(infographic created by Vanessa Veenstra , February 2017)
Graves (1985) had amazing ideas about how to teach writing. This seminal piece had great ideas and I decided to transform those ideas into a guidebook for teachers. This guidebook/pamphlet is a quick summary of important things to remember when teaching writing.
In addition to the important ideas about the teaching of writing, Graves also had many ideas about teaching writing to students with disabilities. It is vital for all students, including students with disabilities, to know their strengths. Oftentimes, students with disabilities are self-diagnosed “poor writers” and are “well-versed” in what they cannot do. Students are also connecting their vast writing problems to a lack of worthwhile ideas and experiences and therefore have many negative connotations when it comes to writing. It is important for teachers to know that all students have ideas and can create meaning in their writing. No two students will come into the classroom with the same experiences, and that is something a teacher can use to his or her benefit. Students can use their knowledge to teach others and this can certainly be done through writing. If students are acknowledged and told that they have good ideas, they will come to the page and be able to write their thoughts. If they come to the page with a history filled with problems, they are predisposed to run from them.
As Pinnell and Fountas state in chapter 13, there are so many various types of writing and students are bound to gravitate towards one or excel in one area. It is important for teachers to work on student strengths, and when given the chance to read student’s work, it is imperative to focus on word flow, etc., and then choose one skill to help the student with. Writing is a great tool to use to get to know students and it is vital to not make writing a punishment or something that students dread. Make writing FUN and interesting and students will learn to love it. Writing is a process that can be enjoyed by all, as long as they are given the correct tools to succeed.
Multimodal Critical Literacy Blog 
Vanessa,
I love your infographic! It looks great. The amount of information that it contains is phenomenal. Many of the points that you mentioned, I also mentioned. I mainly used the Graves, (1985) reading to create my own infographic, I took a completely different approach (you will see if you look at my blog!). I really enjoyed your blog, and your infographic!
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Hey Vanessa! Your infographic has so much detail and great information in it! I love the way you laid it out so that we can see each part and what it means. You really went into detail about how writing should be taught and how it can be beneficial in the classroom. I used many of the same points that you stated so it’s interesting to see that someone else thinks the same way that I do! I specifically love your point about making writing fun and interesting. We need to engage our students and have them be exited about writing and not dreading it; we just need to be given the right tools to succeed! That is an extremely valuable point! Love this post!
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