Interactive Writing

Interactive Writing is a type of shared writing strategy. During this strategy the teacher and students write together to compose and record a co-constructed text. The teacher models how successful writers generate and then organise their ideas as they guide or scaffold students to record the text. The teacher records words that are already known, so that the students can strategise around words that challenge them. As writing takes place, the teacher observes and decides what should be the focus for a next interactive writing session(s). This strategy acknowledges and uses what students collectively know and can do, to teach new skills. It provides explanations about writing. Because  interactive writing involves the students in the physical act of writing, it is a powerful teaching approach for advancing students’ overt awareness of spelling strategies and of handwriting skills.  Interactive writing is best used as a small group strategy, which allows for close attention to students’ writing attempts.

Interactive writing needs to be meaningful and relevant to the students. The writing might relate to a shared classroom or school experience, link to ideas and concepts related to a learning topic, or respond to a text that has been read or viewed.

Interactive writing will reflect typical processes involved in the construction of a written text: planning (through talk), drafting or composing, re-reading and revising, before it being in a form to share with others (McCarrier, Fountas & Pinnell, 1999).

Teacher Support During Interactive Writing 

Students record words they already know, and the teacher prompts or offers suggestions as to ways that a particular word outside of the student's repertoire might be approached. The teacher might support the students in interactive writing by:

• encouraging students to take up the pen, marker or keyboard and listen for the sounds in single phonemes within words, digraphs, blends, etc. within the construction of meaningful text.

• engaging students with more sophisticated strategies, such as those dealing with compound words, contractions, word families or morphemes, that will support the spelling of more complex words.  

• encouraging students to think about the syllables in words, analogy (is there another word like this one that I already know?) and the integration of different strategies (Does it look right? Does it sound right?).

•  encouraging students to draw on etymological and other more sophisticated strategies for successful spelling. 

Organisation

• The teacher writes on a whiteboard or large paper. The students can share the teacher's pen or write in their writing books.

• Both the teacher and students should have a practice/ 'have a go' area set aside to be used throughout the lesson.

• Text should be limited, increasing the length and complexity as students become more experienced writers. 

• The teacher makes flexible decisions about what should be written and supports the students to write chosen parts independently.