Sharing the Pen: How Does the Interactive Writing Approach Motivate and Improve Students’ Writing Abilities
Mentor Information
Ilene Berson (College of Education)
Description
Learning how to write is a pivotal step in a young student’s educational career. With this comes learning to read, spelling rules, problem-solving, structure and more. Much research has been conducted that suggests implementing specific writing approaches with students may improve their understanding of writing, spelling strategies, reading, and handwriting. Few studies suggest, however, which writing approach is most effective and if using an approach will increase students’ motivation to write. In my research, I am implementing an interactive writing approach with 3 small groups of 1st graders while collecting and analyzing data to find if it will enhance their writing abilities and motivation to write. My data collection includes audio recordings of student conversation, notes, and photographs of student artifacts. The students are grouped based on their guided reading levels, so there is not a major contrast on their ability to write and read during the lessons. I work with each group to choose a topic, purpose, and audience for their stories. I guide students’ thinking and ideas into a direction that makes sense for our writing. Each student plays a role in physically writing words and sentences while utilizing problem solving strategies for spelling, orthography, and independence throughout our lessons. We will revise, edit, and publish our work to our audience in hopes of motivating the students to make their story the best it can be.
Sharing the Pen: How Does the Interactive Writing Approach Motivate and Improve Students’ Writing Abilities
Learning how to write is a pivotal step in a young student’s educational career. With this comes learning to read, spelling rules, problem-solving, structure and more. Much research has been conducted that suggests implementing specific writing approaches with students may improve their understanding of writing, spelling strategies, reading, and handwriting. Few studies suggest, however, which writing approach is most effective and if using an approach will increase students’ motivation to write. In my research, I am implementing an interactive writing approach with 3 small groups of 1st graders while collecting and analyzing data to find if it will enhance their writing abilities and motivation to write. My data collection includes audio recordings of student conversation, notes, and photographs of student artifacts. The students are grouped based on their guided reading levels, so there is not a major contrast on their ability to write and read during the lessons. I work with each group to choose a topic, purpose, and audience for their stories. I guide students’ thinking and ideas into a direction that makes sense for our writing. Each student plays a role in physically writing words and sentences while utilizing problem solving strategies for spelling, orthography, and independence throughout our lessons. We will revise, edit, and publish our work to our audience in hopes of motivating the students to make their story the best it can be.
