Let’s face it. You’ve gotta get creative if you want your students to get excited about writing. With technology offering students immediate gratification with very little input and texting allowing kids to communicate without the worry of capital letters, punctuation, or even having to type entire words out—case in point: LOL, LMK, BRB, and ICYMI—teachers have to work harder than ever to help students see the value of actual writing IRL. (That’s “in real life” in case you were wondering.)
So, to help you on your path to writing instruction mastery I have compiled 5 necessary mindset shifts you need to make ASAP in order to transform your writing block from a struggle to a dream come true.
Mindset shift #1: Using old books to engage new readers
Students in 2023 are more aware of the world around them then ever before. They have never known a world without social media and 24-hour access to information. That means that to appeal to them, as a teacher, you’ll need to broaden your reach with new books written for students now.
A few of my favorite newer published books popular with upper elementary school and middle school students include:
The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
Thriteen-year-old Aven Green was born without arms but she never let that stop her from making friends school and learning to play the guitar. However, when her parents announce that the family would be moving to Stagecoach Pass, a rundown amusement park in Arizona, Aven is forced to rely on her sense of humor and her powers of perseverance to prove that she can do anything she sets her mind to including solving a family mystery and making all new friends with disabilities of their own.
The Misadventures of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
Lucy is a twelve-year-old math genius and all it took was a bolt of lightning when she was eight. Lucy can solve any math problem faster than most adults and spends her free time taking college-level math classes. But, when her grandma decides that it’s time for Lucy to connect with kids her own age, she learns that she’s going to need more than math if she’s going to survive middle school.
Wish by Barbara O’Connor
Charlemagne “Charlie” Reese is an eleven-year-old girl who finds herself shipped off to a strange new town where all the kids are hillbillies who eat squirrel sandwiches for lunch—or so she thinks. With mama not being able to get out of bed and Scrappy, her dad, in jail, Charlie goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle whom she’s never met in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She spends her days making the same wish over and over again until she realizes that what she thought she wanted isn’t what she needs.
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Ally is a clever girl who has been smart enough to fool every one of her teachers into believing that she can read. However, when she meets her new teacher, Mr. Daniels, Ally realizes that her days of hiding behind her disruptive behavior are over. Mr. Daniels sees Ally for who she really is; a girl struggling with dyslexia who believes that no amount of help can cure dumb. But, with Mr. Daniels’ help, Ally learns that it’s okay to ask for help.
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
At 12 years old, Coyote knows a thing or two about loss. She has been traveling
(wandering, really…) the country with her father, Rodeo, in an effort to escape the pain of loosing her mother and her sisters five years earlier. However, after a conversation with her grandma, Coyote decides it’s time to go home. The only snag; she has to trick her dad into making the trip.
Posted by John David Anderson
Frost, Bench, Deedee, and (newcomer to the group) Rose are a band of self-proclaimed middle school misfits who are happy to fly under the radar. However, when cell phones get banned at school, the friends turn to sticky notes to communicate with each other. Soon the “sticky note” craze spreads school wide sparking a debate over the power of words to hurt or uplift.
Slacker by Gordon Korman
Cameron Boxer is the epitome of a slacker and proud to be. He’s content to hang out in his basement playing videogames with his friends, but when he accidentally sets the house on fire during an epic battle his parents lay down the law; no more video games. So, in order to get back into their good graces, Cameron and his friends create a fake school club to make it seem like they’ve changed their slacker ways but soon Cameron finds himself the president of a real club working to save a beaver named Elvis.
The Bridge Home by Parma Venkatraman
Eleven-year-old, Viji, and her developmentally disabled, twelve-year-old, Rukku, flee their abusive home in a village in India for the cold, hard streets of Chennai. There they discover that surviving on the streets means sleeping in makeshift tents on a bridge and sifting through the “Himalayas of rubbish” for anything they can sell in order to have enough money to eat. Along the way, they meet two homeless boys their same age, Arul and Muthu, and a dog named Kutti who become Viji and Rukku’s new family helping each other survive through love, resilience, and storytelling.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Melody Brooks is a genius with a photographic memory but is trapped inside a body that just won’t cooperate. She was born with cerebral palsy leaving her wheelchair bound and unable to speak. Her parents know how smart she is—they can see it in her eyes—but it isn’t until she gets a special computer to help her speak that everyone else at school starts to see it too. When Melody joins the Whiz Kids at school, she learns first hand how cruel people can be but with the unconditional love and unfailing support of her family (plus one amazing neighbor), Melody proves that she is a force to be reconned with.
The books listed are chock-full of diverse characters, interesting settings, unique challenges, and surprising plot twists. I have personally read all of these books with my students and find that these are the types of books that resonate with them and the issues that keep them up at night. They are books that have evoked meaningful conversations around topics timely topics with even the most reluctant readers and led to thought provoking essays around important themes like honesty, homelessness, disabilities, domestic unrest, death, perseverance, tolerance, compassion, and the challenges of growing up in less than ideal circumstances.
*Please note: There are so many other great, timely books that could also be included in this list. These are just the most recent ones I’ve read with my students.
Mindset shift #2: Thinking that if you teach reading, the writing will take care of itself
Writing acquisition doesn’t happen through osmosis. If you want your students to be good writers, you need to explicitly plan for and teach writing.
I know…planning for a writing block is one more thing that you have to figure out how to fit into your already jam-packed schedule. But, I’m here to tell you that, not only is it possible, focusing on writing in your classroom will make other aspects of your day easier!
The trick is to set yourself up for writing when you’re teaching other academic areas.
Anchor charts are your best friends. As are word walls, process bulletin boards, privacy cubbies, reference notebooks, etc.
Meaningful writing is taught in small, bite-sized chunks. So, embrace the small moments where you can fit writing into your day.
Got 15 minutes before lunch? Use that time to gather the students for a teacher writing demo using the math concept that kids just learned.
Pull the students up to the front of the room (I like to keep kids close to me—even bigger kids—-during demos to make sure that I hold their focus and remember to solicit input from the students.
Use any anchor chart that the students are familiar with and choose a writing focus.
For example, a writing demo based on reading could focus on the plot outline or chapter summary on the novel you and your students are reading.
A narrative writing demo could be a journal entry written by the main character that focuses on a pivotal part of the story.
An informational writing demo could focus on detailing the historical outline of events leading up the War of 1812. (Remember…you’ve already detailed it on a poster or anchor chart during social studies so all you have to do is model writing based on the information that’s already there.)
An opinion writing demo may show students how to formulate an introduction paragraph based on the quickest way to solve a division problem.
The key to adding writing into your daily schedule is to “go small” at first. Don’t try to jump into a full blown writing workshop. Wrap your mind around one aspect of the instructional writing sequence at a time. Then, add on as you become more comfortable.
Mindset shift #3: Believing that a quiet classroom is a productive classroom
As much as we would like to believe that quiet equals engaged, I’m here to tell you friend that that is often NOT the case. Students who are truly engaged are talking to peers, asking questions, actively moving around the classroom. Learning is collaborative and good writing (AKA-meaningful discovery, production, and refinement) is loud.
There’s a reason that the block of time reserved for writing is called a “writing workshop”.
However, for those students that do thrive in a quiet environment (me included!), noise-cancelling headphones are life-savers. If you have some parents who are eager to contribute or some discretionary money left over from buying supplies, I highly recommend picking some up.
Other options could be to utilize your outside spaces. Do you have a picnic table outside your room? What about a grassy patch in front of your classroom door? Utilizing additional spaces that feel special and exclusive (reserved for students with good behavior or at important stages of their writing processes) can help give kiddos what they need to be successful whether it’s a quiet space to think or a collaborative area to talk out an idea with a pal.
Mindset shift #4: Embrace the power of batch planning your lessons
Batching is a buzz word that I’d never heard until I entered the entrepreneurial space. It means to group and complete similar activities at the same time to maximize productivity. It makes sense, right? Work smarter, not harder. However, I’d never thought about bringing it into my lesson planning until recently…AND…holy cow…it’s a game changer!
When you’re planning your day, shift your focus to the activities or academic areas that can be linked together. For example: plan informational writing with a research unit the students are doing on the solar system. Back in the day, this used to be called thematic units, and, like everything else, what was old, can be made new again with a 2023 twist.
In your classroom library, showcase nonfiction and fiction books on anything and everything having to do with the solar system. Borrow books from the school library or the public library to add to a special solar system section. You can even have a book recommendation station for students to suggest their favorite solar system books to other students.
In a corner of your room, you can display posters (commercially made and/or hand made) that will serve as reference materials for students during science, reading, and writing time. If you are making projects or dioramas, you can add them to a table as a museum-style display.
Then, while all of this amazing learning is happening in science, you can weave in informational, narrative, or even option writing using the background information the students are gaining during reading and science time. No need to craft make-shift reasons to write. Simply harness the excitement students have in the areas you are already teaching and use it to engage students in writing tasks.
Mindset shift #5: Build in celebration time everyday to share writing “wins”
Although this is most often the first part of a writing lesson to go if you find yourself running short on time, it is actually one of the most important parts of your writing block. As a matter of fact, some people, including yours truly, would argue that it’s the most important part of your writing time.
Learning new things requires grit and stick-to-it-iveness which makes celebrating little wins (as well as big wins) important; especially, if you’re a kid. We all need a little pat on the back now and then. It builds confidence and improves the likelihood that our students will willingly try new things for us despite the risk of failure.
Writing celebrations also create a sense of community and teach students valuable lessons about understanding, tolerance, and supporting others.
Quick ways to add a little celebration into your day, might be:
a 10-second shout out interruption during work time.
For example:
“Hey guys and gals! I wanted to give a shout-out to Benjamin who wrote a fantastic claim for his opinion paper.” [Then, read the claim aloud to the class and students go back to work.]
Author’s chair reading at the end of the writing session where preselected students (no more than two) read a a predetermined excerpt from their writing piece to the class.
Preselected students can read their writing to another teacher, staff member, or the principal during recess. (Just make sure to get permission first!)
Send a quick DM, text, or email with a compliment or a picture of their child working hard or holding up their writing piece with a short message like, “Amy was working hard today on her writing. Make sure you ask her about it later tonight.”
Utilizing a writing celebration bulletin board with a string and clothes pins for students to hang their writing pieces up on. You can even keep a pad of stickie notes nearby so students can leave encouraging messages for their classmates.
In short, even small celebrations can go a long way toward building your students’ self esteem and energizing them for writing and this is especially true when the task is challenging. The big take away…don’t 86 the celebration when time gets away from you. There are always ways to fit this important piece into small moments that will make a big impact in your classroom.
Let me know what you think about these 5 mindset shifts. Have you tried any of them in your classroom? Is there one mindset shift that resonated with you? Do you have a suggestion for a mindset shift that you think should be added to the list?
Or, are you hungry for more info on strategies to easily implement writing into your daily routine?
Grab my free guide, 4 Quick Writing Wins for K-5 Teachers, by clicking the button below.
Until next time, my friends,
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