Approaches to Teaching Writing

Approaches to teaching writing



This course has indeed placed an emphasis on the many ways an educator can teach writing. This is understandable as the topic, learning ability of the students and even the learning environment can be changed whether controlled or uncontrolled. As an educator, we should be able to analyze the lesson objectives and utilize a strategy or an approach that is suitable when giving instructions. This week we focused on a few approaches, and as I've said before and will continue to say, there are indeed a few I will try to implement within my classroom as teaching Language Arts will always be challenging to me.  

Penmanship
The penmanship approach can be utilized during the Kindergarten level. This has been identified as the earliest approach to teaching writing which focuses on transcribing, which involves creating legible and accurate writing on a page. I can remember as far back as Grade 1 when our teacher would take her time to ‘rule up’ the blackboard to mimic our penmanship book. She used a long stick and in my opinion the whitest chalk (lol) to ensure that we could see exactly what she was writing. As an adult I continue to see all the approaches and strategies coming to play, not realizing that they have been around since I was a little girl. In Grades 2 and 3, cursive is a writing style taught to students. I became aware that some schools implement cursive writing as early as Kindergarten. I can only imagine what the students writing style would be like by the time they get to grade 2. In my opinion, some things are best taught to children at an early age, penmanship being one of them. It is a skill they will utilize throughout their educational life and it benefits both the students and the teacher when the student can write legibly. In my three years as a teacher in the classroom, I’ve seen several writing styles. It is a struggle to make out the letters for some of the students and I often wonder if that is what other people think about my handwriting. I do believe that worksheets and daily practice will aid students in ‘perfecting’ their penmanship skills, and just like driving, I do believe it is a skill that cannot be forgotten.

Rules-Based Approach
This approach focuses on teaching children how to correctly write words and sentences. In my opinion, this places emphasis on the language/grammar rules that we have come to learn over the years. I did some further research on the approach and this is what I found:

“ It includes activities like identifying parts of speech, locating sentence elements such as subjects and predicates, learning and applying rules for subject-verb agreement and pronoun use, and practicing punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. One common exercise is sentence correction. Teachers provide sentences with language errors and ask children to correct the mistakes. Students may also write original sentences to practice how to use language. For example, they may be asked to appropriately write a sentence that uses certain adjectives or homonyms. Other activities include adding prefixes or suffixes to lists of words, joining sentences by adding conjunctions, and changing fragments into complete sentences.”

McQuitty, V. (n.d.). 6. Approaches to Writing Instruction in Elementary Classrooms – Steps to Success: Crossing the Bridge Between Literacy Research and Practice. Pressbooks. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/stepstosuccess/chapter/6-approaches-to-writing-instruction-in-elementary-classrooms/

Process Approach
This is what I call the ‘OG’ strategy. This approach has been mentioned so many times that I do believe it belongs in the Bible of Teachers. The process approach views all writing as a creative endeavor that needs time and constructive criticism to be completed successfully. When teaching process writing, the teacher departs from the traditional role of assigning writing assignments to students and receiving their final drafts for editing. Instead, the teacher goes through a process with the students, ensuring that each step/stage is completed before moving on to the next. 

Genre Approach
I became familiar with this word in high school concerning music. As I got older, I became aware of the many types of genres of text and writing. In my opinion, teaching through this approach may be difficult as some genres require the use of different structures, tones, and even jargon. When teaching using this approach the component of language must be brought out: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. I found this chart that highlights the different elements of utilizing the genre approach.

Strategy Approach
This strategy can take the form of many types, based on the topic being covered. Teachers can make use of acronym-based models such as 
P- picking my own ideas
O- organizing my notes
W-write and say more
The teacher doesn't have to always make use of an acronym-style model but the technique being used must be highlighted. Regardless of the structure, it should guide students through each part of the writing process.

Multimodal Approach

The term "multimodality" in the context of writing instruction refers to the employment of a variety of communication and persuasion techniques, including written, oral, nonverbal, and visual. Multimodal composition is defined as a composition that intentionally combines various modalities to provide meaning. The students get the chance to work on projects that use a variety of media, including words, photos, graphics, animation, sounds, and video. They have the chance to learn through speaking, listening, reading, writing, and visual representation. They also get the chance to demonstrate their knowledge through oral presentations and movies. They engage in class discussions both verbally and online, present arguments using text, graphics, and video, and practice utilizing presenting tools successfully.



What are your thoughts on the different approaches covered? Is there one in particular that you plan on utilizing when you return back to the classroom?