom routines and building classroom community, be sure to also spend some time laying the groundwork for independent writing time.
Consider details such as behavior expectations, what students should do when they need a new pencil, acceptable work areas, where they’ll put unfinished and finished writing, etc.
Pencil system idea:
Turn-in bin idea:
I’ve always liked students to have a “Writing in Progress” folder to keep unfinished writing in their desk, and then turn it in here when it’s been completed. The sign above the turn-in bin is also a great help in reducing the number of no-name papers!
Establishing routines and expectations is essential when teaching writing. Students thrive when they clearly understand what is expected of them.
2. Get a Writing Sample Early
Plan time on the first day of school or during the first week to gather a writing sample from each student.
No need to overthink this. It can be as simple as providing a question or journal prompt, and having them write to respond. Pick something engaging that they would be excited to write about.
With all the get-to-know-you activities at the beginning of the year, you could even use one of those to double as a writing sample. Here’s one of my favorites for back to school time- it gives plenty of insight all about each student and where they’re at in the area of writing.
Having that early writing sample as a baseline can help provide you with all sorts of valuable information. You’ll be able to see what writing skills your students already have, what needs to be reviewed, etc.
And differentiated instruction when teaching writing will be much easier when you have a clearer understanding of each child’s initial strengths and weaknesses.
3. Set a Growth Mindset Culture
Teaching students about a growth mindset, and establishing this as the culture of your classroom, is just as essential as setting clear expectations.
Let students know that everyone makes mistakes in writing, and that it’s actually a good thing to make mistakes– because that’s when they learn and grow the most as writers.
If you happen to be in need of recommendations for growth mindset read alouds, here are a couple of favorite go-tos (just click any image for a shortcut to the book on Amazon, through my affiliate link):
4. Review and Teach the Basics
Don’t assume that your students know or remember the writing basics when entering your classroom. When teaching writing, take time to teach (or review) foundational skills. The writing samples you gathered can help you determine which of those skills to focus on.
In the primary grades, sentence structure is a common starting point for writing instruction. Review the 4 parts that every sentence has to have in order to be a complete sentence:
- A capital at the beginning of the sentence
- Punctuation at the end of the sentence
- A subject
- A predicate
Use an interactive lesson to teach parts of a sentence, such as using editable puzzle pieces for hands-on fun for students!
You could also utilize sentence strips for students to build sentences. Select one to edit together with the class for capitalization and punctuation each day/week.
While there is a ton of writing curriculum to dive into, dedicating time to the basics (such as sentence structure) is definitely worthwhile. It will help provide a stronger foundation upon which to build more writing skills throughout the school year.
5. Identify, Model, and Practice Each Step of the Writing Process
As the year progresses, introduce each step of the writing process for students to practice:
- Pre-Writing
- Rough Draft
- Editing and Revising (independently and with peers)
- Editing and Revising (with adult support)
- Publishing
Interactive visuals (like these baseball-themed ones) are super helpful when teaching writing, as students learn the basic steps of the writing process. The bases clearly identify each step, and help motivate students to stay on track in their writing.
Pre-Writing
In pre-writing, students brainstorm ideas and create an outline for their writing.
Rough Draft
A rough draft is the first try. At this phase, it’s most important to get ideas out and onto paper.
Remind students that mistakes are okay (think growth mindset)!
Independent Editing & Revision
This stage includes looking for errors in capitalization, punctuation, and spelling, and improving sentences to make them more descriptive or clear to others.
Teach students that an important part of being a good writer is finding their own mistakes and thinking about ways to make them better.
This phase doesn’t come naturally at first for most kids as they want to rely on the teacher for edits.
Here are 2 of my favorite tools for editing and revising that encourage independence, while still providing guided support.
1. Student Checklists
Checklists allow students to make their best attempt at self-editing. They can do it on their own, but have guidance along the way.
Here’s an example of an editing checklist (this one is from the same baseball-themed resource, which includes customizable versions for informative, opinion, and narrative writing):
Laminate them for students to re-use with various writing pieces!
2. Student Spelling Dictionaries
These are a game changer! Spelling dictionaries are a GREAT way to help students learn how to edit their own writing after trying to spell the word on their own first.
This spelling dictionary is very kid-friendly for students who are first learning how to edit. It includes the most common words, but much less than a little one would find in an actual dictionary.
For any words not included, there are blank lines for students to add their own as they come across new words to use in their writing.
The sections at the back of the dictionary are also a helpful reference for common categories of words.
- Peer Editing
Peer editing is the final part of the independent editing process. This is a beneficial way for students to interact and collaborate with peers, while implementing editing skills.
Make it a clear expectation that this should only happen AFTER students have thoroughly examined their own work. If using an editing checklist, point out how it’s the very last thing to do on the list. Kids often want to jump to peer editing because it’s fun to work together with a classmate!
- Editing and Revising with Adult Help
After spending time editing and revising writing on their own and with a peer, students are ready to review their work with a teacher. Or if using the baseball theme, you can relate it to having a coach!
I like to call this phase of the writing process as “Writing Conference”. There’s something about the fancy title (along with the clear expectations set in advance) that encourages students to truly bring their best writing forward for review.
Publishing
When the final draft of the writing is ready, it’s time to publish it! This can mean hanging up writing on classroom walls, sending it home for families to read, etc.
Another way to make publishing extra special is to incorporate Author’s Chair. Students sign up to read their writing in front of an audience (their classmates).
It’s super motivating for the kids- it gives them an extra sense of purpose in their writing, and they get so excited to share!
There are so many benefits to it! In particular, practice in speaking skills for both the author as well as the audience.
6. Make Writing FUN
You might have a few students who absolutely love independent writing; these students are always on task, focused, and never disruptive.
Let’s face it though, this is not the vast majority of students. Many kids need extra motivation to focus on writing.
You can make writing more fun for all types of students in several different ways:
- Use Flexible Seating
- Select a Writer of the Week
- Choose Engaging Topics
Flexible Seating
Make writing fun by allowing students to write in other seats than their usual desk chairs.
Wobble seats, for example, are a great flexible seating option for students who are always wiggly and prone to wandering the room instead of working.
Other options include bean bag chairs, exercise balls, or special spots on the floor!
Writer of the Week
Announce a Writer of the Week at the end of the week and give them a new, special pencil to keep.
This award isn’t just for students who are your “best” writers. Spotlight students who have made personal accomplishments in their writing that week. Maybe they worked hard to include more adjectives in their writing, or took extra time to carefully review and edit their pieces.
Extra effort in penmanship is something you could always reward too!
Whatever it may be, publicly share with the whole class the positive reasons why the student earned the writing award. Many students are highly motivated by that special recognition.
Engaging Topics
Students will be intrinsically more motivated to write when given topics that are actually engaging to them.
You can provide choice for writing topics, or provide opinion writing prompts that are relevant to their own lives.
Here’s one in particular that I’ve seen them express significant interest in:
They also love opinion writing topics that are more “just for fun” and allow them to express their creativity!
More open ended journal-style prompts can also boost student engagement. When kids can personally relate to the topic or question, they have more to say (and write!).
Examples:
- What is your favorite dessert to eat? Why?*
- Where is your favorite place to visit on summer vacation? Why?*
*Be sure to include “why?” at the end of each prompt to encourage elaboration.
More on Teaching Writing
Get more tips, ideas, and resources for teaching writing here!
I hope you feel more equipped to help students become successful writers in your classroom this year with these 6 tips for teaching writing. When students have a strong writing foundation, it will serve them well in all academic areas!
