Writing is hard, and I enjoy the messy process of writing. For an act that frustrates me, it brings me joy. I love something that frustrates me.

So. I was turning those contrasting ideas around in my head which led me to thinking about my students.

When I consider that teenagers might be nervous, might not have writing experience or tools, and might not enjoy the act of writing, I can reflect on what high school writers need. Supporting high school writers? I have ideas.

Education constantly changes and the teaching of writing is no different. As I focus on improving writing instruction, I’m realizing what high school writers need.

Respond to reading

High school students need an opportunity to respond to their reading. Literature and high-interest nonfiction spark controversy, emotions, and ideas. Channel that momentum into writing. Even if students create a list while reading or discussing, they are writing.

Then, turn that interest into a formal paper or paragraph. The writing prompt needn’t be planned ahead, but sometimes I start the class period with a direction for the writing. I am very willing to change it or take feedback and alternatives to the prompt.

Build trust and provide concrete feedback

Writing is personal and when our students invest in it, I assume they’ve turned in their best assignment. I find that when I approach feedback with that mindset, I am meeting the student. I am showing them respect, and I am also raising the expectations. Building trust before providing feedback is the first step.

Then, I provide feedback. I know when I began teaching writing, I overwhelmed students with feedback. High school students aren’t college students, and we must give age-appropriate feedback. Don’t turn a paper bright red.

Now, I provide manageable and actionable feedback. This personalizes and differentiates instruction. For instance, I might direct a writer to:

check comma rules
work on complete sentences
vary sentence structure
write stronger verbs
correct parallelism
fix subject verb agreement

If the errors are egregious, I assign targeted practice. Students are more likely to complete the review of grammar errors if they see those errors in their writing.

Provide mentor texts

I read texts with the writing process in mind, but do students? Like I previously reflected, they might not if they don’t identify as writers.

Read pieces with the question what makes this piece work in mind. I’ve learned that it matters less what we read but that we instead read with the construction of writing in mind. Doing so nicely ties the pieces of class together. If we are reading nonfiction or literature, we can discuss paragraph development, overall theme building, and strong verbs.

We read fabulous pieces of writing, and I remember to remind students that the author started by staring a blank piece of paper, just as students do.

Model, model, model

Typically, I teach organization with a group activity by writing fun paper about cookies. We teachers know the attention to detail and big picture of a paper, but do students? Using the topic of cookies (since everyone knows about cookies), we outline a paper as a class. We work through the messiness of deciding what ideas to include and what ideas to cast aside. I model for them my thinking and encourage them to participate. (What would be our next step if we wrote about chocolate chip and chocolate cookies? Should we mention fruit cookies for more diversity?) How many body paragraphs will provide ample evidence?

I’ve found that modeling a paper takes time, but students enjoy the fun topic of cookies, and I actually have less frustrations with students as we work on topics. (You can, of course, eat cookies.)

Supply images

For young writers or for teenagers who don’t identify as writers, I find it helpful to provide images. Not only do students begin writing, but they also begin seeing writing in a way that matters to them. I consider details the branches of a tree, but others might consider a winding road.

I encourage students to think about their writing in a variety of ways. Sometimes, an image is all a young writer needs to explore their topic. Other times, an image won’t work, but through the conversation, you have sparked a new way of considering their paper.

Supporting high school writers takes many approaches. I’ve never found one approach that fits the majority of students. After years of blogging and writing in college and for pleasure, I own a big picture for my writing. I share those methods with my students and ask them to make those methods their own.

Teaching writing often feels like a yo-yo act: we’re evaluating sources, we’re correcting incomplete sentences. We’re organizing body paragraphs, we’re reviewing apostrophe use. We quell writing fears, we deliver pep talks.

With purposeful feedback and activities, English teachers can structure an environment to grow young writers. I hope this post provided some insight into my methods.

Spotlight Resource

The writing bundle for freshmen and sophomores is intended to be diverse enough for teachers to reach all students and flexible enough for teachers to use pieces all year. It contains group activities, graphic organizers, station work, editable rubrics, presentations, and more.

About the Author

Lauralee Moss is the author of The English Grammar Workbook and creator of Language Arts Classroom.

When she is not teaching or writing, she is probably reading, drinking coffee, chasing her three kids and two dogs, or binge-watching documentaries with her husband.

She teaches high school English full-time in Central Illinois. She has worked in a variety of schools for the previous decade. Visit her on Instagram or Facebook.

Supporting High School Writers