Gigi Morales David
Children's Author - Educational Consultant

Encouraging Growth in Writing

Teachers can help children develop the habits needed for good writing.

“A Good Writer”

(Written by Gigi Morales David)

To be a good writer, you will need,

a lot of good examples you can read.

To be a good writer, you have to know,

brainstorming helps your ideas grow.

To be a good writer, you must rewrite,

each time it gets better until its out of sight.

To be a good writer, you need a friend,

to help you revise when you near the end.

To be a good writer, you need advice,

to help you clarify or add some spice.

To be a good writer, you need an ear,

to help you edit as the end draws near.

To be a good writer, you must make the choice,

to invest the time and find your voice.

Read this poem to your students and discuss the different components of writing included in this poem. Tell students that the best place to start is brainstorming. Explain to the students that when you brainstorm you should write down every idea that comes to mind. After the ideas have been written then you can pick and choose and modify or extend.

Talk about the qualities of good writing. Emphasize the importance of clarity and meaningful content. Tell children that the best writing is rewriting. As the poem suggests, revising and editing help improve the quality of any piece of writing. Encourage children to have several friends read their writing as they are engaged in the writing process. The piece will improve as the writer incorporates the suggestions of their peer editors.

Discuss the tools that good writers use. Encourage children to keep the following near them when they write: dictionary, thesaurus, list of favorite words spelled correctly, and an editor’s checklist. Tell students that paying close attention to an author’s choice of words when they read will help them when they write. Authors each have their own voice to communicate their ideas. Help children to recognize and develop their voice.

The most important aspects of the writing process are to build writing skills and confidence. Meeting with individual children for writing conferences during the writing process will help to develop both. Children benefit most from specific guidance regarding their piece of writing. Teachers can encourage the use of interesting vocabulary, adding details to support main ideas, and recognition of individual progress.

Teachers have many ways at their disposal to guide student writing. Modeling for students is the most effective way for students to have access to the thinking process that is involved in the writing process. Interactive writing allows the students to be actively involved in writing with the support of their teacher mentor. Rubrics help to describe the differences in writing proficiency and gives children a concrete guide to improve their writing. All of these methods used on a regular basis will result in higher quality writing for students.

Provide opportunities for children to experience the four writing domains: expressive, narrative, informative, and persuasive. Children develop writing fluency by having many and varied opportunities to write. Help children to internalize that good writing is hard work and that they must be willing to rethink and reorganize their ideas. Writing is a complex process that is very rewarding when people invest the energy to fully develop and clearly communicate their ideas to a specific audience.

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Last edited July, 2008