Partnering With Parents in the Writing Classroom

Writing is a complex act that requires students' concentrated time and effort to master—time and effort that teachers strain to find in a crowded curriculum. Despite this struggle to prioritize writing, students in the 21st century need writing skills to participate in the workplace, academia, economy, and democracy. If writing skills really are this essential, teachers and administrators must seek creative solutions to find time to develop students into effective writers. Overlooked resources to address this problem of instructional time for writing are students' parents and families. By enlisting the help of parents, teachers might acquire the time and resources needed to effectively teach writing. Teachers can partner with parents by asking parents to respond to writing, creating family writing projects, encouraging parents to serve as writing role models, inviting parents to volunteer in the Writing Workshop, and supporting parents as they create their own writing experiences at home.