Ķvlog

Opinion
Reading & Literacy Letter to the Editor

Use Letters to the Editor During Writing Instruction

September 06, 2022 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

To the Editor:

One of the most effective ways to teach writing is to have students write letters to the editor (“I Teach Writing. It’s Emotional Work,” July 15, 2022). Doing so allows them to develop the ability to express their opinions in a condensed format. It’s a discipline that can be applied to longer compositions. It’s extremely rare to have students who don’t feel strongly about issues in the news. Letters to the editor provide an outlet for their emotions.

Walt Gardner
Los Angeles, Calif.

Walt Gardner, who taught for 28 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District, blogs about education at theedhed.com. Formerly, he wrote the Reality Check opinion blog on edweek.org.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 07, 2022 edition of Education Week as Use Letters to the Editor During Writing Instruction

Events

College & Workforce Readiness Webinar How High Schools Can Prepare Students for College and Career
Explore how schools are reimagining high school with hands-on learning that prepares students for both college and career success.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
GoGuardian and Google: Proactive AI Safety in Schools
Learn how to safely adopt innovative AI tools while maintaining support for student well-being. 
Content provided by 
Reading & Literacy K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting Struggling Readers in Middle and High School
Join this free virtual event to learn more about policy, data, research, and experiences around supporting older students who struggle to read.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Reading & Literacy Districts Using 'High-Quality' Reading Curricula Still Supplement With Other Materials. Why?
A new report maps the shifting reading curriculum market.
5 min read
First grader Geniss Gibbs practices reading skills at Eastern Elementary School in Washington, N.C., on May 23, 2022.
First grader Geniss Gibbs practices reading skills at Eastern Elementary School in Washington, N.C., on May 23, 2022. Although districts are choosing new curricula purportedly aligned with evidence-based reading practices, they still frequently supplement with other teaching materials.
Kate Medley for Education Week
Reading & Literacy Opinion ‘She Gave Us a Way In’: A Teacher’s Defense of Lucy Calkins
Every decade, a new savior for literacy emerges: Phonics! Whole language! Balanced reading! Phonics, again!
Dana Palubiak
5 min read
Rising To The Challenge metaphor success concept with a paper boat transforming into a bird symbol of adaptability and change to avoid a crisis
iStock
Reading & Literacy Trump School Funding Freeze Has Some Districts Scrambling to Save 'Science of Reading' PD
Teachers need ongoing assistance to make difficult shifts in teaching reading. Some districts had counted on the withheld Title II funding.
4 min read
Third-grader Fallon Rawlinson reads a book at Good Springs Elementary School in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. For decades, there has been a clash between two schools of thought on how to best teach children to read, with passionate backers on each side of the so-called reading wars. But the approach gaining momentum lately in American classrooms is the so-called science of reading.
Third-grader Fallon Rawlinson reads a book at Good Springs Elementary School in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. Many more states and districts are emphasizing evidence-based practices, including phonics, in reading programs. But the U.S. Department of Education's withholding of teacher-training funding could stymie some of those efforts.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP
Reading & Literacy ‘A Good Deal of Nostalgia’: New York’s Uneven Embrace of the Science of Reading
Educators say that they're mixing new approaches with the curricula and teaching strategies they've previously used, a new survey finds.
6 min read
Dylan Mayes, left, reads from a book about Willie Mays during a reading circle in class on Oct. 20, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Dylan Mayes, left, reads from a book about Willie Mays during a reading circle in class on Oct. 20, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y. After the state launched a "science of reading" initiative in 2024, implementation has been piecemeal, a new survey finds.
Joshua Bessex/AP