Formal and Informal Writing with Conventions

I use conventions in my writer’s notebook and in e-mails. I tend to write with proper conventions when I’m IM-ing since I know it makes my message easier for my reader to decode when we’re writing back and forth rapidly. I write with conventions when I jot notes to my husband. I consistently write with conventions since proper grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling allows other people to easily understand the idea I’m trying to convey.

I’ve noticed that children, and many adults, do not use conventions consistently when they write. Many people pick and choose when they’ll write with conventions since it requires less thinking to abandon them. However, I think it is incumbent upon us to get our students to write with conventions consistently so they will be heard accurately every time they put their writing out into the world.

If you notice some of your students’ writing is lacking conventions, for example, they’re not writing with conventions in their notebooks, take the time to explicitly teach them how you do that same kind of writing with conventions. Think-aloud as you demonstrate doing notebook writing where you’re being intentional about your use of conventions. Talk through your decisions to insert different kinds of punctuation. Talk through difficult words as you attempt to spell them. Talk through the placement of words as you structure your sentences so they convey meaning and will make sense to someone else who is reading your writing. This kind of explicit instruction, when repeated, will encourage your students to use conventions with greater consistency in their own writing. It might not happen immediately, but if they see you being thoughtful and consistent about the way you communicate with your words, they will begin to emulate what you do.

So a little challenge:  Identify places where your students are writing without conventions. Do some that writing on your own with intentionality about the way you’re using conventions. Then, plan a minilesson that will convey the need for consistently using conventions when you write like that.