How do we get students motivated and engaged in writing?
Motivation refers to how we behave. Motivation involves self-confidence in one's ability to overcome obstacles and recover from academic setbacks. Increasing motivation can increase engagement. Engagement is not the same as motivation, but motivation can lead to engagement.
Engagement operates at 3 levels: cognitive, affective, and behavioral:
Cognitive Engagement: Refers to the investment and recognition of value in learning to go beyond the minimum expectations.
Affective Engagement: Refers to students' reactions to school, teachers, peers, and academics. Affective engagement influences the willingness to become involved in the work.
Behavioral Engagement: Refers to the active participation and involvement in school work and social interactions.
How can we make writing relevant so that students are motivated and engaged?
1. Begin with the end in mind.
Think about what you want students to do after you've taught the essential skills to master the standard. Will you have students produce a completed writing piece where they've worked through the entire writing process over time? Will they perform or showcase their work in some way? Maybe it's both?
You may consider having students work through the writing piece over time and then showcase their work in a publishing party, a "conference" where others come to see the work your students have completed, a podcast to share a reading of their writing, or a museum that includes a model and/or artifacts with the completed writing piece. No matter what you choose, make sure students understand what it is they will be doing and why they will be doing it. This will inspire interest and motivation from the beginning.
2. Integrate knowledge for an interdisciplinary experience.
What science, math, and/or social studies concepts are students learning or have they recently learned? This knowledge can support why students are engaging in a writing activity, and then they can decide how they will write to meet the expectations. Interdisciplinary learning experiences provide students the opportunity to read, think, and write like a person in that field would do. Author ReLeah Cossett Lent, author of This is Disciplinary Literacy, affirms that if students are authentically doing the work and developing the academic habits of those in the field, then "education would be transformed."
"Writing about text or information presented in class forces learners to decide what ideas are most important and, in some instances, promotes thinking about how these ideas are related. Its permanence makes it possible for children to review, reexamine, critique, and even construct new understandings of these ideas. When students put these ideas into their own written words, it can help them think more carefully about what the ideas mean," Graham and Harris, 2016.
When we integrate disciplinary concepts into writing, we are encouraging students apply thinking and knowledge to the writing they are doing. Interdisciplinary experiences support students' investment and recognition of value in learning so they may go beyond the minimum expectations.
3. Teach essential skills and strategies.
Once you are prepared with what students will write and why they will write it, decide what you will explicitly teach. Start with your writing priority standard and plan from there. Know the essential skills needed for students to master the standard, and then plan those skills in order. Remember though that writing is not linear, which means you may teach the same skill multiple times throughout a unit. Next, plan the strategies you will teach in order for students to apply the skills you are teaching into their writing work. Writing strategies refers to the step-by-step process in applying a skill.
In order for students to be confident that they can meet expectations, they need to be explicitly taught how to do the work we are asking of them. Explicit instruction can influence their willingness to become involved in the work.
4. Support learning and application throughout the process.
Teaching skills and strategies students need to apply to master a standard is one step along the way. Once they've been taught, you will support learning and application throughout the writing process. To accomplish this, you must know your students and what they are doing independently. You may support individuals as they work to apply what they are learning, or you may support students in small groups. Either way, you are facilitating students' application of skills with direct instruction and process-centered feedback. Feedback should support what students are doing and what they will work on next.
Hattie and Timperley's Effective Feedback Answers 3 Questions:
Where am I going? What are the goals?
How am I going? What progress is being made toward the goal?
Where to next? What activities need to be undertaken to make better progress?
Supporting students along the way ensures they know what they are doing well, what they need to work on next, and how they can accomplish the expected outcomes. Feedback is the link between content and application. Without it, students may lack direction and motivation.
Know Your Writers
Above all things, know your writers. Take the time to learn what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what and how they are thinking along the way. Writing is deeply personal and requires the application of many skills, not just writing skills. Develop your instructional plans, then be compassionate and supportive of each writer.
When students believe they are able to write, we can engage them with relevant, meaningful opportunities to write. Relevant writing tasks provide students the opportunity to recognize and value the work, persevere through the process, and participate with others to show what they can do!
References:
Attard, C. (2012). Engagement with mathematics: What does it mean and what does it look like? Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 17(1), 9-13.
Graham, S. & Harris, K.R. (2016). A path to better writing: Evidence-based practices in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 69(4), 359-365. doi:10.1002/trtr.1432.
Hattie, J. & Timperley, H.(2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112. doi:10.3102/003465430298487.
Lent, R.C. (2016). This is disciplinary literacy. Corwin Literacy.
Comments