Reluctant Writers: 4 Simple Ideas That Got My Students Writing

Every class has a few reluctant writers, the kids who groan “I hate to write” before the pencil even comes out. These four ideas got my reluctant writers writing, and even liking it: drawing before or after writing, yellow notepads for rough drafts, clipboards, and writer’s notebooks they decorated themselves. None of them are fancy, but they worked.

Helping reluctant writers: a teacher working with a small group of students at a table

4 ideas that got my reluctant writers writing

Let them draw, then write

Most of my students who didn’t like to write LOVED to draw. Whenever I could, I gave them some drawing time before or after writing time, and it made a real difference in their motivation.

Give rough drafts their own yellow notepad

All of my students wrote their rough drafts on yellow notepads. It worked for a few reasons:

Students could tell a rough draft from a final draft at a glance.
The pages are bigger than a composition notebook’s and have more lines, so students could skip lines for editing and revising later without filling 50 pages.
It’s yellow! I don’t know why, but they loved writing on yellow paper because it was “different.”

Yellow notepads students used for rough drafts — Yellow notepads for rough drafts

Hand out clipboards

I kept a class set of clipboards. Writing at their desks was boring to my students, but lying on the floor or sitting against the wall with a clipboard? They could write all day!

Let students personalize their writer’s notebooks

This idea worked wonders on my students’ motivation to write. My school had a registration day a few days before school started, when students met their teachers and parents filled out paperwork. While parents were busy, I told students I was giving them their first homework assignment. Most of them looked at me with horror. Homework before school even starts?! Then I handed them a note asking them to decorate their writer’s notebook.

They really got into it. Some glued on pictures of their family, some used scrapbook stickers, some added pictures of a favorite celebrity, and some drew pictures. Every notebook was different, which was the point! When they brought them in, a parent volunteer and I wrapped the covers in clear packing tape. That held everything on, and the covers lasted all year.

Student-decorated writing notebooks that helped motivate reluctant writers

What happened nextMy students loved pulling out their notebooks to write, and they loved showing them off, too.

Free take-home note: the one-page note I sent home with students. It asks them to decorate only the front and back covers with things that show who they are, put their name on the front, and bring the notebook back by a date you fill in.

Get the free note