“Who are you writing this for?”

This question and the following conversation is a powerful move in regard to engagement in writing. 

Students need to write for someone that matters to them, someone that cares about their topic for authentic reasons–parents, friends, people in the community, their coaches, etc. When they can do this and share their experiences, interests, and ideas, they’re more likely to be engaged (Boswell 2021). 

We have to be honest when we assign work with the only audience being the teacher and the only purpose being that it was assigned. There’s little motivation here for students. You hear a lot about real-world learning and project-based learning tied to community needs and the foundation of those practices is authentic learning.  Writing is no different. We have to provide a meaningful authentic reason for writing. Having a particular person or group in mind that you’re writing for, brings value and purpose to the work that doesn’t exist when it’s simply assigned and the teacher is the only one who looks at it.  

Here’s an example: Kadence, a kindergarten student, started the year and was confused by the question, “Who are you writing this for?’  She would oftentimes say, ‘Ummm….maybe my dad or my friends or somebody else?”  She looked at the teacher wondering if she was saying “the right” answer.  Overtime, Kadence’s teacher taught her that we write for the purpose of sharing our ideas with others and she got to choose who might want or need to read her books.  After a few units into the year, Kadence’s teacher would sit down with her and before she could ask “Who are you writing this for,” Kadence would start the conversation and say, “I’ve already decided. I’m writing this book for my babysitter (for example), because she loves presidents and my book is about John Adams.”  With each book Kadence wrote, she looked forward to handing that book over to whomever she was writing it for.  It increased engagement and proficiency because she cared more. 

This is a simple move, but you will need to model this process. Think out loud as you begin a writing and process who might want to read that particular book with that topic and in that genre.  Embed the question “Who are you writing this for?” into every unit you have.  It will make a difference. 

And, if you can make this a common practice in your classroom, it will impact their writing this year and beyond.