In educational environments, the practice of interactive writing serves as a key strategy to enhance students' literacy skills. This approach involves collaborative writing activities where students and teachers co-create text, which can be displayed on anchor charts for grammar and structure reminders.
An excellent overview of the
"Interactive Writing" strategy,
and changes to the process as
we move up in grade level can
be found here:
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/extending-interactive-writing-grades-2-5
Interactive Writing
In the Classroom
Respect for others (ie. helping
to fix mistakes, not putting
others down)
Positive reinforcement
& encouraging risk-taking
Word-Picture connections (ie.
classroom Pictionary) to facilitate
word recognition and communication
Anchor charts (ie. grammar
and structure reminders etc.)
Activities
SmartBoard writing
Allows instant revision, accessible for the
entire class, easy to manipulate
Sentence strips/word strips
Students create writing from pre-determined
language (useful for younger students, those
at lower developmental stages, ESL students,
students with IEP accomodations/modifications etc.)
"Today is...." (date, weather, feelings-based
responses)
Good way for Primary learners to practice
writing and expressing themselves or their
observations.
Co-created writing on chart paper
(Step-by-step sentence creation)
Mindfulness in
Planning
Sentence structure
Upper vs Lower case letters
Letter-sound relationships
Spelling resources (ie. Word Wall)
High-frequency words
Clear purpose/audience for writing
Student Role
& Responsibility
Revisit/use text independently as aid
for other writing tasks
Practice reading/revising message,
deciding on next steps
Can physically help write message
(depending on developmental stage)
Helps decide purpose for writing
Teacher Role
& Responsibility
Revises text as changes are made
and mistakes are fixed
Uses prompts/cues/think-aloud strategies
to support students
