Writing in the Classroom

This week in class, we discussed the writing processes and methods used in the classroom. In my placement, a first grade classroom, writing is incorporated several times throughout the day.

One method my CT utilizes at least once a day is journaling. The students love to write in their journals because they have no limits on what they can write about. One thing that I have noticed from reading through a couple students' journals that can become problematic is the repetition of journal entries. For example, one of my first graders writes about how she loves dogs but hates cats at least once a week. In this case, the same journal entry is being used over and over again, so new words are not being utilized very often.

Another method my CT uses is presenting the students with a writing prompt. This method usually works well because the students are guided in what they are expected to write. However, this process can become problematic at times as well. Some of the students in the class will answer the question that the prompt poses, but do not like to elaborate further on the idea. At times, asking the students to write more than one sentence is like pulling teeth!

The students seem to like writing in their journals more than answering to prompts. However, neither of the methods seem to be very effective in my classroom. I feel that the students feel very self-conscious about their writing because they are not as a whole, an advanced group of students. Almost the entire first grade class struggles in writing, and because of that, they do not seem to enjoy the process.

This class needs motivation to want to write, but it is difficult to find effective ways to do so. I can only imagine my CT's frustration!