Are you guilty of spoon feeding your students ideas for what to write?

I’m right there with you! We have all done it. 

We all have those students who just sit there, stare at the wall and say, “I don’t know what to write.”

Often we just intend to give them a quick idea or two as a spring board for their writing pieces, but more often than not, we can find ourselves verbally writing the whole piece for them.

Of course we do it because we just want them to be successful. We don’t want them to feel frustrated and shut down, so we just give them the whole kitchen sink.

But - giving our students all the ideas prohibits them from developing the skill of how to generate their own writing ideas — a skill they will need not just in your classroom, but always.

When we teach students strategies for developing their own writing ideas, we give our students the freedom to write about their own topics of interest and give them permission to be inspired on their own for what to write about.

And, in the end, that’s what will make them LOVE writing. 

In today’s episode, I want to give you some simple writing strategies to help your students generate their own ideas for writing. 

You’ll Learn

(Timestamps Shown)

• How students can get inspiration from pictures (1:58)

  • Where to find interesting pictures (2:24)

  • One resource I’ve used year after year that sparks amazing stories (2:32)

• Tips on using pictures for small group activities (5:09)

• How to help students unpack their ideas into writing pieces (5:53)

• How to encourage students to be inspired by what authors have already written about (9:54)

• The EASIEST writing strategy to help students develop new writing ideas (10:34)

• A bonus tip to help students track several writing ideas at a time (11:13)

LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Resource for Picture Illustration is the book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg.

Resource for Watermelon Seed Writing is the book, The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant.

Grab my FREE Teacher’s Guide to Writer’s Workshop below:

Watermelon Graphic Organizer from my Getting Started in Writers Workshop unit 

Episode 31: How to Use a Reader’s and Writer’s Notebook in the Upper Elementary Classroom 

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TRANSCRIPT