Interactive writing is one of the many elements of a balanced literacy model. There are SO many benefits to doing interactive writing with your kiddos!
The act of interactive writing is a bridge, so to speak, between reading and writing. The students not only get to write alongside an expert writer, the teacher, but they also get to read and re-read as they are composing text.
Many times interactive writing can get confused as shared writing. I know I am guilty of that!
Shared writing is when the students tell the teacher what to write and she does so using correct writing conventions. This writing is a good example to be displayed in the classroom for students to reference.
Interactive writing is when the students actually use the pen and write the text with the teacher assistance. This type of writing will not be perfect, but is a powerful learning experience for students.
When doing interactive writing, we usually write about experiences that we have shared in together. Sometimes it may be after a crazy experience with a frog on the playground and other times it will be a simple task of writing Daily News together. Whatever it is, I make sure that the students are eager about it and they are engaged!
Keeping a class of 5-6 year olds engaged when they aren’t the ones writing can be hard!! Goodness! Here are a few suggestions.
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
13 Responses
Awesome! Thank you.
You’re welcome! 🙂
I love your blog and you are becoming my Kindergarten guru. I will be teaching kindergarten for the first time this coming fall. I taught first grade for the past two years. Also, this will be my third year of teaching.
“We use chart paper and mark off a line towards the top half. This is their practice area. You can also use a dry erase board for this. ” How doe this look like? I am trying to visualize it but can’t. Does it mean that you use the top half for your writing and the bottom half for their writing? Maybe I’ve been using this concept wrong.
When I do interactive writing I start writing and they finish it. Also sometimes they go to the board and write their thinking and underneath I rewrite it if they had a lot of trouble with the spelling. I use to teach first grade and I wasn’t sure how interactive writing was supposed to look.
Thank you Amanda.
You’re welcome!
Thank you! I plan to do more of this and have them write on whiteboards.
Very Helpful! Thank you so much