Do you have struggling writers? What about a student who doesn’t enjoy writing? Struggling and reluctant writers are something we all face.
There can be a variety of different reasons why your first grade students are struggling with writing. They might be lacking confidence in their writing ability, lack inspiration, or are not interested in writing altogether.
The past school year included a massive uptick in writing assignments because of virtual learning. For students already struggling with writing, it definitely didn’t make things easier for them. So what can we do as educators to help our struggling writers? I have compiled a list of the things that make a difference in my classroom.
Scaffold, Scaffold, and Scaffold!
Scaffolding is a critical aspect of teaching writing, and it’s helpful for all of your learners—even those super-advanced writers. Scaffolding requires students to break down the larger pieces into smaller steps.
During the first half of first grade, I am doing a high level of scaffolding, especially when starting a new genre. Using a scaffolding approach really allows our students to slow down. When we move too fast, we end up getting lost. We often push our students to move too quickly, and it’s how we end up with struggling students.
You can use scaffolding in all areas of your writing lesson. For instance, I break down the writing process for my students so that they understand all the components. Right now we are writing personal narratives. One day students just write the beginning of the story. The next day they write the middle of their story. Then, they write the ending. Within each day, I also scaffold by having students tell their writing partner what they will write that day. Practicing orally is a great way to scaffold. Scaffolding is an effective way to avoid overwhelm when it comes to writing.
Write Every Day
There should be a time for writing every day. Your students need to know that you value writing, and the best way to do that is to make sure that students write every day. When you are learning something new, you benefit from being constantly immersed in the new information. The same goes with writing, and we can’t expect our students to make writing gains if we don’t give them daily practice opportunities.
Differentiated Instruction
Not all of your students are functioning at the same skill level. Each one of your students has different strengths and areas of improvement. This is especially true in their writing abilities. With that being said, differentiation is extremely important. Differentiating can seem near impossible when you have a group of 20-30 students in your classrooms. But, small groups are a great way to work individually with 2-5 students who might have similar struggles. With differentiated instruction comes providing the appropriate supports, which may look different for some students. Struggling writers may benefit from using word banks, sentence starters, or an alphabet/sound checklist. It doesn’t look the same for each student. Remind your students that we might not all be using or working on the same thing, and that’s ok.
Dig Deeper
We can learn a lot about our student’s struggles when we simply ask. Take time and sit down with your struggling writers to find out what is most challenging for them. What aspects of writing do they enjoy, and what is their least favorite part. Gathering this information is a critical aspect in helping you differentiate your instruction and guiding you on the route to take for helping them.
Use Prompts
Writing prompts are statements or images that help students kick off their writing or even lead their writing in a specific direction. Writing prompts help aid students who might be stuck in their own ideas or don’t know where to begin. Prompts are great for all different writers, but I have found them incredibly helpful for my struggling writers. Writing prompts increase a student’s interest in writing, direct studying writing, and help students explore different writing styles. One of my favorite ways to use writing prompts is with various themes. Here are a few that I look forward to using each year, and my students love them, and they have super cute crafts included with each set.
Utilize Technology
Our students love technology, plain and simple. It increases engagement and motivation. We live in a world surrounded by technology, so it just makes sense that utilizing technology can help motivate struggling writers. Some students also struggle with the actual handwriting aspect of writing, so taking a break from pencil and paper to allow your students to type up their thoughts is a great way to foster those writing skills through a different avenue. Using various forms of technology like Seesaw or Google Slides also makes it super simple to provide quick feedback. Many of my writing resources are also available in digital format, making it simple to assign for homework, another great way to keep your students exposed to writing every day.
Make it Fun
Let’s face it…struggling writers don’t find writing enjoyable. So not only are they struggling, but I’m sure they are a bit reluctant, too. Using fun topics and neat crafts is another way to spark more of an interest in writing. Here are two examples of resources I use with my students that make writing fun. I love this polar animals resource for the winter. They learn new information about the animal of their choice, which they love! Farm animals are a great one to use throughout the year. Another way to make writing more enjoyable is by simply offering a choice. When your students feel that they choose what they get to write about, it helps them feel more confident and excited to write.
Mentor Texts
Mentor texts are vital in helping writers. Yes, writers. Not only struggling writers but ALL writers. Mentor texts show our students what a good piece of writing looks like. It gives them something to model and refer back to. They can think back to a part of the mentor text and remember what made the text so memorable. Using mentor texts is honestly just a super authentic and straightforward way to get your students excited and interested in a topic.
Partner Work
This is a critical aspect of my writing lesson. I let my students orally rehearse what they are going to write about. We cannot expect our children to write what they can’t say. When students can share their writing ideas with a peer, or even the whole group, it allows them to not only share what they are going to write but also lean on peers for support or maybe other ideas. Sometimes we just need to say things out loud to get rid of the kinks, even as adults!
There are a variety of different reasons that a student struggles with writing. But, I hope next time you see a student frequently getting up from their seat or maybe they are blankly staring at a blank piece of paper, that you will have a better idea on how exactly to go about helping your students. Hang in there, teacher friends… it’s definitely hard on us too!
Check out a few other helpful writing resources
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