After spending the summer immersing myself in articles and books regarding best practices in writing there are ideas and concepts that have reshaped how I will teach writing and I feel, could benefit any "writing teacher."
The most important concept that stuck with me is the importance of teaching writing in both an explicit, mini-lesson format, as well as workshop method that allows for students to write...a lot! Without the opportunity to see themselves as writers and practice actually being a writer, no amount of teaching will help to improve their skills. However, without guidance through explicit, focused mini-lessons, students can feel overwhelmed with the task. It was this knowledge that led me to my action research topic of implementing daily, 10-15 minute explicit mini-lessons focused on the Six Traits of writing. The mini-lessons will be determined based on what I see my class of writers needs to work on (with various conventions and grammar mixed within the lessons).
Another "epiphany" I had was the concept that every student, regardless of age, academic level, or language abilities is a writer and they have to know that! It's okay if the student can only draw a picture to express their story. It's a starting place. It's important that students are given some way to take a story they want to tell and put it on paper, whether that be via words or pictures.
Being that there is so much research out there and, so little time to read it, I'd highly suggest looking into using the book Daily 6-Trait Writing. It provides explicit mini-lessons focused around one trait at a time. I plan to use these, along with a few other supplemental activities to take my students through the writing process. I'd also refer you to Steve Peha's Website: Teaching That Makes Sense. The left side provides many tabs that link you to PDF's full of mini-lessons and information if you're hoping to establish a writer's workshop model in your classroom!
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