How can teachers motivate students to write? This is a question that has been discussed countless times by teachers and school administrators. Writing is inherently exciting; it provides students with an opportunity to express themselves. Writing provides a window into the experiences, dreams, worries, and goals of our students, if we provide them with the tools to articulate them. When teachers provide their students with choice and control over their learning, the students may feel more engaged. It has been found that “topic-related interest and knowledge significantly influence writing quality and engagement” (Bruning & Kauffman, 2016, p. 168). In the current age of increased standardization, and in response to the rise of scripted literacy curriculums, the importance of creative, relevant, and culturally responsive writing instruction is more important than ever. According to Gholdy Muhammad, “Language arts can be a useful learning space where students can engage in literacy practices to make sense of their own lives and the lives of others” (2021, p. 193). By provided students with choices in what they want to write about, the style that they want to communicate it in, and how they want to conduct their own writing process, students can gain autonomy over their own storytelling, which can help them to see themselves as writers.

 In order to put these ideas into action, I have designed a second grade narrative writing unit with the goal of promoting student choice, creativity, and cultural relevance. Throughout the unit, there are opportunities for students to collaborate with their peers. There are also many opportunities for students to share their ideas with others. Each lesson has learning goals, and in addition, includes opportunities for the teacher to clearly set expectations with the students for writing time. These expectations will be built upon and revisited throughout the unit. In addition, the students have choice in what they want to write about, and how they want to structure their story.  The Unit also involves opportunities for the students to express themselves through drawing and art. This can be a way for students to get their ideas on paper without using words, and this is an exciting way for students to get started!

When creating this Unit, I attempted to find culturally relevant Mentor Texts that modeled different types of stories in the hope that these could serve as inspiration for the students. In my search, I could not stop at just a few books! I have created a list of some Narrative Story Mentor Texts that I have found. The idea behind this list is that teachers can choose which stories they want to use with their students. The books can be used as an introduction to different Mini-Lessons, and that teachers can choose the books that they think will be appropriate and interesting to their students. Teachers can also use other books that they think will be an even better fit for their students, but this list is simply a starting point that teachers can build upon. The list can be found on the following page.

This Unit is only a starting point for a year of exciting writing instruction. My goal in creating this unit is to implement it with my future students. In addition, I hope to share it with other teachers. I have created a website in which I have published all of the lessons, the book list, as well as the rationale behind it. This will hopefully be able to inspire teachers (and maybe even administrators) to incorporate student choice and creativity into writing instruction.

Happy reading, writing, and teaching!

References

Muhammad, G. E., & Mosley, L. T. (2021). Why we need identity and equity learning in literacy practices: Moving research, practice, and policy forward. Language Arts, 98(4), 189-196. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/scholarly-journals/why-we-need-identity-equity-learning-literacy/docview/2502933530/se-2

Bruning, & Kauffman. (2017). Self-efficacy beliefs and motivation in writing development. In Handbook of Writing Research. essay, The Guilford Press.