The purpose of this book is to provide teachers and parents with a range of resources that will not only encourage children to write independently, but also develop their fundamental writing skills and improve their knowledge of text construction. Hopefully, the scaffolding, themes and topics provided in this resource will help children develop an enjoyment of and passion for writing which, in turn, will have a profound impact on their approach to reading. This book is a ‘treasure chest’ of resources that will meet a variety of educational writing needs.
Teaching writing is no easy task and no doubt one that a lot of educators find challenging. Writing in itself is complex as it draws on many different skills all at the same time - grammar, syntax, spelling, construction, voice, handwriting, comprehension & content. It’s a balance between mechanics and creativity. This is why so many children struggle when it comes to writing. When beginning teachers first emerge from university, they are faced with the daunting responsibility to teach the students in their class how to write. While Early Career Teachers know how to write, understanding how to effectively communicate this knowledge to students at varying stages with differentiated needs is no easy feat. This leads to the question – How can I provide meaningful writing instruction to my students?
As a beginning teacher, addressing this question was a constant battle. When attempting to find or create a learning environment that not only gave my students a chance to write but to acquire new skills, I encountered further challenges. Initially, there was a lot of chopping and changing as I searched for a format that worked for my teaching style and suited the needs of my students. Eventually, I found a method I refer to as ‘the read, think, draw, write approach’. This approach to writing places the majority of the focus on the prewriting phase of the writing process. It links the importance of building knowledge through reading and thinking while using drawing to organise ideas and thoughts. I believed I had found a strategy that actively engaged my students in writing and started to improve their compositions. By giving my students sufficient time to plan, draw and think in detail prior to writing, there was a tangible improvement in the quantity my children were writing. And for a moment, I felt like I was succeeding as a teacher of writing; I was caught up in ease of producing writing and quantity. I felt because my students were no longer stuck for ideas that they were achieving. However, overtime I started to become frustrated as I felt the quality of the work being produced wasn’t at the standard I expected from my students – basic sentences, missing punctuation and careless spelling. I hadn’t even begun to imagine ways to improve plot or argument development. My students were writing quantity but not quality, and I had to go back to the drawing board to work out how to make a difference.
For independent and creative writing, I discovered that my students didn’t just need time…they needed a scaffold; a systematic approach to brainstorming and planning in the prewriting phase. Unable to find writing activities that met the needs of my students, I designed my first ‘fluency’ writing task. I found that this scaffolding and presentation of ideas enabled students to achieve the purpose of writing. After seeing the success my students had with this format, I felt that I needed to share it so that parents could help their children produce writing, through the use of journals, at home.
And so, ‘The Writing Treasure Chest’ was born. Creating quality writing resources grew from a hobby into a passion. Slowly the aim and the focus of the resources evolved. The initial resources were aimed at getting children to write – giving them a scaffold to get their ideas out on paper. Through this process needs arose to improve writing content. New resources were created to encourage children to explore writing and become creative with their expression. This is where compartmentalising learning about writing started to occur. The Simple Strategies: writing that works resource breaks writing skills up into sections and then brings those individual skills back together to enhance writing. This resource follows the belief: “We need children producing writing to improve the quality of their writing.” As teachers, we need to give children the ability to write fluently; once children are capable of and confident in their ability to get ideas on paper, we can help them discover the tools to improve the quality of their writing.
Simple Strategies: writing that works encourages a balance between fluency, structure and creativity. By mixing these skills together, confident capable writers evolve.
I hope that teachers and parents find this resource helpful and it becomes a useful tool in classrooms and households worldwide. The Writing Treasure Chest prides itself on inspiring children to write. Once they begin writing and develop a passion for it, there is no stopping their progress.
Teaching writing is no easy task and no doubt one that a lot of educators find challenging. Writing in itself is complex as it draws on many different skills all at the same time - grammar, syntax, spelling, construction, voice, handwriting, comprehension & content. It’s a balance between mechanics and creativity. This is why so many children struggle when it comes to writing. When beginning teachers first emerge from university, they are faced with the daunting responsibility to teach the students in their class how to write. While Early Career Teachers know how to write, understanding how to effectively communicate this knowledge to students at varying stages with differentiated needs is no easy feat. This leads to the question – How can I provide meaningful writing instruction to my students?
As a beginning teacher, addressing this question was a constant battle. When attempting to find or create a learning environment that not only gave my students a chance to write but to acquire new skills, I encountered further challenges. Initially, there was a lot of chopping and changing as I searched for a format that worked for my teaching style and suited the needs of my students. Eventually, I found a method I refer to as ‘the read, think, draw, write approach’. This approach to writing places the majority of the focus on the prewriting phase of the writing process. It links the importance of building knowledge through reading and thinking while using drawing to organise ideas and thoughts. I believed I had found a strategy that actively engaged my students in writing and started to improve their compositions. By giving my students sufficient time to plan, draw and think in detail prior to writing, there was a tangible improvement in the quantity my children were writing. And for a moment, I felt like I was succeeding as a teacher of writing; I was caught up in ease of producing writing and quantity. I felt because my students were no longer stuck for ideas that they were achieving. However, overtime I started to become frustrated as I felt the quality of the work being produced wasn’t at the standard I expected from my students – basic sentences, missing punctuation and careless spelling. I hadn’t even begun to imagine ways to improve plot or argument development. My students were writing quantity but not quality, and I had to go back to the drawing board to work out how to make a difference.
For independent and creative writing, I discovered that my students didn’t just need time…they needed a scaffold; a systematic approach to brainstorming and planning in the prewriting phase. Unable to find writing activities that met the needs of my students, I designed my first ‘fluency’ writing task. I found that this scaffolding and presentation of ideas enabled students to achieve the purpose of writing. After seeing the success my students had with this format, I felt that I needed to share it so that parents could help their children produce writing, through the use of journals, at home.
And so, ‘The Writing Treasure Chest’ was born. Creating quality writing resources grew from a hobby into a passion. Slowly the aim and the focus of the resources evolved. The initial resources were aimed at getting children to write – giving them a scaffold to get their ideas out on paper. Through this process needs arose to improve writing content. New resources were created to encourage children to explore writing and become creative with their expression. This is where compartmentalising learning about writing started to occur. The Simple Strategies: writing that works resource breaks writing skills up into sections and then brings those individual skills back together to enhance writing. This resource follows the belief: “We need children producing writing to improve the quality of their writing.” As teachers, we need to give children the ability to write fluently; once children are capable of and confident in their ability to get ideas on paper, we can help them discover the tools to improve the quality of their writing.
Simple Strategies: writing that works encourages a balance between fluency, structure and creativity. By mixing these skills together, confident capable writers evolve.
I hope that teachers and parents find this resource helpful and it becomes a useful tool in classrooms and households worldwide. The Writing Treasure Chest prides itself on inspiring children to write. Once they begin writing and develop a passion for it, there is no stopping their progress.