It can be difficult to motivate students that are generally not fond of writing. They can become tired of writing classroom essays that are only seen by the teacher. Plus, students might dread having to be graded on their writing. In fact, some of the world’s best professional authors did not do so well with writing in school. Mark Twain is one of these authors that loved to write, but hated school and did not like the process of grades being given on his creativity.
Instead of asking students to continuously write essays in the classroom, provide them a reason to show their writing skills in another way. And this does not have to wait until they are in their high school years. Even young students can submit their writing for possible publishing to certain companies and publications. You just need to know where to look.
Local Newspapers
Newspapers are always looking for submissions from students and will usually publish them if it relates to what they are trying to inform their readers about. Of course, this writing will not be fiction, but more of an opinion piece.
Students could write about changes needed in education, why there is a need for a new park in town, or why extracurriculars in schools should not be eliminated. All of these topics typically are hot issues for local newspapers. Being able to have a student’s perspective is something most newspaper editors will jump at.
Online Websites
Websites are always after interesting content. The more people who visit their site, the more traffic that comes their way, the better the website will do. Find a website that corresponds with a student’s interest and have them create suitable content in hopes of having it published online. There are almost two billion websites online, so students will have plenty of options where their writing deals with fitness, education, fiction, or anything in between.
Create Their Own Blog
Everyone and their brother has a blog nowadays. It is not difficult to do either with plenty of ways to create a free website. If the blog gains popularity, a student could even make some money from it by selling ads to businesses. And the best thing about creating a blog is that the student will have full control of what they are writing about. It is amazing how carefully they will craft their writing when they actually realize how many people may be reading it.
Write Their Own Novel
How many adults have you encountered that are still talking about writing their novel someday? They will say they have it all written out in their head, but just have to put it down on paper. The sad thing is that eventually time will run out and their novel will never be available for others to read.
No matter their age, students can start writing their own novels. With the use of a chromebook, an inexpensive computer device, and a free version of Google Docs, they can start their writing and it will automatically be available to them without fear of losing it since it is all contained in the magical and mystical cloud.
Not long ago, 18-year-old Christopher Paolini became a best-selling author with more than 33 million copies sold of his Eragon book. Jake Marcionette was only 12-years-old when he wrote his novel Just Jake. Eventually, his book was rated number seven on the New York Times bestseller list for children’s middle-grade books. S.E. Hinton was only 15 when she started writing the classic The Outsiders. How do you know you don’t have future famous authors in your school at this moment?
LightSail Can Be of Assistance
LightSail is a comprehensive online literacy platform that enables students to broaden their literacy skills. Not only does LightSail have thousands of books available online for students and Lexile quizzes for them to take on the books when finished, but LightSail promotes writing as well. Students can publish their own books on LightSail for all to see so others can enjoy their creative minds as well.
Posted on 8.Aug.21 in Literacy Strategies
