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Writing is one of the macro-skills that students need to develop. It is a crucial component of education and a vital way of communication. Also, improving the writing skills of our students requires perseverance and hard work. This makes me wonder, “What activities can boost students’ writing skills?”.
As teachers, we have a better understanding of how difficult writing can be for all students, as well as the additional strain it places on us. It takes a long time and it’s taxing not to mention hauling home a mountain of papers from our students. But we have to help them It’s our job to teach our students the fundamentals of writing.
However, in today’s technologically advanced society, there aren’t many opportunities for children to practice and develop their writing skills. As a result, many teachers are left wondering how to help their children boost their writing skills.
Gladly, in this post, I will share easy and fun ways to get students to write. These are fun and engaging writing activities for students to participate in without hesitation.
What Activities Can Boost Students’ Writing Skills?
Writing is one of the most challenging language skills. It involves grammar and vocabulary, the two most challenging aspects that make students feel intimidated to write. It’s no surprise that many students have difficulty putting together a single sentence together.
Students will need good writing skills as they prosper in life. And the importance of helping students master and develop effective writing skills can’t be overstated for us teachers. We should design activities in the classroom that can boost students’ writing skills.
7 Easy Ways
1. Describing pictures
We can use this as a starter. This fantastic activity can make students practice writing as much as possible. It can boost their vocabulary as well.
When I used this in my classroom, I used colorful and interesting pictures. Then, I asked my students to tell what they see by writing words and phrases at first. As they go along the process, I let them develop the words and phrases into meaningful sentences. And so they’re able to write!
Picture description is a fun writing activity that helps students write their thoughts. You can make it more interactive by asking guide questions to help students frame their sentences. “How many are in the picture?” “What are they doing?” “How do they look?”
2. Finishing a story
Fiction prompts are a great way to spice up your writing. If your young learners are reluctant to write even though he or she is capable of doing so, consider having them participate in a fun game where the goal is to write a short story together.
The more you can get your students interested in the topic, and help them develop both their writing skills and intellectual curiosity, the better. Certainly, finishing a story is an engaging way to help students practice their writing skills.
Think of creative and fun story starters that will tickle the imagination of your students and keep them interested to continue the story. Your writing prompts must be well thought out so that the sentences or dialogues give the students ideas of what will come in the story. The best way to get a reader interested in the story is to introduce an intriguing premise. As a result, the story should be easy to follow from beginning to end.
3. Writing a diary
Engage your students in the joys of writing a diary. It’s one of the best ways to get students to write about their own experiences and knowledge.
When students write their diaries, they can confidently put their thoughts on paper while also sharing a piece of their own personal experiences. You can require your students to write in their diaries or journals after school about how they felt and what they learned throughout the school day.
The practice of writing is important to everyone’s future success. That is why you can also request the parents to monitor and promote journaling among their children. In addition, writing in a journal, for whatever reason, has many a great many positive effects on the person doing it.
Writing in a journal can stimulate more creative thinking, improve one’s ability to solve problems, and provide opportunities for insight. In this approach, one can completely assimilate new information and take in new views.
4. Writing freely
Freewriting is a creative writing exercise that can help students become better writers. Ask your students to handwrite any topics that come to their minds. To get the creative juices flowing, you can ask the students to think about their best experiences and write about them.
Your students should be able to write anything they want. Students should be able to select the subjects that most interest them. Students are motivated to write when they have a strong desire to do so.
Remember to remind your students that they are to write freely and it’s simply for fun. They have to keep this in mind as they sit down and write. Its aim is to help students overcome their fear of writing. You can have this exercise for 10 minutes each day so your students begin to love writing and sharpen their writing skills.
Allow your students to go as creative as possible when freewriting anything. Regardless of how incoherent it may sound, there should be no stopping or deleting during the dedicated time for writing. They can write about their day, their observation, their feelings, or whatever they think about. They just have to get into the flow of writing about anything and there will be no mechanics or restrictions. Just let them write.
5. Summarizing
A student’s ability to write an effective summary is an essential one. In summarizing, one has to use his or her own words to communicate the most significant points of a text.
As a starter, you can have your students read a simple paragraph and then let them state the main idea in their own words. This can also be the best exercise for reading comprehension.
To reinforce your student’s writing skills, you can ask them to write short and simple summaries at first. I know, summary writing is a very challenging task and some students might find it really very hard. However, as an invaluable activity, I consider summarizing to be on the list.
Writing summaries is a simple skill that can be learned and practiced. Everyday life relies heavily on summaries since they are a convenient method to exchange information.
6. Making predictions
Titles and questions can prompt students to make predictions. A simple strategy of asking students what the lesson could be about is already making predictions.
Predictions are a natural part of the reading process. Some students are quick on making judgments and predictions about the book’s content based just on its cover.
Predicting or using any other understanding approach should be accompanied by an inquiry into why the child believes that way. In their response, I’m looking for a connection to the text and/or a reference to their own personal schema or prior knowledge.
Young readers can start their comprehension quest as well by making predictions. What do you think the book will be about based on its cover and the title? Then, give them time to write their answers. Allow them to say things such as, “I think the story is all about…”.
You can ask questions, “What do you think will happen next? This is simple enough for even the youngest readers to understand.
7. Writing initial thoughts
Through picture prompts, you can ask your students what they think about what they see. Make it a part of your daily writing exercises for your students. This activity can help students experiment with language and push themselves to write their thoughts and ideas.
Writing initial thoughts engage students to present what they think about the world. It hones their cognitive skills as well. As the prompts make way to the students’ minds, they think about it and push themselves out of their comfort zones.
Whether your students are writing for fun or for theme writing, this activity can help students design their thinking and put it into writing. When done in an interactive manner, students won’t find writing intimidating at all. You can also use question prompts for each picture so students to pay attention to their word choices.
Conclusion
Writing can be improved with repetition and constant practice. Including this in the daily tasks can help students love writing even more and will get them writing with confidence and creativity.
And most importantly, for you to boost students’ writing skills, you’ve got to be a writer yourself. Once you have a true passion for writing, you can easily share tips and design writing activities for your students accordingly.
