Week 8

Best Practices in Writing Instruction

By: Steve Graham
Chapters 10 and 11

Chapters 10 and 11 of this writing guide are crucial for teachers who want to teach
practical writing skills to their students. Chapter 10 provides valuable insights into teaching
sentence construction, sentence combining exercises, and the importance of grammar. Sentence
structure is the physical presentation of sentence elements, and sentence-combining exercises
have been proven to increase writing fluency. As a future teacher, I plan to use the learn-see-do
structure to make sentence-combining exercises more engaging and effective for my students.
Incorporating fun games into the process can make learning sentence structure more enjoyable
for students. Furthermore, Chapter 11 emphasizes the importance of planning in the writing
process. Effective planning is the foundation of effective writing and is often overlooked or not
given enough attention. The chapter introduces the five Ws, which are common questions that
journalists ask: Who? What? Where? When? and Why? By answering these questions, students
can organize their thoughts and ideas and produce a well-planned story. As a future teacher, I
plan to incorporate planning effectively into my teaching to make the writing process more
enjoyable and organized for my students.
Moreover, the concepts presented in these chapters can be applied to various writing
genres, such as persuasive, descriptive, and narrative writing. By teaching sentence construction
and planning, teachers can equip their students with the necessary tools to become effective
writers in different fields. Additionally, these skills are transferable to real-life situations such as
writing emails, reports, and proposals. Therefore, the knowledge gained from these chapters can
prove to be invaluable to students not only in their academic lives but also in their future careers.
In conclusion, Chapters 10 and 11 of this writing guide provide valuable insights into
teaching effective writing skills to students. By using sentence-combining exercises and
emphasizing the importance of planning, teachers can help their students become more proficient
writers. Effective writing skills are crucial for success in academic and professional settings, and
it is the responsibility of teachers to equip their students with these skills. As a future teacher, I
will use the knowledge gained from these chapters to guide my teaching and help my students
become confident writers who can effectively convey their ideas through writing.

Graham, Steve, et al. Best Practices in Writing Instruction. Guilford Press, 2019.