“How To” Write: Using the Genre to Teach the Genre: Reflective Practice

The Context:

My kindergarteners are currently writing “how to” books about a variety of topics. The following are a sampling of some of their creative ideas: “How To Take a Shower” (First, walk into the bathroom…); “How To Buy a House” (Next, get $1,000,000 at the bank…); “How To Play Hide and Seek” (Then, find a kid…); and “How To Ride a Unicycle” (Last, hold on tight with your hands…?! Huh?). Kindergarteners come up with the most wonderful ideas!

Procedural writing can be very straightforward and approachable for children because the genre is inherently structured. They learn they need to sequentially tell the steps of “how to” do or make something using a combination of drawings, labels, and sentences. They learn they need to be specific with their language so the reader can actually follow the steps (or at least, that’s the hope!). And they learn they can even spice up their writing with warnings and tips to clue the reader in on what could go wrong. As long as a child has a basic understanding of the writing process itself, they are able to produce book after book in this genre because the process is highly repetitive.

Sometimes, however, there are children who have still not caught on to the fundamentals of writing that I have been teaching since September. For whatever reason, they become lost in their own thoughts during mini lessons and independent practice, or they haven’t yet taken ownership of the writing process because they lack confidence or a fundamental understanding of what it means to express your ideas using pictures and words. When this happens, my mind starts to race with questions. What are they missing? What am I missing? What supports and scaffolds do they still need? Where are they getting stuck and where are they finding success? Why do they need my help every step of the way?

As a Teacher:

To address some of my questions, I decided to break down the steps of “how to” write using the procedural process of the genre itself. My idea was to model “how to write a book about how to write a book.” My goal was for the kids who were still struggling with how to get from point A (topic / idea) to point B (book with four steps) would benefit from even more explicit instruction about the writing process using the procedural writing genre to teach it. Are you with me?

The image above shows how I used sequencing, drawings, and modeling to essentially “re-teach” the writing process but in a very simplified and straightforward manner. I did not want to overwhelm my students who were already confused, but I also wanted the visual models to directly correlate to the genre of writing that we were working within (“how to”). I began by asking the class to help me sequence the four drawings I created for “How To Write” (Think, Draw, Label, Write Sentences). Then using those steps, I began thinking aloud about my own book, which I called “How to Write a How To Book.” I used interactive writing to target specific students who I wanted to engage by either asking them to find or write specific sight words or use invented spelling to stretch out tricky words (“thek” = think). Before sending students off to write I had them repeat back the four steps I wanted them to follow. Then, while students were working, if I noticed them looking to me for support, I would first direct them to look at the board to see which step they were ready for next.

The Bottom Line:

I’m a firm believer that when I encounter a problem, I need to approach it with inquiry by asking myself questions before I can have any answers, let alone a plan for what to try next. In this case, the problem was that some of my kindergarten students were still not internalizing the very structure of the writing process, even after seven months of being in school. It felt like they still needed me to walk them through every step of the way (i.e. “First you need to get a pen…”) even though they had done this countless times before. Since we are currently working in the genre of procedural writing, my goal was to use the genre itself as an opportunity to model the steps of how to write a book while at the same time making the steps manageable and accessible for my struggling students.

While one stand-alone lesson is not a cure-all, I feel satisfied with the way that my students–even the ones who sometimes wait for me to tell them what to do, were able to move forward in their writing with a bit more independence and self-assurance that day.