Cut to the Bone: A Beefy Perspective on Shorter Writing Assignments
Teaching writing is not easy. Learning it is even harder and yes, we need to be telling our students this. So, why do we expect students to write 5–6 page essays? No matter where you teach, there is no curriculum or instructional practice that requires educators to have students produce long pieces of writing. Yet, we expect middle school students and high school students alike to produce formal pieces that often times takes days to grade. Since the onset of the current Covid-19 Pandemic, I have taken time to reflect on how I am approaching writing instruction with my students and being middle school teacher has afforded me many opportunities to try new and innovative ways to approach writing with my students, even while remote teaching
So far this year, my 6th grade students have participated in shorter writing assignments. In full transparency, the longest paper my students have written is a 1–2 pages and I told them even that assignment didn’t have to be any longer then a page. From daily writing notebook entries, narrative writing, and an argument writing for my class; my students are starting to see more value in the writing process, including revising and editing.
Simply Put: Shorter = More Growth
This year, I have required my students to put their writer’s notebook entries on Google Slides. It has made switching back and forth between face-to-face learning and remote learning easier. In addition, it has allowed me to easily monitor student progress. Each day my 6th grade students have what I call “writing into the hour”. At the start of the year, all I required of them is to write 2–3 sentences at the very least with the option to add as much as they wanted.
My guidelines are simple. I instruct them to write sentences that have capital letters, end punctuation and their sentences must make sense (subject and predicate). Since the beginning I have been able to easily see which students are lacking basic writing skills, which gives me a great indication where to start my instruction. I don’t need them to write a full page for each entry to discover where their weaknesses may be or to see most of their strengths. When students submit their notebooks through Google Classroom, I can also give them individualized feedback quicker with the shorter entries. Then, students can easily resubmit their work so I can see the growth they have made as writers.
When measuring student growth, some writing teachers and coaches may worry about a student’s writing endurance. I don’t, they are 6th graders. I want them to have the appropriate skills and for them to get more immediate feedback. Now, throughout the year, I do challenge my students to write more by asking them to add more sentences. I know and can see which of my students are writers and those who need more coaching through their shorter pieces and it provides me the chance to push those students who I know I can push. Furthermore, I can continue to help students who are struggling. If I give students too long of an assignment, whether it is in their notebook or it is a project, they are going to shy away from rereading their bigger pieces and never take the time to revise and edit. In turn, this leads to less growth in my student writers. Middle school students want to write it, turn it in, and forget it ever happened. Helping our students turn that corner can be a reality with smaller writing pieces.
Moving the Ball Down the Court
Let me be clear, not every student has to like the process of writing. Yes, that’s right, I said it. Too often, we force them to like it. Why? It is hard to do and even more difficult with longer pieces. So, we need to be able to show them why the process is important. If we don’t talk about the “why” of the writing process we will lose our students from the start. If we continue to bombard them with lengthy writing assignments they will completely disengage and never take the steps necessary to make their writing better and formal. With shorter writing pieces we can hone in on certain revision and editing skills and take more time to discuss with them why it is important to revise and edit areas of their writing. Often times teacher find themselves pressed for time with the amount of writing they need to go over with each individual student. This leads to frustration from the teacher and the student alike. Taking the time to look at a shorter piece with individual student can lead to teachers having more time to develop certain skills that are needed for students to be successful in their writing and build confidence.
While assessing my 6th grader’s writing for the last 4 months now, I can honestly say I see them getting better, but we have taken baby steps together. They are becoming more polished at capital letters, complete sentences, and adding punctuation. Also, because they have improved their basics, my students are now exploring argument writing. It has been fun to watch them investigate make believe crime scenes to learn about claim, evidence and reason. Students are taking more of a vested interest in their shorter pieces that they are composing while looking at writing through smaller lenses. On the other hand, to again be transparent, they struggle with giving quality feedback to their classmates. To them, everything seems to be good writing.
After having my classes write a short argument paragraph, I have been learning right next to my students. It has been clear, they aren’t ready for bigger writing pieces with argument. They are just learning and being consistent when it comes to checking their own writing. Now that I have thrown another curve ball at them with argument writing terms, they need time for the dust to settle. They need to practice, practice, practice. Why would I ask my students to work on a writing project that encompasses length as a priority, rather then them producing quality content? Baby steps.
If we want confident writers, we can’t throw them into the realm of undesirable length. If we want our students to be confident writers, we can’t have expectations that are over their heads. Our focus as educators at times is to push content and to push curriculum. I understand the mindset and after over twenty years of teaching, I know not all curriculum is in the best interest of our students. I also know there isn’t curriculum that says our students should write a certain length.
Students can still demonstrate appropriate skills in smaller pieces of writing and feel success. Over time, we can build endurance with them, but we have to show them they can do the basics first and they can be better writers. Speaking of middle school and my 6th graders, I don’t see many middle school basketball teams (or high school teams) playing the Golden State Warriors. Why would we expect them to write a 5–6 sentence paper when they can’t write a simple sentence?
