“Chooooooops!” /“Boring!”/ “I hate writing essays!”
These are just a few of some of the negative comments that my colleagues made about writing during the earlier stages of my school life. This should not be a surprise to many persons because I am certain that some of us had this similar experience. Judging from my experience, I believe that writing seemed ‘boring’ because we were taught writing using the traditional approach and this was nothing exciting to look forward to. At school, we were encouraged to mimic a model text, which was usually presented and analyzed at an early stage. This was much more apparent at the secondary level where teachers were ‘teaching to the test’ such as in preparation for the CXC Examination. I can specifically remember that model texts were read, and then the features of the genre were highlighted. For example, when we studied report writing, our attention was drawn to the importance of paragraphing, organization and the language used to relate or express information. We were required to practise the language used to make formal reports, such as "I wish to report that …/The incident occurred during…" In addition, when we studied narrative writing, the focus was on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and the focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques. Organization of ideas was very important. Individually, we then used the skills, structures and vocabulary we were taught to produce the product; to show what we could do as fluent and competent users of the language.
I believe that students usually imitate their teachers and as a novice teacher who never had any formal training on how to teach writing, I taught my students the same way that I was taught, primarily using the product approach. I always gave the students samples of the kind of work that I expected of them. I 'think' I went through the first stage (prewriting) of the writing process where I had my students to think about the topics based on their own experiences and to identify their target audience but I ignored or paid little attention to the following stages. On rare occasions, I would have the students to edit each other’s compositions. My main concern was on getting the final copy of the students writing in order to assess and to grade their essays.
As a teacher in training, I am currently being taught best practices that I can now use to better my teaching of writing when I return to the classroom as a trained teacher. The Communication Course I did with Ms Biscette made me realize that the process approach, with its emphasis on message as opposed to the mechanics, is a powerful tool for teaching disabled writers. The focus in the writing process is on what students think and do as they write; it is writer centered with five stages namely: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Students learn to use the writing process as they write compositions in literature focus units and theme cycles and as they participate in writing workshop. Learning to use the writing process is more important than any particular writing projects students might be involved in, because the writing process is a tool(Tompkins,2005). The students will therefore need many opportunities to learn to use the writing process by writing class collaborations and the teacher will be required to teach minilessons on the procedures, concepts, and strategies and skills that good writers use.
One way to introduce the writing process is to write a collaborative or group composition. Collaborative compositions are an essential part of many writing experiences, especially when students are learning to use the writing process or a new writing form. I will model the writing process and provide opportunities for students to practice the process approach to writing in a supportive environment. As students and I write composition together, we move through the five stages of the writing process, just as writers do when they work independently. I will demonstrate the strategies writers use and clarify misconceptions during the group composition, and the students will be encouraged to offer ideas for writing as well as suggestions for tackling common writing problems.
The following is the pattern I will follow to teach the writing process to my students:
The teacher begins by introducing the idea of writing a group composition and reviewing the project. Students dictate a rough draft, which the teacher records on the chalkboard or on chart paper. The teacher notes any misunderstandings students have about writing assignment or process and, when necessary, reviews concepts and offers suggestions. Then the teacher and students read the composition and identify ways to revise it. Some parts of the composition will need reworking, and other parts may be deleted or moved. More specific words will be substituted for less specific ones, and redundant words and sentences will be deleted. Students may also want to add new parts to the composition. After making the necessary content changes, students proofread the composition, checking for mechanical errors for paragraph breaks and for sentence to combine. They correct errors and make changes. Then the teacher or student copies the completed composition on chart paper or on a sheet of notebook paper. Copies will be made and given to each student.
Teachers can also use minilessons to teach students how to gather and organize ideas for writing, how to participate in writing groups, how to proofread and how to share their writing. Teachers teach these procedures, concepts and strategies and skills during minilessons. Minilessons can be taught as part of class collaborations, during literature focus units and theme cycles and in writing workshop. The editing stage can be used as a time to informally assess students spelling, capitalization, punctuation and other mechanical skills and to give minilessons on a skill that students are having trouble with.
It is of no doubt in my mind that more than any other subject writing lends itself to assessment. The product is there more for all to see and can be analyzed in many different ways. Yet while an analysis of the final product will yield important information, it is also important to examine the process of writing. Combining product and process information provides a fuller understanding of students as writers and so helps the teacher to plan the best possible program for them.
These are just a few of some of the negative comments that my colleagues made about writing during the earlier stages of my school life. This should not be a surprise to many persons because I am certain that some of us had this similar experience. Judging from my experience, I believe that writing seemed ‘boring’ because we were taught writing using the traditional approach and this was nothing exciting to look forward to. At school, we were encouraged to mimic a model text, which was usually presented and analyzed at an early stage. This was much more apparent at the secondary level where teachers were ‘teaching to the test’ such as in preparation for the CXC Examination. I can specifically remember that model texts were read, and then the features of the genre were highlighted. For example, when we studied report writing, our attention was drawn to the importance of paragraphing, organization and the language used to relate or express information. We were required to practise the language used to make formal reports, such as "I wish to report that …/The incident occurred during…" In addition, when we studied narrative writing, the focus was on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and the focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques. Organization of ideas was very important. Individually, we then used the skills, structures and vocabulary we were taught to produce the product; to show what we could do as fluent and competent users of the language.
I believe that students usually imitate their teachers and as a novice teacher who never had any formal training on how to teach writing, I taught my students the same way that I was taught, primarily using the product approach. I always gave the students samples of the kind of work that I expected of them. I 'think' I went through the first stage (prewriting) of the writing process where I had my students to think about the topics based on their own experiences and to identify their target audience but I ignored or paid little attention to the following stages. On rare occasions, I would have the students to edit each other’s compositions. My main concern was on getting the final copy of the students writing in order to assess and to grade their essays.
As a teacher in training, I am currently being taught best practices that I can now use to better my teaching of writing when I return to the classroom as a trained teacher. The Communication Course I did with Ms Biscette made me realize that the process approach, with its emphasis on message as opposed to the mechanics, is a powerful tool for teaching disabled writers. The focus in the writing process is on what students think and do as they write; it is writer centered with five stages namely: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Students learn to use the writing process as they write compositions in literature focus units and theme cycles and as they participate in writing workshop. Learning to use the writing process is more important than any particular writing projects students might be involved in, because the writing process is a tool(Tompkins,2005). The students will therefore need many opportunities to learn to use the writing process by writing class collaborations and the teacher will be required to teach minilessons on the procedures, concepts, and strategies and skills that good writers use.
One way to introduce the writing process is to write a collaborative or group composition. Collaborative compositions are an essential part of many writing experiences, especially when students are learning to use the writing process or a new writing form. I will model the writing process and provide opportunities for students to practice the process approach to writing in a supportive environment. As students and I write composition together, we move through the five stages of the writing process, just as writers do when they work independently. I will demonstrate the strategies writers use and clarify misconceptions during the group composition, and the students will be encouraged to offer ideas for writing as well as suggestions for tackling common writing problems.
The following is the pattern I will follow to teach the writing process to my students:
The teacher begins by introducing the idea of writing a group composition and reviewing the project. Students dictate a rough draft, which the teacher records on the chalkboard or on chart paper. The teacher notes any misunderstandings students have about writing assignment or process and, when necessary, reviews concepts and offers suggestions. Then the teacher and students read the composition and identify ways to revise it. Some parts of the composition will need reworking, and other parts may be deleted or moved. More specific words will be substituted for less specific ones, and redundant words and sentences will be deleted. Students may also want to add new parts to the composition. After making the necessary content changes, students proofread the composition, checking for mechanical errors for paragraph breaks and for sentence to combine. They correct errors and make changes. Then the teacher or student copies the completed composition on chart paper or on a sheet of notebook paper. Copies will be made and given to each student.
Teachers can also use minilessons to teach students how to gather and organize ideas for writing, how to participate in writing groups, how to proofread and how to share their writing. Teachers teach these procedures, concepts and strategies and skills during minilessons. Minilessons can be taught as part of class collaborations, during literature focus units and theme cycles and in writing workshop. The editing stage can be used as a time to informally assess students spelling, capitalization, punctuation and other mechanical skills and to give minilessons on a skill that students are having trouble with.
It is of no doubt in my mind that more than any other subject writing lends itself to assessment. The product is there more for all to see and can be analyzed in many different ways. Yet while an analysis of the final product will yield important information, it is also important to examine the process of writing. Combining product and process information provides a fuller understanding of students as writers and so helps the teacher to plan the best possible program for them.
