Innovative Writing Clinic at UM-Dearborn

Cultivating the enjoyment of writing has been the focus of the University of Michigan–Dearborn School of Education’s writing clinic. Under the leadership of SOE assistant professor Danielle DeFauw, the 6-week writing clinic has been providing writing instruction for third-grade students from Thorne Elementary and their siblings, and the clinic also provides instruction to parents so that they can better support their children’s writing at home. The writing clinic is supported by the SOE and a faculty seed grant from the university, and Dr. DeFauw hopes to replicate and expand the clinic in the future.

The children’s writing instruction is provided by UM-Dearborn students who are enrolled in a course, Exploring Writing with Children & Adolescents, offered during the Winter 2013 academic term. In the first half of the academic term, the university students (a mix of preservice and inservice teachers) learned how to provide effective writing instruction to children using high-quality children’s books as examples for teaching writing. Then in the second half of the course, they plan and deliver instruction to the children attending the clinic. While the children receive their instruction, Dr. DeFauw meets with the children’s family members to discuss how they can support their children’s writing.

Each Thursday evening, the elementary and university students work together as they read children’s literature and learn to write in ways that emulate the authors. The elementary students are learning to write in various genres including poetry, narrative, and expository. By the end of the writing clinic, students will complete one expository piece to share with their families during the writing celebration scheduled for April 18th.

Dr. DeFauw is collecting data on this model of supporting both children’s literacy development and professional training for reading teachers. She will present more details on her writing clinic project at the SOE Research Colloquium on Wednesday, April 10th.