Teaching writing in ways that make a difference

As I mentioned before, I have spent a great deal of time on www.learner.org. One article that I found interesting was ‘Why Cauley Writes Well: A Closer Look at What a Difference Good Teaching Can Make’ by Katie Wood Ray.

The article begins with an excerpt written by a student named Cauley. This young boy wrote an amazing piece about snakes. But the question remains: how was Cauley able to do this? Ray begins to explain that in order for Cauley to write in this way, his teacher exposed him to a variety of strategies, the first one being giving Cauley a chance to discuss his passion. In the classroom, there is adequate time to write about the same topics in different ways for Cauley. He also has time to share his writing in groups with the whole group or in small groups. His teacher reinforces the class by explaining to students that picking your topic to write about can be about things you see/do every day. And for Cauley, this involves playing and being around snakes.

In Cauley’s class he gets adequate time to write. He writes until the timer goes off and he knows that his writing will continue on. He also may have one or more type of writing that he is working on at one time. His teacher explains that writing is a recursive process and that we are coming back and examining our pieces constantly. Someone like Cauley does like to talk with others and time is provided for discussions, too. Students engage in discussions on how or why they wrote their particular topic.

For Cauley and the other students in his class, he needs to know what kind of writing he is expected to be doing. Through instruction, the students learn that voice can vary depending on the type of writing. For example, through looking at mentor texts, the students realize that the voice in a journal can be different than the voice in an editorial letter in the newspaper. In Cauley’s class, however, the kids are working on examining WOW! Nonfiction. This type of fiction is writing that provides facts and details, but in an interesting way. His teacher uses text sets and genre studies to help the kids explore details that they notice. She will ask students while they write, ‘What have you read that is like what you are trying to write?’ Through this inquiry process of examining mentor texts, the teacher forces students to look back at real examples when it comes to their own writing. He/she should be able to trace back the decisions students made to mini-lessons that were taught in the classroom. Additionally, kids should be able to explain the strategies they used. Often, a chart is posted in the classroom that has the name of the book and the strategies discovered listed.

What Ray suggests in this article is monumental. Using mentor texts in the classroom will allow students to read AND write like writers. This practice allows students to use true, authentic examples of what constitutes good writing and acts as a base for further knowledge to be built upon.

To download and read this article, click here:
http://www.learner.org/workshops/writing35/pdf/s4_why_cauley.pdf