Lesson Ideas and Tech Tools for Teaching Writing Through Distance Learning
The world of teaching changed in a dramatic way due to recent events. Many of us are scrambling to teach completely online for the first time. This is a daunting task that raises many questions. As we work to navigate solutions together, I have seen a sharing of ideas, resources, tips, and support from teachers all across the globe. Teachers are supporting teachers more than ever before. It makes me so proud of our profession! With this same sense of support, we, as members of the TeachWriting team, wish to offer you some suggestions for writing instruction as we all navigate these uncharted waters.
Suggestion 1: Memoir Writing - Get Students Telling Their Own Story.
Getting and keeping engagement is a difficult task in online learning. Students have distractions pulling them in many directions as they work to learn from home. While this is out of our control, one thing we do know about student engagement is that our students love to tell their own stories. Memoirs have a unique ability to draw students in and get them sharing thoughts with paper (or should I say keyboard?). Whether you ask students to focus on a previous life event or ask them to keep an Anne Frank style journal of these historical events as they happen right now, sharing their story is a powerful tool, not just for engaging learners with the task of writing, but in giving them a sense of control in a difficult time. It can be an outlet for their thoughts and feelings, just as it was for Anne Frank. I have a completely digital memoir unit ready for remote or distance learning. Click here to learn more about this unit.
Suggestion 2: Creative Writing - Get Students Telling a New Story.
Creative writing might not always be taught, but during this strange time, students will embrace a creative outlet. If you don’t know where to start, start with these creative writing lesson plans that include videos, brainstorming activities, and free downloads. The best part about creative endeavors is that students can take various approaches that best fits with their learning styles. Encourage students to work with journaling, character sketches, or one-pagers. Students might need an outlet for their emotions during this strange time. Creative writing provides the opportunity to write in a unique way.
Suggestion 3: Engage Learners with Video Mini-Lessons
Whether you’re flipping your class or teaching remotely, mini lessons are an essential aspect of writing instruction. Students need to be able to hear us think aloud, to see us model writing. YouTube is an ideal platform for recording, sharing, and even curating existing mini lessons to share with students when lessons cannot happen face to face due to time or distance constraints. Even in a traditional setting, short instructional videos can supplement effective teaching by allowing students to extend their learning. Whether students are learning how to add description or apply grammar to writing, they can re-watch, re-wind, and re-learn the skills and strategies of strong writers.
Suggestion 4: Use Google Classroom to Deliver Meaningful Instruction
Many teachers are using Google Classroom to post distance learning assignments, but are they utilizing this awesome tool to teach writing? If you aren’t sure how to go about teaching writing during this time then consider doing the following five activities via Google Classroom. 1. Use topics to organize your distance learning/writing units, 2. Post mentor texts for students to read at home, 3. Highlight strong student writers by “publishing” their writing for other classmates to read, 4. Post videos that teach writing skills, 5. Allow students to post their writing and provide positive feedback in the form of comments. You can find more details and resources for how to go about using Google Classroom to teach writing by visiting this blog post: 5 Ways to Use Google Classroom During Writing Workshop. You will also want to visit this page for mentor text resources: Mentor Texts for Secondary Students.
Suggestion 5: Use Writing Contests to Engage Your Student Writers!
Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was asked to write a story in only 6 words. His response, “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” My students are always in awe over the implications of this 6 word memoir. They are engaged by the possible meanings to Hemingway’s memoir, but also at the idea of crafting their own. Creating and keeping engagement through distance learning can be challenging. One of my favorite ways to get and keep engagement is through writing contests. The Six Word Memoir Project is a fantastic site that will draw students into the process of drafting their very own 6 word memoir; they have a variety of different contest topics so students can actually write several and submit these for publishing on their site. During this small mini-unit, we get a chance to chat about word choice, the author’s message, tone, mood, and poetic style. I highly recommend this site for an engaging e-learning tool!
Suggestion 6: Using Canva to Create Various Writing Products!
Canva is a powerhouse for designing visuals for a multitude of purposes. There are a lot of teachers out there who, like me, are not tech savvy, so Canva is the perfect fit for us because it takes all of the guesswork out of designing a highly engaging, aesthetically pleasing visual! And just so you know, I am not affiliated with Canva AT ALL! I just LOVE it! Here is what your students can create with Canva FOR FREE: posters, newsletters, covers, charts/ graphs, infographics, e-books, mind maps, magazines and portfolios, collages, VENN diagrams, and MORE. Have your students create their next project using Canva and email it to you or add it to Google Classroom. It’s that simple! Click here to find out more about using Canva in secondary ELA.
Suggestion 7: Use Daily Writing Prompts - A Free Resource
We have created a full year of daily writing prompts that are perfect for distance learning. These daily activities will engage your students in the writing process. They are the perfect start to a lesson - and some are a lesson in and of themselves! Sign up through this link to receive the exclusive password for this free resource as well as many other amazing free writing resources.
This post was co-crafted by our secondary TeachWriting team members! Learn more about all of our team members here!