Starting the School Year with Your Writing Students

The new school year is here! And one big question you may be asking is: what should your students keep their writing in? 3 ring-binders, tri-fold folders, bullet journals… the list of choices goes on and on.

Of course, you want to choose the right materials. While all these options (and many more) will work well, we recommend going with a 3 ring-binder. But how should they organize their binders?

At Writing with Design, we’ve discovered that young writers work best when it all can be compartmentalized a bit more. This is especially true in the upper grades, as subjects grow more complex.

Try this: schedule a strategy session with each of your young writers. Then show them how dividing their binder into the 3 WWD writing domains can help them focus on each type of writing. Next, drill down to divide each domain into resources on one side and writing on the other. Here’s an example taken from a 5th grade WWD classroom:

Info Resources

Info Writing

Op/Arg Resources

Op/Arg Writing

Narrative Resources

Narrative Writing

On the writing tabs, they can keep their actual Mind Designs and drafts. And on the resource tabs, they can keep relevant assets such as transitional words, Mind Design information, academic vocabulary words and definitions, and research articles. Best of all, many of the resources that students need are in the Student Writer Guides that you can find in the WWD store!