As a teenager, I would hand my first drafts of writing assignments to my father. They would come back covered in traditional red ink, my father’s angular handwriting filling the page. His comments ranged from my usage of “who” versus “whom” to whether I had considered reordering the sentences in paragraph two. Though I sometimes opted to hand my essay to my mother instead because she would invariably respond with minor feedback and a cheerful “Good job!” the truth is that I knew it was my father who was teaching me how to write well.

For a variety of different reasons, most of the students in our classrooms do not have this luxury. They rely solely on us, their teachers, to teach them how to write. Yet many students, upon entering my classroom, have told me that they are not confident when it comes to expressing themselves through writing. These are the kind of questions they ask: How do I start? How do I introduce a piece of evidence in my own words? Which sentence starters can I use to begin to explain how the evidence supports my claim? How do I transition appropriately from one example to the next or from one paragraph to another?

Ultimately, many of their questions are about how to structure their writing in a way that allows them to convey their ideas clearly and logically.

What can we, as teachers of many different disciplines, do to help? Over the past few years, after discussions with many students and teachers, I have come to believe that what often ends up being left out of writing instruction and yet is at the heart of teaching students how to write is guided practice — specifically guided practice in the form of interactive writing.

Let me explain. Good teaching is often summarized to new teachers as the three-part process of “I do — we do — you do,” also known as “direct instruction — guided practice — independent practice.” Yet when it comes to writing instruction, most students skip over guided practice: Many teachers give their students a model of what they are expecting, such as a sample persuasive paragraph, then they discuss its structure as a class and soon after students are expected to write their own.

Models are crucial, but that falls under the category of direct instruction and should be considered only the first step. Our students need guided practice — the second part of the process — to become truly effective writers. In the guided-practice portion of a math class, for example, the teacher and students talk through a problem on the board and the teacher asks the students what the next step should be and why. Completing the math problem has become a collaborative decision-making process. Students need to see that decision-making process in action in writing as well. Teachers and students should work hand in hand to write a model together; this is what interactive writing is all about.

For the past few years, I have been using interactive writing with my students. It requires few resources and is completely worth the time and energy. Though it may sound tedious, my students and I even write out full Regents critical lens essays, either on chart paper or a chalkboard or by using a document camera. I write as we talk through, step by step, what to write next. It is very helpful to plan out the questions you are going to ask ahead of time and to have a sample final product on hand to which you can refer to ensure that the writing stays on track.

I use different color markers for various essential parts of the essay, such as blue for transition words and phrases, green for cited textual evidence and so forth. As I write down what we have agreed upon, students write it down in their notebooks so they have their own copies of our collaborative work. Students frequently tell me that they have never before had a teacher “show” them how to write and that for the first time they understand the expectations.

As you think about the next writing assignment you will be giving your students, consider experimenting with a day or two of interactive writing. Your students, like mine, will thank you later.