Scaffolding Writing with Graphic Organizers

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Hey educators! How are you supporting writing with your Language Learners? Take 5 minutes to reflect on this question. 

Writing is a huge part of productive language and is often a skill that most teachers do not feel comfortable teaching. There are some that just tip-toe around (I was this person) and cross their fingers that it works itself out. 

In my early days of teaching, writing was a skill that I often feel like I neglected. My idea of writing was a print and go worksheet with a writing prompt attached. I know I was terrified to teach my students writing, and it reflected in my lessons. I was teaching the domains that I felt most comfortable teaching. I wasn’t addressing writing in my classroom because I didn’t feel comfortable teaching. 

That is when I decided to jump in and conquer all of my writing fears! The first step I took was to observe how my Language Learners were writing. It immediately jumped out at me that they needed some structure in how they wrote. I was using graphic organizers, but I knew that even the graphic organizers I was using needed more structure. I wanted my students to have specific steps on how to write effective paragraphs and essays. 

I first learned and studied the writing rubrics provided by my state and proficiency exam that is required by Language Learners. I then broke down what needs to be included in the paragraph and/or essay to be successful. Once that was completed, I created a rubric, checklist, and graphic organizer that includes those components. 

If you would like to see some examples of my writing rubrics and writing graphic organizers, then visit my Teacher Pay Teacher store My Adventures in ESL. You will also find your FREE Writing Prompts with my Paragraph Builder.

What are some of your favorite graphic organizers to use with writing? Share your comments below.