From Memory to Mastery

Writing teachers know that building writing skills can be complex, from the physical demands of forming letters or typing on a keyboard, to generating ideas, organizing them, and then holding onto them long enough to get them down in a way that makes sense. Coordinating the skills with the materials, ideas, and cognitive demands can be overwhelming.

Writing is a Brain-Based Process

Writing is a visual, sensory, and motor activity, connecting and activating multiple parts of the brain simultaneously. Two big players in this process are the neocortex and the hippocampus. The hippocampus is like a rope that guides us to new information we’ve just learned. The neocortex acts like the library shelves that store our long-term knowledge. When students practice recalling information, the links between the hippocampus and neocortex strengthen. Interestingly, a lot of this strengthening occurs when at rest.

Building Automaticity

In the early years, writing takes a lot of brainpower. A first-grade writer often has to stop and think about how to form a letter, spell a tricky word, or what type of punctuation to use. At this stage, the hippocampus is doing a lot of the heavy lifting and guiding students to the correct information. But with repeated practice, those skills move to the neocortex and become automatic.

Then the magic happens! When spelling, punctuation, and simple sentence structures become automatic, students require less effort to perform these skills, and more mental space is opened up to focus on bigger and more complex tasks. Building automatization is about creating structures and routines that provide frequent opportunities for practice and recall.

Practices that Support Brain Processes

As teachers, we may focus on conveying information to our students through modeling and explaining. Though these are valuable demonstration tools to set the stage for learning, retrieving the information through practice is what really cements the understanding for future use. This can be an uncomplicated process. Here are some simple strategies to try for retrieval practice:

• Word Burst: When introducing new vocabulary or transition words like because, suddenly, or before, have students jot a sentence using the word.
• Sum it Up: At the beginning or end of a lesson, ask students to say or write one thing from the previous lesson. You might nudge with a simple reminder like, “Yesterday we talked about when to use an exclamation point. What is something you remember?”
• Sentence Building: Start with a simple sentence and ask students to expand it with a detail that is not included. For example, “The fish swam” could become, “The orange fish swam quickly.”
• Think-Pair-Square-Share: A quick twist on Think-Pair-Share, which encourages two pairs to join together before sharing to encourage more ideas during the share portion. This also allows those who have less to say or share to hear more examples and ideas (Oakley & Sejnowski, 2021).
• One-Minute Edit: Focused retrieval of one skill allows students to reduce the cognitive load of editing an entire piece, while providing great practice. Editing for capital letters in names only, or end marks for each sentence, provides a quick retrieval of a small skill.

Writing is more than just words on the page; it’s a full-brain workout! Building our understanding of how the brain creates and strengthens connections through practice, rest, and retrieval can better support students. Consistent routines and strategies for retrieval, like word bursts and one-minute edits, don’t just sharpen skills; they create lasting pathways for deeper understanding and automatization. By leaning into brain-friendly practices, teachers can take the overwhelming juggling act of teaching writing and empower themselves and their students toward focused and deeper expression.

Digging Deeper

Writing and Working Memory

Agarwal, P. K., & Bain, P. M. (2024). Powerful teaching: Unleash the science of learning. John Wiley & Sons.

Hu, C. (2024). Why writing by hand is better for memory and learning. Scientific American.

Oakley, B., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2021). Uncommon sense teaching: Practical insights in brain science to help students learn. Penguin.

Uluşan, A. R. (2018). A cognitive approach to writing skill and the importance of practice. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, (13), 226-235.