I cannot post this video without saying this:
This is not the way to teach writing.
What? What am I saying here? If it’s not the way to teach writing, why did I do this lesson in my classroom? Why did I video it and why am I sharing it with you now?
Perhaps it’s a nonexample; there is always much to learn from nonexamples or poor examples.
But that is not the case here. The lesson you’ll see in the video is actually a great writing lesson and activity for late kindergarten and into first grade. You’ll see students thinking about the sequence of a story, thinking about the structure of sentences, thinking about phonics and spelling, trying to use their best handwriting. When I say that it’s not the way to teach writing, I mean that you should not do this or similar activities every day. In the video you’ll see the students copying me. This is okay occasionally, but for most days they should be thinking of their own sentences and trying to write on their own (with your guidance, of course).
You might recall us using sentence stems (I like… or I do not have 100…) earlier in the year. When I post videos that show the students copying the beginning of a sentence and then finishing it on their own, I was sure to say that writing instruction should not look like this every day.
At least 80% of whole group writing time should require students to try and think of their own ideas and then try to write those ideas on their own.
But my students can’t do that, you might be saying. Guess what—mine couldn’t do it either. How did I get them to the point that they (for the most part) can? By expecting them to do it 80% of the time. By suffering through those few painful months (trust me, it’s just as hard and frustrating for the teacher as it is for the students). By supporting their baby steps and nudging them along until one day they could write a readable sentence or two all on their own. From there, it’s pretty smooth sailing. Individual writing goals help a lot, too.
I’ll also say this. This lesson—with me talking about capital letters, commas, beginning/middle/end, first/next/last, using periods, expecting beautiful handwriting, talking about phonics as we use them in our spelling—might be lost on students if we weren’t talking about all of these things daily throughout the days for the last several months. In other words, your students need to be ready for this. Their stamina needs to be there. Their ability to listen, follow along, and copy needs to be there. They need to be able to connect with what you’re saying. If your students aren’t quite ready, you could modify. Last fall, my class was copying a picture and writing a sentence with me. Maybe that’s what your class needs now. Just one sentence. Maybe they’re beyond this and having the teacher model and walk them through it is no longer necessary. There is a progression to learning to write and, unfortunately, we cannot just jump ahead.
So, as you view the video and (maybe) find yourself liking this activity, think about whether your students are ready for this and also make sure that you don’t lean on it too much. Only allow your students to copy your work once every week or two. Remember,
Video: Learning to Write a Three-Part Story