While much has been written about the demise of the written word, writing well with purpose and precision is alive and well at Colorado Academy. As a matter of fact, teaching students to express themselves in writing has been and remains today, a signature aspect of our work with young people.

 

CA graduates consistently remark about the advantage that they experience in college because they are comfortable as writers. Writing a two-page essay, a five-page analytic piece, expressive poetry, or a 10-page research tome are soft pitches routinely swatted by our graduates into the cheap seats.

 

Of course, there are many hands at work helping each student develop and hone the skills of pre-writing, writing, revising, and editing. Moreover, getting from a few cumbersome sentences to tight prose is a long process.

 

However, being able to express oneself in multiple genres is a gift worth the hours and hours of practice. In the Middle School, we seize the opportunity to give students direct instruction in writing and we view writing well as a “pinnacle” skill, because it demands so much underlying mastery and understanding. To be good writers, students must:

 

10.Accept and utilize constructive criticism

 

For many young people, this is an arduous process. Moreover, sharing writing means taking risks. There are few situations during which a child (or adult) feels more vulnerable than when submitting a piece of writing for review by teachers or peers. It is no wonder that teaching children to write is such an important focus of our work.

 

Instruction in the writing process at CA teaches children that good writing doesn’t just happen and that, instead, it is the product of an intentional set of steps and the consistent application of skills that can be taught and practiced. Good writing involves a pre-writing phase during which students brainstorm ideas, outline thoughts, and play with possible organizational strategies before beginning a first draft. The drafting stage allows students to execute the pre-writing plan. During editing and revision, students get feedback from their own re-reading, peer editing and/or meetings with their teacher. After gathering input, students re-write and improve their initial drafts, often resubmitting their work for another round of feedback. Ultimately, students proofread their final drafts, scrutinizing them carefully for content and adherence to the rules of written convention. Only then, do our students turn in their final pieces for assessment.

 

Our teachers, using the writers’ workshop model and mini-lessons to teach authors specific tools and tactics, help each student take his or her next steps toward increased writing fluency. And at each step along the way, we ask students to go back, think again, and consider alternatives. We know that it is this iterative process – writing again and again – that ultimately leads to a more polished product. This is work that takes time and effort from both students and teachers; there is no shortcut to writing improvement.