Balance Creativity and Technical Writing Skills: 5 Strategies for Your Writers

Listen to the full episode to hear 5 strategies that provide a balance of writing skills:

With most things, balance is the key to life. It’s about finding the right amount between two things, not having too much or too little. Well, the same can be said with writing skills. We’ve established before that writing can be difficult and is a challenge for a lot of students, so it’s finding the right balance between interest and skill. In today’s episode, I’m sharing 5 strategies you can start using with your students that give you a balance of writing skills between creativity and technical writing.

When two concepts are on opposite ends of the spectrum, we tend to teach them separately, when really, they should happen inter-connectedly. It’s important for students to understand that writing is fun and engaging, while also displaying proper technical accuracy. 

In order to create this balance of writing skills, I’ve come up with 5 strategies that pulls out student creativity, along with paying attention to technical writing, which are:

1. Provide student choice and voice in their writing
2. Model effective writing techniques
3. Incorporate a variety of writing experiences in your classroom
4. Find a balance between creative expression and technical accuracy
5. Encourage reading

Finding this balance of writing skills can be a complex and challenging task, but is achieved through the right approach and these 5 strategies. Showing students the balance will help them value both creativity and technical accuracy, while also striving to improve in each area to eventually become confident, skilled, and expressive writers!

In this episode on finding a balance of writing skills, I share:

• Why writing needs both creativity and technical accuracy to be effective
• 5 strategies that foster creativity, but pays attention to technical writing
• How reading visually shows students correct writing behavior
• Modeling is the key when providing a balance between the two
• Tips to exposing students to a variety of writing topics that creates experimentation

Resources Mentioned:

• Join the Writing Made Simple Membership
• Monthly Writing Prompts Free Sample
• Monthly Writing Prompts
• Writing Center Posters & Writing Paper Templates 
• Episode 32, Diving Into Your Q&As: How Do You Set Up Effective Writing Centers?

Connect with Megan:

• Check out my TpT Store
• Subscribe to my E-mail list
• Instagram Posts
• Blog Posts
• Facebook Posts

About The Literacy Dive Podcast:

Do you find yourself seeking new ideas when it comes to literacy instruction in elementary classrooms? The Literacy Dive Podcast was created to offer actionable steps and to share information for teachers, like you, who are always looking to improve their craft! ELA is our jam and we are excited to dive into all things reading and writing with you!

Your host, Megan Polk, is the creator and owner behind The Literacy Dive and loves to support students and their teachers with curriculum, literacy instruction, best practices, and engaging literacy activities.

Dive in with us every Monday for a new episode from Megan! She, and her guests, will chat about various literacy topics and will bring you tips and tricks that can easily be implemented in your classrooms. You can tune in wherever you get your podcasts! Listen to The Literacy Dive Podcast