For SEN students, emphasizing on a structure can be useful for them to internalise how to go about writing different types of tasks. Other fundamentals of functioning like behaviour management, social skills etc also touch on the same requirements as needed in teaching writing, such as frequent feedback, targetted advice, and motivation.

-Strategy I can adopt is encouraging journal writing where students can write freely about their topics of interest and ultimately makes writing enjoyable and thus increase their writing proficiency. It is also a good avenue for students dealing with any emotional issues where they need to “vent” it out.

-Specific and intentional marking is effective to point out areas of improvements that we want students to take note of.

Explicit teaching is important - things like drafting, organising ideas, writing paragraphs, and editing are important for building strong writing foundation.

can teach writing using ARMS strategy which complements the C.O.P.S checklist well.

there are a variety of strategies available to help our students become proficient writers.

hamburger strategy (top bun, middle filling, bottom bun)🍔 and ARMS strategy.

Learning to write helps improve reading, and learning to read helps improve writing.

They build on each other.

Students need to understand why they are writing. Copying isn’t real learning — they need to connect their writing to what they’re learning.

Then the Framed Paragraph is good for us to have a guided way to write. Sometimes we need starters and a way forward to write.

Writing small chunks daily definitely is good.

The way teachers mark writings now is also different from the way I went through last time.

Learning this also helps me to help my children better! Now the Rocket links is a splendid link to have!

I will pick out Prof Liz methods to practice in school once I posted to school.

Some writing strategies we can use is the framed paragraphs for guided writing, RAFT for writing in context and COPS for revising and editing what has been written.

Writing is not used only for academic purposes. Writing can also be for other purposes e.g. writing a letter to a friend, cooking recipe. We can use the RAFT to help students identify different component before writing.

1. writing process includes planning, drafting, reviewing with peer guidance and teacher feedback

2. giving specific feedback for writing is important

3. writing can be encouraged through daily activities and built into routine eg. letter box to write to pen pals or post-it notes as exit tickets

• To encourage students to write, it is important to spark their interest and not just about writing a composition

• To break down writing, it is important to give students a writing structure such as a template

I think I would love to think of other ideas similar to this to help my students to write in the future

• learning to write can help students to read

• reading and writing processes are integrated

How the students write about they they read?

• Write a response to a text

• Summarise a text in writing

• Write notes about a text

• Answer questions about a text

Strategies to help improve writing

• ARMS strategy

• Hamburger

• COPS checklist

• RAFT strategy

My aha moment is knowing we can encourage our child to write better by using the frame sentencing method. We can start by writing short sentences instead and scaffold their learning by giving examples and topics.

- consistency

- homework --> check for understanding

- frequent feedback -- > corrects the mistakes, in sentences. . . (Focus on the target intended for improveing, just grammar/vocabualry/sentences structures.)

how can our studengts be proficient writing?

- write a journal, be expressive

- write to expressive negative thoughts, to eliminate the negative by crushing/shredding it

- write for a purpose/reason

- write more oftern

2 startegies

-framed paragraph

-RAFT

One of the writing strategy: Framed Paragraph is a guided template for writing and it's a good start for low motivation or low ability students to build on their writing.

Make the process of teaching interesting!

Writing benefits the student’s reading comprehension and fluency.

Good feedback is also important in developing the students’ writing. Try to focus on the important areas that the students need to learn and minor errors can be put aside temporarily.

When giving feedback about writing, it should be meaningful to encourage writers to continue to be motivated to write rather than being critical and nitpicky about small details.

There are several ways to improve writing, one of which is through regular writing (e.g. 30 mins everyday). However, it alone is not sufficient. It should be accompanied with guidance and explicitly teaching on writing strategies, techniques, and skills, followed by an opportunities for students to apply what they learned in their writing. Tone should be kept positive and fun to maintain students' motivation.

• Improves Clarity of Thought
  Writing forces you to organise your thoughts logically, and also increases clarity

• Boosts Memory & Learning
  Writing things down helps reinforce what you’ve learned and improves memory retention.

• Enhances Creativity
  Regular writing helps increase creativity, especially when you're free-writing or storytelling.

• Reduces Stress & Anxiety
  Journaling or expressive writing can be therapeutic, helping you process emotions.

I also like the contrast of strict marking of content on "grammar" versus the one which gave feedback on the content subject. The latter about feedback on content subject invites the student to further think about his content subject, whereas the prior on strict marking can discourage the student.

Writing is a process with many steps.

I also learnt about the different strategies. I thought the group I was sharing with was a great mashup: frame paragraph, RAFT & COPS. It seems like a good progress to use in writing.

writing can be done in a fun way so as students will love it and not dread it.. the letter writing is a very good idea to not only build rapport w the student but also subconsciously correcting their english

Sharing and learning about the different writing strategies allowed me to learn how the RAFT writing strategy, ARMS strategy for revising and COPS checklist can be used sequentially to support the students with writing.

I learnt on this new writing strategy-COPS checklist. It consists of Capitalisation, Order of words and sentences, Punctuation and Spelling. It is a good checklist for students to edit on their 1st draft before their final work submission.

The various strategies, namely ARMS, RAFT, and Hamburger, shared among groups are also interesting.

Students should be taught the various strategies since young and not be pushed for good writing yet. Only when they are given time to learn to write, will they have the courage to express freely through writing.

Reading, writing and comprehension are interrelated.

Writing does not happen in isolation.

Writing can be used as an outlet for emotional expression.

Frequent writing can help in building writing skills, improve vocabulary, and strengthen comprehension skills.

Many writing strategies were shared, such as;

1) Role Audience Format Topic (RAFT)

2) Framed Paragraph

3) Add Remove Move Substitue (ARMS) for editing

4) Teach Revision

5) Paragraph Hamburger

Writing is a process. It can help students improve their reading ability. Writing can also create positive emotions in students. I like the idea of getting students to keep a happy book. I think it would be useful when interacting with students whom I am meeting the first time.

Additionally, I found it insightful that incorporating “private text” moments between students and teachers not only enhances students’ reading and writing abilities but also helps build positive relationships and emotional connections among them.

Learn also about strategies to help students become proficient writers as well.

Reading and writing are interconnected as writing can significantly improve reading comprehension. Three core recommendations for writing instruction to enhance reading ability are:

1. Have students write about what they read – This helps reinforce understanding and improves reading comprehension.

2. Teach the writing process – Go beyond composition to include spelling, structure, and revision, which supports literacy development.

3. Encourage frequent writing – Activities like writing letters or journaling for fun can build writing habits and foster better reading skills.

Additionally, writing as homework can serve as a check for understanding and reinforce classroom learning.

I have also learn about ARMS and COPS checklists strategy for editing. I find these strategies helpful for students improve in their writing if they can read through their own writing twice to enhance it.

The idea shared about writing letter is good - old school way (pen pal)

student write letter to teacher (Teacher reply letter by replying the exact content in correct phrases)

Frequent intentional feedback is important

*Writing must be write to an audience – writing for a purpose (e.g. tone is different) Reader sensitivity

*happy Book – write something that makes you happy for the day (aha moment) - I think I can start this with my own boys. When life gets tough, read the happy book

I thought that the strategies shared were interesting and applicable!

Love the idea of a happy book because gratitude truly helps. Especially since we are always focused on negative parts in our lives.

And the idea of writing the bad thoughts and crumpling it is super symbolic.

One of my positive Aha moments was when Dr Liz shared about her "Letters to Ms Ow-Yeong" initiative. It was nice to know that even students with poorer literacy skills benefited from it — writing the letters gave them an outlet to express their thoughts and emotions while improving their writing skills over time as well.

As SENOs, we may encounter students who are resistant to writing as it has always been linked to academic assessments. Having a similar initiative where our students are given a platform to freely write without the pressure to conform to 'correct rules', may have several benefits beyond improving their writing skills.

First, it  can give them a safe outlet to release their emotional baggages especially for those who come from complicated backgrounds. This may also help them in developing emotional regulation skills. Secondly, having a back-and-forth letter writing process shows them that writing has a communicative purpose, not only to complete assignments but to express their ideas to an audience (us). Additionally, by responding to their letters, it models proper writing to students without being too overt about editing their work. Finally, it also helps us establish good rapport with the students. Keeping the communication line open lets the students know that they have a trusted adult who cares about them at school. At the same time, it also allows us to get to know our students better beyond the weekly withdrawal sessions.

Intentional marking is a good practice to focus on one aspect of the writing each time and provide meaningful feedback.

Writing can bring out both positive and negative emotions. A meaningful activity is to let students write down their negative thoughts, crumple the paper, and then write positive thoughts in a “Happy Book.” This reminded me of how my dad encouraged me to keep a diary to express my feelings. It helped me think more clearly and improve my language skills. The Paragraph Hamburger is also a useful tool to help students organize their writing better.

It helps with organising my thoughts, enhances memory retention and is therapeutic at times. In the earlier years, I find writing a cumbersome experience. This is probably due to multiple skills involved in developing sentence structures, comprehension and vocabulary. The Science of Writing states that effective writing instruction has been proven to improve reading comprehension and fluency. The more one writes, the better he will be.

One strategy for emergent writers is to provide a framework for writing.

Using the Paragraph Hamburger Organiser, it breaks down the structure of the paragraph as top bun: topic sentence, the meat: content, examples and counterarguments and bottom bun: concluding summary of the paragraph.

Adding to this strategy is the concept of Framinng Paragrahs, which helps with the Writing.  The details of this strategy have already been said earlier. Using these 2 strategies allows the writer to orgainise chunks of ideas into paragraphs which may have a flow through them. This also allows emergent writers to develop a structure in their writing.

To write better, the student would need to revise in their writing. Another technique that can be applied is using the ARMS strategy. The writer could Add, Remove, Move and Substitute, ideas, words, and paraphrase descriptions, new ideas, etc etc to further enhance their writing

Likewise, when I read my classmate's writing, not only do I get to read a potentially good story,  I am also able to take away some good learning points ; be it the plot, the structure , vocabulary that I can make for my future use!  This whole process was so fun and great learning for us, the usual sigh before class or assignments was seldom heard of! 

It was a PROCESS of learning and sharing, and not just a means to and end; writing just for grades.  This is exactly what we learned in class today!  Learning to write can help with learning to read and vice versa,  nothing is learned in isolation ; everything is connected!

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It is also interesting to see that the strategies shared are quite similar with each other. The strategies that can be used really depends on the needs of the student and what will interest the student. I also find the strategies useful for myself as i am currently writing my assignments and the strategies are very applicable on how i can improve on my writing, to make it succint yet interesting. I can imagine that if we are able to teach these strategies explicitly and by using multisensory modes with the student, it might benefit them too.

Our Tutors explain how to apply and how important WAM is to access student handwriting as SENO.

This can benefit the writer by allowing them to write and therefore in a way, control their own narrative.