Some kids don’t love writing, but there are ways to help them. Writing every day in some capacity will help kids learn to love writing a little more every time they pick up a pencil. Let’s see what you can do to help your little learners!
Easily Motivate Students to Write
A typical day in the classroom involves students writing at some point. Unfortunately, we have all had that student who refused. It’s like pulling teeth to get them to sit in their chair and hold their pencil. Frustration ensues from both parties.
You might ask yourself, “What can I do to help my students love writing?” Of course, we all want our students to enjoy each subject, but we must realize they won’t all be their favorites. The tips below will help you inch your students toward loving to do it every day, even just a little bit more.
Why is it Important to Get Kids Excited?
It’s a critical skill that students carry with them their entire lives. While they won’t all grow up to be avid writers, it’s essential to know how to express ourselves on paper (or devices). No matter the profession, everyone has to understand how to write proper emails and correspondence to employees, customers, clients, etc.
We all know what happens when students aren’t excited to start writing every day. They hang out of their chairs, grumble, and complain, and it creates more work for us to get them to complete their work. The bottom line is that making it fun for them will help everyone! We need to make it our goal to help kid writers succeed and enjoy the process!
7 Ways to Get Students Excited about Writing
Below are fun ideas to help spark student’s interest. Take a look and see which you can apply to your classroom.
1. Include a Writing Center
Including a writing center in your classroom is a great way to introduce simple tasks and build basic skills in an organized way. Kids can use the fun ideas in the center while they are writing.
Within your center, include visuals or charts with ideas the students can use to spark creativity. Add prompts, sentence stems, seasonal images, differentiated notebook paper, and anything else to get their juices flowing.
2. Implement Fun Writing Activities
Add in an element of fun while students brainstorm their topics. Include fancy spinners so their topics are randomized each time they begin. They will get excited to spin the wheel and learn their topic that day or week.
Try any of these 6 fun writing activities in your center for guaranteed engagement!
3. Use Tools & Strategies to Create Success
Having a few teaching strategies and tips in your back pocket will help kids get started. Using a word bank or an activity like these mats helps kids gain new ideas before they begin writing. Remind them that using a word wall or a list of ideas is a fantastic way to brainstorm.
Another great way to set kids up for success is to have them create a “heart map” of potential topics. They fill their hearts with pictures and words that are important to them. Oftentimes, it’s coming up with ideas that stump kids. This tool helps kids by offering ideas at the start of a session.
4. Add Fun Topics & Prompts
Students love it when they are given story ideas and creative topics. Provide kids with writing prompts to get them started. Try tear-off strips, prompts displayed on anchor charts, or printable templates with prompts ready for them.
Different prompt options are also a great way to ensure students can pick and choose what they write. Offering choice is key in getting kids engaged! Kindergarten prompts are a simple way to get young kids to do the task daily.
5. Include Engaging Genres
Make sure to spend some time teaching kids how to write in different styles and genres. There are many writing genres to get kids interested in something! For example, personal writing, opinion, creative, poetry, lists, and more.
Switch up the writing genre often! Instead of focusing solely on personal narratives, try nonfiction and fiction topics. Encourage them to get creative and combine more than one style together. For example, telling a story of a trip they took lets them know they can add some imagination to it. If they love unicorns, a creative story about an adventure would be perfect!
6. Provide Plenty of Choices
While students may have to write about certain topics throughout the year, giving them plenty of choices helps keep them engaged. Many students won’t be interested in writing narrative pieces and only wish to create their own stories, and vice versa. Let kids pick from a wide variety of options during free time and in a writing center so everyone has something they enjoy.
You can also offer choices like where, what paper they use, topics, or what genre. If you want a child to write about a specific topic, let them choose where and how.
7. Utilize Supportive Activities
Use plenty of supportive activities in your centers, free writing times, and lessons. Show students how to write a certain way and how to use the tools you set up. Show them how to make lists based on a topic to get themselves started.
Writing checklists and vocabulary posters are excellent tools to make students feel supported. Let kids know that using a word list and checklist are valuable and not frowned upon; they are excellent tools for making them better!
Resources to Help You Teach Writing
Need writing prompts to get you started? Try these 50 FREE writing prompts for K-2! Don’t worry about brainstorming prompts; these are all prepared for you. Lesson planning for writing centers just got easier!
Click the image below to grab a copy.
Done-For-You Writing Centers
Try the Writing Center Bundle for the Whole Year by Proud to be Primary. It includes 40+ monthly themes to excite kids as they write each day! You won’t have to struggle over creating tedious lesson plans that engage students; they are already created and ready for you to use.
More Writing Activities for the Classroom
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