Cheryl’s eyes bugged out a bit as she perused her students’ writing. “Why do their pieces look like this? Where are the capitals, the punctuation? I teach mechanics and grammar daily, but they don’t apply the lessons when they write. And, when I ask them to edit, they seldom do.”
This is a common issue, one that is a source of frustration for many teachers. Yes, we must help students produce loads of writing with joy and purpose every day. But we also want our writers to master conventions and grammar. (Refer to the Common Core Language Anchor Standards: (1) Students will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing and speaking; (2) Students will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.)
Here are some practical tips that may work for you or the teachers you work with:
First consider, how are grammar and writing conventions taught? Students are successful applying skills when they are taught in the actual context of writing. One context I like to use is a “Morning Message.” Each day (or class period), I write a message to my students in the form of a letter. When they arrive, we read it together, discuss the content, then take just a few minutes to observe how the author (me) correctly used language conventions. Over the course of several messages, we’ll circle capitals, end marks, quotations, contractions, verbs, pronouns, homonyms, etc. and discuss their proper usage in the context. It’s also effective to make intentional mistakes in the message, especially those that mirror errors you see in students’ writing (run-on sentences are a favorite). Just be sure not to overload them with too many new issues before they’re showing real proof of understanding in their everyday writing of those already covered. As we all know, it’s hard to make progress as learners when we’re overwhelmed. Instead, focus on what’s most important, those errors that are most egregious in students’ writing, and address these first over time.
Now here’s a golden ticket. After about six weeks of school have passed, as students complete drafts they’d like to (or are assigned to) publish in written form, ask them to go back and circle things they know, just like they do in the “Morning Message.” This becomes a backdoor way into editing that truly works. It’s motivating to writers to look for what they’ve done well rather than what they have done wrong. Instead, students hum along, positively reinforcing themselves by circling what they did right and students often find mistakes and fix them. Viola…editing without pain!
Note how second grader C.J. crossed out the capital M in the middle of the third sentence, fixed it with a lower case m, and circled it. Plus, notice how proficient he is in self-monitoring the many skills he’s used correctly! True mastery has occurred when skills are shown automatically in everyday writing.
Nurture your writers even more by celebrating their findings on the document camera. This is another golden ticket that doesn’t take much time and really pays off! By sharing student writing on a document camera the child is able to briefly discuss his or her findings or problem solving (editing), while mechanics and usage are reviewed, once again in context, for all writers. A sense of confidence and capability emerges in the classroom community, and students become helpful sources of support for one another. But remember, we don’t want to wait and tack editing on at the end of formal writing. It must be part of a routine focus for learning to really stick. Students should be producing all kinds of writing informally across the curriculum throughout the day, along with all types of process writing, the majority of which won’t be taken through to formal publishing. So, two or three times each week, cash in another golden ticket by asking students to grab any piece and spend three minutes “Circling Things We Know,” then two minutes sharing with a partner. Celebrate one example with the class. Such techniques keep conventions and grammar in proper focus. The issues are grappled with routinely, within real contexts; but the majority of time is safe-guarded for composing and growing writers’ craft (these will be topics of future posts!).
