Examine Your Practice
The act of writing is an ongoing process of decision making. Students develop this critical skill when teachers show them how to make choices and then allow them to do it. Read the following quote, consider your own students, and answer the questions below.
Let the child make decisions about writing on his or her own. Choice is not just something we do to be polite or to make writing more fun; learning to make decisions is part of the writing curriculum.
— Katie Wood Ray
Guiding Questions
Reflect on the quote from Katie Wood Ray and consider your own students. Then write your answers to the questions below in your notebook. If you are working in a group, share your responses.
- What is your response to the idea that student choice is essential to a writing curriculum?
- Writing expert Lucy Calkins wrote that teachers should "teach the writer, not the writing." What do you think that means?
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