I recently read chapter 2 in “Writing Essentials” by Regie Routman. While reading chapter 2 I thought about how I begin writing in my classroom. I have always had my students share their writing and taken time to talk about and celebrate positive aspects of their writing. As I stated before, I believe our students need to have a positive experience with writing so that they will continue to grow as writers in the future. So, during our first month or so I really try to focus on the positive aspects of every student’s writing. Also, I let my students write about what they want during the first month or so of school. Since my students are writing about what interest them it really allows me to get to know my students better as individuals and connect with them. I believe that between the positive experiences with writing and by getting to know each student it allows me to develop an environment in which my students can take risk and I can help them grown as writers.
I also let my students choose what they want to write about for the first couple of months to boost their writing self-esteem. Some of the things I have them do is create a newspaper about themselves and RAFTS writing activities. I love these creative writing projects because it really increases the students' enthusiasm and passion for writing!
ReplyDeleteWhat are RAFTS? I feel like I should know but I can't think of what it would be like.
ReplyDeleteWriting is a valuable way to get to know our students. It's important for me to remember that I want to hear more from them so I have to model that -- the stories we share make all the difference in what they will be comfortable sharing. It's also reassuring that we can make mistakes in front of them and go back to make it better.. this makes writing real!
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