How to Keep Students Engaged in Writing Activities
By Space Coast Daily // April 16, 2021
It is common to observe that students are reluctant to write when assigned writing activities, especially when given as homework.
It all comes down to teachers, they are well aware of the fact that writing is an imperative tool for students for learning discipline and to enable them to articulate their thoughts clearly and coherently.
Teachers owning it as their responsibility should introduce writing activities in the classroom.
This can be very interactive and engaging for students.
Some useful tips and strategies are listed here to help the teachers to get their students immersed in writing activities so they can produce some interesting pieces of writing.
Enriched vocabulary
Prior to engaging them in creative writing activities, the teachers must
Develop students’ interest in vocabulary learning. Students’ interest in words needs to be developed as it is an important tool and primary means to express themselves.
What teachers can do to build up their vocabulary, is to make sure they have studied and are prepared well about figures of speech like similes, metaphors, phrases, idioms, synonyms, homophones.
Teachers can assign them different interesting tasks such as computer-based tasks to build up their vocabulary.
Their action words are working properly and they have a strong grasp of verbs.
Assign mixed writing assignments
To increase their level of interest in writing, offer them a variety of writing tasks that includes creative writing, diary writing, or writing about imaginative fictional characters, even you can ask them to write letters to fictional characters.
There are a variety of tools and resources available for the teachers to use that can make students develop their love for writing fiction.
Students can also use resources from online writing services where you get free essay writer available to help you with their expert advice to make your writing process far more interesting.
Assign writing tasks about reality
Teachers well know better, that students when given to write about something they know, they produce some awe-inspiring interesting work of writing.
So, make sure that teachers assign them tasks related to real-life or help them find topics that are relatable to them, this can certainly help them increase the quality of their writing.
Exchange peer reviews in class
Students when they know what they have written is going to be read out by their classmates will try harder to write meticulously to impress others and to save themselves from the embarrassment in front of the peers they fear the most.
Integrate writing into simple projects
Assign students some maker projects to do, then ask them to write the directions of the whole process.
This simple maker project can be morphed into a major and different style of writing task.
These makerspace activities provide students opportunities not only to learn something new but to explore new skills such as research skills, how to ideate, how to build something new.
Ultimately, they can integrate this thinking and experimenting process into their writing explaining the process and plan and how it worked.
Teachers should share their writing journey
Nothing can fascinate students more to become great writers than hearing inspirational stories from teachers about their wonderful journey of falling in love with writing, about their passion, struggles.
This will instil the sense of realization that writing is a lifelong skill and make them fall in love with it.