This year, I’m going to get my students to write over 20,000 words! And I’m not even counting the essays they are going to type.
At the start of the year, my students will begin building a Writer’s Notebook. This is a place the will house low-stakes, pressure-free writing, lessons on sentence craft, and a place where they will practice thinking through revision.
Here’s the English teacher math that came up with 20,000+ words:
- 150 words per page
- 5 pages of writing a week
- 15 weeks of writing per semester
This will all be done alongside the planned curriculum. It will be a part of each class period. It will be a place that will complement the content from the curriculum. And at times it will be its own assignment to keep up the practice of writing. During those points in the year when the students are writing formal essays, it will be a place for students to informally write about the essay writing process: what perplexes them about the academic writing process, how they are putting their research together, what their problem areas are as writers, etc.
I love teaching with the Writer’s Notebook! It has broken down barriers and solved many of the problems I have faced in delivering quality writing instruction to my students, writing instruction that sticks with them from assignment to assignment.
If you would like to hear more about how this is possible for your students, check out the following:
- The Transformative Power of the Writer’s Notebook (a post from earlier in the summer)
- For a limited time, grab a FREE copy of the Kindle edition of my book Make Them Process It: Uncovering New Value in the Writer’s Notebook (Promotion has expired)
- Or, enroll FOR FREE in my online course The Writer’s Notebook in the Classroom.
QUESTION: How do you motivate students to write? What is your biggest challenge in developing skilled writers?
Leave a comment below.
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If you haven’t already, follow @MakeThemMastrIt on Twitter, and like the Make Them Master It Facebook Page. I can’t wait to talk about how we can increase the impact we can have on each other and our students!
MAKE THEM MASTER IT 
To a student, 20,000 words a year may sound like a discouraging feat, but I love the practical approach that your article provides for parents and educators alike.
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At the this point in the year, my students already have 4,500 words done! It is not as difficult as most people expect.
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I’m buying your book; it looks so interesting!
Do I have your permission to write a review on it after reading?
I write on blackboardtalk.com. Here is an example of a review I wrote:
http://blackboardtalk.com/2018/11/25/leave-school-at-school-book-review-summary/
Please let me know! Thanks.
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Permission? Of course! Speak your heart away!
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Unfortunately, I can’t buy your book in Canada on Amazon.ca! Is it going international any time soon?
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I was unaware that this was an issue. My understanding is that it should be available worldwide. I need to look into this.
While I figure that out, sign up for my free online (video by email) course. It breaks down the how of the book into five steps.
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Thank you, will do!I tried to buy it twice with no luck.
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Well, I’m scratching my head here because someone in purchased it in India recently (now I know what my royalties are in rupees!). I clicked everything I can possibly click to make it international. Is it possible it’s something on your end? 🤷♂️
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I sent a long an email about this whole book purchase mix up. I’m hoping you’ll find it encouraging.
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