Living Life Twice

Student   writing samples provide tangible evidence of where they are situated in relation to sentence structure.  Such writing samples immediately inform our instructional response.  Sentence structure capabilities can be rapidly improved by teaching into a range of simple, yet effective strategies. Many of the same techniques used to teach fluency in reading can be used to improve writing. Student writers need to be alerted to the importance and power of fluency. This process can begin by exposing them to writing samples that flow easily. Encourage young writers to listen to the words initially, before examining them more closely.  Help them to more readily recognise good sentence structure and apply this skill to their own writing. Grammar taught in context has the best chance of impacting the quality of student writing. Therefore a range of quality literature titles and mentor texts must be enlisted as exemplars of effective sentence structure. In truth, young wr...

A new school year unfolds and the initial writing samples student writers produce, provide tangible evidence of where they are situated in relation to sentence structure. Don't start pulling your hair out, as the situation can be rapidly improved by teaching into a range of simple, yet effective strategies. Many of the same techniques used to teach fluency in reading can be used to improve writing. Student writers need to be alerted to the importance and power of fluency. This process can begin by exposing them to writing samples that flow easily. Get them to listen to the words initially, before examining them more closely.  Help them to more readily recognise good sentence structure and apply this skill to their own writing. Grammar taught in context has the best chance of impacting the quality of student writing. Therefore a range of quality literature titles and mentor texts must be enlisted as exemplars of effective sentence structure. In truth, young writers are being taught ...