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

4/30/2017

1 Comment

 
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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.
1 Comment
Mary Howard
4/30/2017 09:14:38 am

I'm so pleased that you posted this on your website Brian. I'm so pleased that Travis asked us to ponder this important questions and I love your response. If every teacher could celebrate writing in the ways you describe above - we would see such incredible changes in our classrooms!

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    About the Author

    Brian Kissel is an Associate Professor of education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  His focus is writing instruction.  He lives in North Carolina with his wife, Hattie and three kiddos: Charlie, Ben, and Harriet.
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