Engaging Reluctant Writers

The topic of reluctant writers in our classrooms has come up multiple times throughout the semester. We have heard of so many ways to keep these writers engaged with the material, and were provided with some great strategies that I want to share with you here! Do you find some of your students constantly groaning and moaning when writing workshop begins? Do they always complain that they "can't do it", or that they "have nothing to write about"? If you answered yes, you may just need some new strategies to keep them engaged with their work!

Remind them that writing can take all sorts of forms!

• Do your students love music? Well, there's a great strategy for you! Show them that music can take the form of poetry, that they can come up with a song of their own. You could even take it a step further and ask them to write something that follows a soundtrack of their choice, and invite them to share it with the class afterward if they so choose! This may just get them involved.

Click the photo below to be redirected to Scholastic where you can find lessons to help you get started with this strategy!

• Do your students write notes to each other during class? Great! Introduce letter writing, and explain how important the target audience is to a writing piece. You could even take this a step further and invite your students to write to pen-pals from another country (after you have contacted the right people and set up this experience, of course). Take this opportunity to explain what "snail" mail is. Explain what happens to a letter after you stamp it and put it in a mailbox, and what it has to go through to go overseas.

You could even have your own class mailbox wherein teachers, parents, and other students write letters to your class, and you read them together at the end of the day!

These are just a few ways to get your students interested in writing. What kind of creative ways do you engage your reluctant writers? Please share!

Love,

Ms. Verner