The Ferguson

Reader
A Research Project
ENG 313

March 30, 2009 Issue [1]:: The Importance of Writing

A Letter from the Principal

As another school year quickly draws to a close, I

think back on all of the amazing achievements our
students have made throughout the school year and

Inside am extremely encouraged. Without our amazing

school staff and the support of each and every
parent, grandparent and guardian, the success of our
My Thoughts
students would seem like an unobtainable goal that
How To Motivate Students would be have
too far out of reach.
students made leaps and Our
bounds since last
To Write
semester
and it amazes me at the
May Hagadorn amount
of growth our student body
2 has
made as a whole.
When we began the semester,
My Personal Experience
there was more than just
As A Writing Teacher
apprehension about a new
Brief Thoughts And Tips
semester filled with new and
Noel Andrews
3 Follow me to Page 4
 Lorem Ipsum Dolor
How To Motivate Students To Write
How do we, as teachers, implement
writing within our classrooms? This was
a statement heard in large chorus’s
throughout our school. What had we
done wrong? What were we going to do
about our current situation? I pondered
all of these questions and many more as
I researched ways to motivate our
students with writing. I had no idea as to
how I was going to incorporate new ways
of writing within my classroom let alone
many others. The following information
are some of the most amazing tips and
thoughts I have come up with during my
research. Not only are these ideas
simple to incorporate, they’re also easy
to modify for other classroom types as
well.
A Few Helpful Hints
We are often trying to figure out what
2 more tailored towards students lives.
[Issue] :: [Date]
My
Thoughts
By
May Hagadorn
makes students tick. Although we
cannot be for certain, our research has
found that we can motivate students by
teaching to their likes. By giving
students a specific audience, we create a
more authentic writing experience and
give them a greater reason to write
besides the classic “because I assigned
it” statement. By also assigning a
specific audience, students are more
likely to think of themselves within a
learning community as opposed to a
student within a classroom.
We can also motivate students by picking
different genres or modes of writing.
Writing the same type of research paper
every time can get boring. Why not jazz
it up? Try incorporating blogging, film
making, project making or anything more
hands on. Although the paper is a classic
idea, why not incorporate assignments
Lorem Ipsum Dolor
5 Steps to a
Successful
Lesson
*Free Write-Let students be
creative as well as get
comfortable with the writing
process.
*Incorporate reading in
various ways. Have them
write towards their favorite
genre (i.e. graphic novel,
mystery, etc.)
*Have students express
themselves through writing.
Give them prompts to help.
*Don’t always focus on form
(i.e. grammar). Have
students be creative without
focusing all of their energy on
grammar.
*Have an open classroom
environment. Allow
Questions.
Issue [#] :: [Date]
My Personal Experience as a
Writing Teacher
Brief Thoughts And Tips
By Noel Andrews
As an instructor of a challenged class, I find that my
teaching styles have to be ever changing in order to
accommodate each and every student’s learning
abilities and interests.
When recently asked to teach a lesson on narrative
voice, I had to figure out a way that would not only
incorporate what I wanted the students to get out of
the lesson, but a way to also make the lesson relatable
to each and every student. Since these students are
“challenged,” I needed to find a way to encourage
them to write along with teach them the proper ways to
write in narrative voice. The following is what I
discovered:
*Students aren’t interested in the authentic writing
assignments that we used to write. They want a
concrete explanation as to why their assignments are
relevant and need connections to their own lives in
order to succeed in the given task.
*How did I make it relevant? – I first had students write
a dialogue between two well known cartoon characters.
Students had to write at least a 4 line dialogue in the
voice of these two characters. They could act them out
for added contrast.
*Students loved this assignment and took off with it. I
was impressed by my students’ enthusiasm and used
that enthusiasm to fuel our next assignment – to write
a dialogue in the voice of two characters from Of Mice
and Men. Again, students took off with this assignment
because they had a previous experience to relate it to.
*My overall thoughts – You can take something that
may seem dull and turn it into something EXCITING.
Make it relate and let them have fun. Not only will they
generate amazing work, but they’ll also be able to
relate everything that you’re teaching them to previous
experiences.
3
 Lorem Ipsum Dolor [Issue] :: [Date]

Continued from page 1

exciting experiences and classes. There was also a

concern
about our school writing levels. Previous nationwide
tests had shown that 8% of our students were not at
the correct mandated proficiency level for writing.
With this lingering number hanging over our heads,
the staff of Ferguson High, banned together to come Motivation Tips:
up with some new and innovative ways to encourage
our students to not only learn how to write well, but Wondering How To Motivate
to also enjoy writing at the same time. Your Students?
Try some of these teacher
The first step my staff and I took was to pick a focus recommended tips sure to get
class that would receive all of our “experimental” even your most reluctant
teaching on writing. After a lot of deliberation, we writers to participate in class.
decided on a very unique bodied class that contained
15 of our students. These students came from Use Yourself As a Role
varying backgrounds, but had a few characteristics in 1 Model
common: they were having a difficult time in their Show your students that
English classes, they had a hard time focusing/paying you’re learning as well.
attention in class and almost all of them have some Give them examples of
your own work to look at.
sort of learning disability (i.e. Emotionally Impaired
Participate in the
and Asperger’s syndrome). Secondly, we picked assignment process and
focus teams who researched countless hours on how write with them.
to motivate our students through writing. Thirdly, we
created curriculums that focused primarily on what 2 Set Goals
our researchers discovered by implementing Set realistic goals for your
numerous tactics to teach and encourage writing students. Give them the
within the classroom. Finally, we put our research to keys to success-tell them
work within our focus class. what is expected. Don’t
turn the assignment into a
Although our first few weeks were seemingly
competition and always be
unsuccessful,
we eventually found
enthusiastic.
methods
that not only worked well,
but
actually got our students 3 Give Feedback
excited about the writing Don’t be one of those
teachers who waits weeks
process.
before giving feedback.
With this wonderful news in Do it as quickly as
hand, all of our other possible. Reward success,
English
teachers began implementing what we found but also don’t stress the
successful in their own classrooms. The results were significance of the grade,
amazing! Not only were our students more attentive but the improvement of
in class, but they the students’ abilities.

4
Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue [#] :: [Date]

(Continued)

5
 Reflection
Although some of my principal’s letter is fictitious, I have
actually had these results within my placement classroom. I am
currently placed within a “challenged” classroom where the
students refuse to write (as well as read, participate in class and
pay attention). Many of the recommendations I have provided
within this newsletter have actually been implemented within
my placement classroom. Some of these ideas have
successfully worked while others have not. I do, however, feel
that the information provided is important for every teacher to
have. Students are all different and what may have worked for
me may not work for someone else. I hope that the information
provided will be of use to you in the future. Please look at the
links provided below. They go more in depth with the
information provided within this newsletter and will give you
more resources that may help you in whatever situation you
may find yourself in.

The Ferguson Reader Issue 1:: The Importance of Writing

Critical Issue: Monitoring the School Literacy Program

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li700.ht
The Ferguson m
Motivation For Writing Through Blogs

Reader
http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/send-pdf.cgi?bgsu1151331882
The Historical Association
http://www.history.org.uk/resources/secondary_resource_1199_11.html
The Role Of The Teacher In Promoting Motivation To Write
http://books.google.com/books?id=VlGLURcC9mkC&pg=PA218&lpg=PA
ENG 313 218&dq=teacher+motivation+through+writing&source=web&ots=mF3
clzWQ7j&sig=JHt3X6yfJ12265mabIiZrnYdPko&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_re
Research Project sult&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA218,M1
Creating Classrooms That Inspire Reading and Writing
www.lyndseyfergusonnotebook.w http://books.google.com/books?id=gKz4TgdWLssC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA1
ikispaces.com 8&dq=teacher+motivation+through+writing&source=web&ots=HcLF7
5XT8v&sig=eR7A9LYXMGkuuUro7IO-
JguWdEo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA18,
M1
Motivating Students
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/tea
chtip/motiv.htm
How To Motivate Students To Write
http://www.ehow.com/how_4556213_motivate-students-write.html
A Changing World For Literacy Teachers
http://www.adlit.org/article/20832
Adolescent Literacies
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/adolit.htm