Writing is a classroom activity that can often cause students to be apprehensive. It involves several components such as ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions (Fisher & Frey, 2003). Balancing all of these components at once can be daunting for a student. As an educator, teaching these writing elements in a formulaic way can cause confusion for students, sometimes discouraging students from wanting to write. However, if teachers provide authentic writing experiences, they will see their students attempting a number of relevant writing experiences outside of required classroom based writing. Allowing authentic writing also gives students the opportunity to express their creativity through writing. Finally, students who are provided with authentic writing opportunities learn to become better writers.
Often, when students are asked to approach writing in a formulaic way, they are usually asked to write about things they experience within the classroom. For example, students are often asked to write about a book they read in class, or a science or social studies lesson. Since classrooms consist of a variety of individuals, it is wrong of teachers to assume that every student will take away the same message from the same lesson. When teachers formulaically narrow writing down to a few aspects of a topic that was taught, they limit the students ability to show their real learning of that given topic. In other words, “teachers decide what is taught, students decide what is learned” (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001). With authentic writing, students have the opportunity to show what they understood and found important in content lessons. Collecting authentically written pieces from students can also help teachers get an idea of how well classroom lessons were learned. Using authentic writing in this way benefits both the teacher and the pupil.
Authentic writing experiences also help foster creativity within students. While formulaic writing causes young writer to conform, authentic experiences allow students to explore their interests and exercise their creative ability (Angelillo, 2006). When students write about things that spark their own imagination, they begin to build confidence in their own unique writing style, and begin to develop their own voice. Teachers can encourage this creativity by providing motivation and materials that spark the creative flame within their students. Through authentic writing, students can be introduced to new topics and new literature that they otherwise would have missed in a more formulaic model. Authentic experiences can create an interest in writing, and also allow students to take ownership of the things they write.
Finally, when students are given authentic writing experiences, they learn to become better writers. Sometimes, an authentic writing approach is identified as an approach with minimal instruction. However, both authentic and formulaic writing approaches come with an instruction component. In both approaches, students learn about writing processes, different types of writing, and editing skills. Authentic writing, however, allows for teachers to reinforce these skills based on student needs (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001). In authentic writing, students are given a small amount of whole-class instruction each day, and during writing time, students engage in conferences that can reinforce skills that they learned throughout writing class. During these conferences, individual writers meet with a teacher or a peer to review their writing, and discuss ways to revise it. Teachers can use these authentic experiences to provide individualized writing instruction to a student based on her needs.
When teaching writing, teachers should strive to provide as many authentic writing opportunities to their students as possible. Authentic writing opportunities allow students to explore their school-based learning, display their creativity, and learn to become better overall writers. By allowing authentic writing experiences rather that formulaic ones, students will be more engaged in writing, minimizing apprehension, and fostering a healthy classroom environment for young writers.
Reference List
Angelillo, J. (2006). Prompt writing vs. workshop writing. In Writing to the prompt. Retrieved from http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=28230
Fletcher, R. & Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing workshop: The essential guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2003). Scaffolded writing instruction: Teaching with a gradual-release framework. New York, NY: Scholastic.
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