“What’s Right with Writing” – Linda Rief

Rief includes lots of useful information in her article that I found a pleasure to read. I enjoyed reading her things that we have learned about writing and the teaching of writing:
• Writing is thinking.
• There is no one process that defines the way writers write.
• We learn to write by reading extensively and writing for real audiences.
• Writers need constructive response.
• Evaluation of writing should highlight the strengths of process, content, and conventions, and give the writer the tools and techniques to strengthen the weaknesses.
• Writing is reading.
How true each of these statements is! Writing is thinking. “…if we want children to become adults who are articulate, literate, and thoughtful citizens of the world, they must learn to think deeply and widely. They must commit their thinking to paper…” (pg. 35) In order for students to be able to write well, they need time, choice, models, and response. Testing is often the biggest thing that holds writing back in the classroom.
What a powerful tool writing can be to give our students voice in the classroom. “Putting words on paper gives us voice – allows us to be heard.” (pg. 35) Some questions I have that I still ponder include: How can I empower my students at the Kindergarten level to think deeply and write with voice? How can I incorporate as much writing into the curriculum as time allows?