"At What Point are Students Taught to Write Well?"

Last night, on Facebook, Mary Howard and Travis Crowder asked me to consider the following question: "At what point are students taught to write well?"  I decided to post my response to this question (with a few revisions) on my blog.

First, I love the challenge of contemplating this question. And I'm sure I'll have more to add as I keep reflecting on it. I did my dissertation work in a pre-kindergarten classroom.  Sixteen four-year-olds gathered together, day-after-day, and wrote.  What did their brilliant teacher do to encourage this?  The teacher:

• Provided children TIME to write every day;
• Offered a plethora of CHOICES in the classroom including choice in topic, genre, audience, purpose, writing spaces, writing partners, and writing tools;
• Exposed children to MENTOR AUTHORS who served as co-teachers in the classroom;
• Conferred using RESPONSE-ABLE (the ability to respond) and RESPONSE-IBLE (the ability to respond respectfully) feedback;
  
• Crafted a RESPECTFUL environment where children were expected to treat each other kindly with their responses;
• Created opportunities for children to write COLLABORATIVELY with peers;
• Granted the FREEDOM to write about whatever the writer felt compelled to write;
• Had an unbending BELIEF that even though her little ones were not yet writing conventionally, they were writers nonetheless.

So: "When are students taught to write well?"

Students are taught to write well the minute they step into a teacher's classroom where these conditions are fundamental rights for the writer.