The document provides 30 ideas for teaching writing contributed by experienced writing teachers. It discusses strategies like using shared life events to inspire writing, establishing email dialogues between students reading the same book, analyzing texts by imagining author dialogues, focusing on revision techniques, and using home languages to facilitate standard English. The techniques aim to improve student writing in a variety of ways without promoting a single approach.

1. 30 Ideas for
Teaching
Writing

2. 30 Ideas for Teaching Writing
received a first-place Distinguished
Achievement Award from the
Association of Educational
Publishers (AEP).
The National Writing Project's 30 Ideas for
Teaching Writing offers successful strategies
contributed by experienced Writing Project
teachers. Since NWP does not promote a single
approach to teaching writing, readers will
benefit from a variety of eclectic, classroom-
tested techniques.

3. 1. Use the shared events of
students' lives to inspire writing.
2. Establish an email dialogue
between students from different
schools who are reading the
same book.
3. Use writing to improve relations
among students.
4. Help student writers draw rich
chunks of writing from endless
sprawl.

4. 5. Work with words relevant
to students' lives to help
them build vocabulary.
6. Help students analyze text
by asking them to imagine
dialogue between authors.
7. Spotlight language and
use group brainstorming to
help students create poetry.

5. 8. Ask students to reflect on
and write about their
writing.
9. Ease into writing
workshops by presenting
yourself as a model.
10. Get students to focus on
their writing by holding off
on grading.

6. 11. Use casual talk about
students' lives to generate
writing.
12. Give students a chance
to write to an audience for
real purpose.
13. Practice and play with
revision techniques.

7. 14. Pair students with adult
reading/writing buddies.
15. Teach "tension" to move
students beyond fluency.
16. Encourage descriptive
writing by focusing on the
sounds of words.

8. 17. Require written
response to peers'
writing.
18. Make writing reflection
tangible.
19. Make grammar
instruction dynamic.

9. 20. Ask students to
experiment with sentence
length.
21. Help students ask
questions about their
writing.
22. Challenge students to
find active verbs.

10. 23. Require students to make a
persuasive written argument
in support of a final grade.
24. Ground writing in social
issues important to students.
25. Encourage the "framing
device" as an aid to cohesion
in writing.

11. 26. Use real world
examples to reinforce
writing conventions.
27. Think like a football
coach.
28. Allow classroom
writing to take a page
from yearbook writing.

12. 29. Use home language on
the road to Standard
English.
30. Introduce multi-genre
writing in the context of
community service.

13. Five Current Trends in
Teaching Writing with
Technology
A CAI Workshop by Andy Jones
Coordinator, Computer-Aided
Instruction
The Department of English
The University Writing Program

14. 1. The Technology of
Invention
• Turn off the screens and let
students write
• Creativity and Concept
Mapping Software - consider
the Mary Jacob approach
• Outlining Software - Good for
planning and organizing
documents

15. 2. The Digital Portfolio
Anticipated Outcomes
• Folio Thinking is a set of behaviors and
a mindset that leads to four ultimate
outcomes:
• Improved student problem finding and
solving;
• Greater meta-discursive analysis
(Students conceptualizing their own
learning);
• Increased student self awareness; and
• Increased awareness of others' ways
of thinking.

16. 3. Creating Web
Sites as “Writing
Places”

17. 4. Writing, Technology, and
Engagement
• How can we encourage students
to engage with audiences outside
the classroom?
• To what extent do our students
have a responsibility to their
larger community?
• How will interactions with these
communities
(social, academic, professional)
better prepare them for post-
graduate challenges?

18. 5. Technology and Creative
Writing / Creative Thinking
The National Commission
on Writing recommends that
using technology tools can
help motivate writers
because often an aspect of
technology-based writing is
publishing the writing in
some form
(Anonymous, 2005).