Finding a Voice: How C3WP Helps Students Become Confident Writers Through The Practice of Routine Argument Writing

Elizabeth M. Watson 
East Marion High School

Before C3WP
As an Upper-Elementary and Middle School English Language Arts teacher for several years, teaching writing had always been my biggest struggle. Looking back, I realize now the magnitude of the disservice I did to teaching the art of writing to those students. As my students would complete various writing assignments (informative, narrative, and argumentative), I could always easily identify their areas of weakness; however, I never truly felt like I provided effective instruction to help them improve. I would, of course, always try my best and they would say they understood; however, the same mistakes would frequently surface in their next essays.

At the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, I was introduced to Robin Atwood, director of the South Mississippi Writing Project. The College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) was beginning its implementation in our school district and I was a part of the selected group of teachers to participate in its study. I did not fully comprehend, at this time, what a blessing this would be in my life as an educator, but I would soon find out.

Introduction to C3WP
Once I realized the requirements of this program, I was not excited. After years of frustration with attempting to teach writing, I had already decided that I was not cut out to be a writing teacher. Programs and resources I tried in the past were not effective, so why would C3WP be any different? Why should I spend so much time utilizing this particular program when I needed to focus on our state assessment? These were just a couple of the questions going through my mind. Although I was skeptical, I introduced C3WP to my students and our journey began.

A Journey of a Lifetime
When my students completed their first writing piece, I recognized a trend: All of my students struggled with writing nuanced claims (some did not include a claim at all), and the incorporation of relatable evidence from credible outside sources was lacking. While commentary was present, it was not purposeful and failed to connect the evidence to the student’s claim. Through the practice of routine argument writing, I observed each of my students progress from being inexperienced, doubtful writers to being able to confidently respond to a topic while using numerous outside sources from multiple perspectives.

In one of our many professional learning sessions, Robin taught us that routine argument writing consists of regular informal writing practices. These practices are not meant to be scored or graded, as their purpose is to build stamina and capacity for writing arguments while ultimately creating a culture of argument in the classroom. I believe the most important aspect of this practice is conversation. After completing a writing practice, my students were always given the opportunity to share with their classmates. As the year progressed, the conversations did as well. Students who were not comfortable sharing their thoughts in the beginning were respectfully debating the ideas of their peers by the Spring. Others who struggled with utilizing credible sources as a foundation to their chosen claim were defending their thoughts with relevant evidence. By learning how to have respectful conversations with one another and becoming masters of using the conversation starters, one of many valuable resources provided by C3WP, my students were able to transform into articulate, confident writers and finally discovered that they each had a voice of their own.

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Elizabeth Watson teaches 7th grade ELA at East Marion High School, where she also serves as a member of the MTSS Committee and advisor of the Student Council. Libby has been an educator for 12 years.