Often student writing is not held to the same high standards that student work is in many of the other subjects. Here are a few reasons why: 1. Writing is an art. There is not an easy answer key for the writing teacher. 2. The way writing is taught can often seem esoteric to children. [...]
Organization and Ideas: The Most Important Traits A pioneer of Six Traits writing was Paul B. Diederich. His traits were a little different than the current Six Traits of Writing; however, his traits did include both organization and ideas. In fact, for Diederich organization and ideas were the most important traits and they received greater [...]
The Six Traits of Writing In teaching elementary students how to write well, there is grammar and there is writing. Many teachers teach A LOT of grammar because when it comes to teaching writing they are at a loss. What does it mean to teach writing? A useful model that can help elementary teachers is [...]
Teaching writing involves teaching with the end in mind. When writing goals and expectations are clear, students do not perceive their writing assignments as busy work. Here are THREE GREAT RESOURCES for learning how to see the end in mind in your elementary writing instruction: The first resource is Stephen R. Covey’s The Seven Habits [...]
I was a business major in college, and an actor after college, before I became a teacher. I have always had in interest in both creativity and productivity. Nowhere in the teaching of elementary students do these two opposing sides create more confusion than in the teaching of writing. It creates confusion for the teacher, which in [...]