Writing Lessons Belong in Every Slice of the Day

If we’re honest, writing lessons often get the smallest slice of the instructional day.

And unfortunately, it shows.

On a national level, our students’scores in writing aren’t much better than reading, if not worse..  The last time writing scores were calculated (2011), NAEP results showed that only 27% of 8th and 12th grade students scored at or above the basic level in writing.  Granted, this was a long time ago, so we don’t really know where those scores would fall now, but I’d be willing to bet a large sum of money that scores wouldn’t be very different today.  

And what’s the reason for the low writing scores?

I’m not sure anyone could really pinpoint it.  

Lack of quality instruction?  Could be.  But that’s a very blanket assumption, and one that really can’t be proven, other than anecdotally.  I don’t like to make assumptions.  

Lack of time for writing lessons?  Likely a major factor, especially with the continual emphasis over the last 4-5 decades specifically centered on reading instruction.

Lack of fine motor skills due to technology use?  Perhaps.  Again, not really sure that could be truly studied.

I could go on, with many, many more possible reasons. But that kind of blame game gets us nowhere. 

All we can do is focus on what we can control. And all we can control is how we use our instructional time with our students.  Whether you’re a teacher, instructional coach, or school leader, we all share the same control, just at differing levels.

So let’s start with the basics.  

Think of the instructional day like a pizza.  Each slice is devoted to different aspects of instruction.  There’s a math slice, a science slice, a lunch and recess slice, etc.  

What does the literacy slice look like?  Well, in some schools, there’s a reading slice, a phonics slice, and even a phonemic awareness slice (which is a topic for another time).  Some schools stop there.  Some schools leave off the writing slice entirely.  If that’s your situation, your first mode of action needs to be to slim down some other slices to leave room for writing.

But I would guess that in reality, most schools do have a separate slice devoted to writing.  

Either way, when you consider the whole pizza, then home in on the amount of time actually devoted to writing lessons, it’s still a small slice of time.  In other words, given the student need in writing skill development, this small slice of time isn’t enough.

And that’s where the real problem lies.

Writing is not a skill that improves through occasional exposure. It improves through frequent, consistent, low-stakes practice.

Imagine trying to lose 10 pounds by only cutting calories one day a week. Or trying to become a stronger runner but only running once or twice a week. Progress would be slow at best.

Writing development works the same way. Students need many opportunities throughout the day to learn and apply the skills; not just during a specific lesson during “writing time.”

So what do we do?  

The time we have available to us is very finite.  After all, we still have to teach math, and we still have to feed them and let them play outside.  And we can’t extend the day (nor do we want to!).  All we can do is use the time we do have most effectively.

The solution isn’t about carving out a larger slice of time for writing instruction.  

Instead, it’s thinking differently about how writing lessons fit into the day we already have.

It’s why I advocate for the reading and writing slices to be combined, so instruction is de-siloed and we have more time.  

Whether using a combined approach or not, it means thinking of writing instruction as not just a single slice of the whole pizza, but also the pepperoni that gets distributed over the entire thing.

Writing lessons can be easily woven into the entire day.  

The first place to start? 

Bring writing into your content lessons.  This is the entire premise of The Writing Revolution, and is such a natural way to weave in writing.  Check out my previous post for three very simple ways to begin this work for more on this.  

Another easy place to begin is by weaving in authentic grammar instruction in just about every class throughout the day through writing gist statements, which is something Leslie Laud, co-author of Releasing Writers, talks about all the time.  She often says that we can embed all of our grammar instruction as a part of the expansion of gist statements over the course of a school year. Done this way, there should be no need at all for any isolated grammar instruction.  I also share many more ideas for improving grammatical structures in students’ writing here.  

Getting the idea?  

It’s all about sprinkling the pepperoni–writing instruction–into every slice of the day.  Jennifer Serravallo is a big proponent of this, reminding us that “it’s easier to work in more writing when you realize that writing (like reading) doesn’t belong exclusively in the language arts block.” It’s the basis for her excellent book, Teaching Writing Across the Day.  

Bringing writing lessons into the entire day is the key.  The secret pizza sauce, if you will.  Instead of siloed writing instruction that gets only a small sliver of time, this shift gives it much more attention.  Which in turn means much, much more opportunity for students to apply the learning.  

It’s not just about writing skills, either.  There’s another reason writing deserves more space in the day.

Writing about what they’re learning about strengthens the learning, no matter the content area.  Why?  Because writing is one of the most powerful ways for students to clarify and deepen their thinking. 

When students put ideas into words, whether through a quick sentence, a short explanation, or a longer response, they process information more deeply.  This is something the research has supported for a very long time.  Check out these reports from 1977, 2004, 2007, and 2020 to dig into this topic even more.

The bottom line is that if we really want to see improved student skills, writing shouldn’t be confined to a single slice of the day.

It should be sprinkled everywhere.

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Who is Coach from the Couch??  I’m Michelle, a 25+ year veteran educator, currently a K-5 literacy coach.  I continue to learn alongside teachers in classrooms each and every day, and it’s my mission to support as many teachers as I can, because no one can do this work alone. Through virtual coaching calls, I’m available to you, too.  I absolutely love working with teachers around the country to solve their literacy puzzles! Simply email me at michelle@coachfromthecouch.com or reach out for a coaching call!

Or, consider joining my Facebook community–a safe, supportive environment (really–no blaming or shaming allowed!)  where you can ask questions, learn ideas, and share your thoughts among other literacy-loving educators!