Publishing student work does not have to be a complicated matter and does not have to happen after all writing.  It actually doesn’t have to come at the end of the process but can occur throughout it.  Probably most of you have thought about this as a major undertaking with a lot of time wasted as all students share every word they have written. This doesn’t have to be the case.

Student writing can be shared informally or formally depending on your purpose and  time allowed.  To begin, let’s look at the informal publishing.  Throughout the process, students may share  exciting vocabulary, a well-written sentence, or maybe even an entire introduction or conclusion as these are being revised.  Classrooms may have  Writing in Progress bulletin boards where students share bits and pieces of what they have written. Writing is read aloud in conferences which is actually publishing unfinished works to teachers and other students.  But there comes a time when students may be asked to share or publish their finished writing in a formal way.

Today’s technology gives us endless means to publishing. We have blogs, class websites, digital books and the tried -and- true class  anthologies and books using word processors. Scholastic offers publication choices. Sometimes just having the teacher read and evaluate is a type of publishing.  Our son’s seventh grade language arts teacher always had an Authors’ Day where students read aloud entire pieces and enjoyed brownies that the teacher had baked for the young writers.  That gave them a purpose for  the revision.  All the students felt special while sitting in the author’s chair upfront while their peers encouraged them as writers.

I am including some sites that may be helpful to you and your students as you publish student writing. Remember some writing may not be for publishing (journals, for instance) but you and your students will figure out what works well for you.  Having you publish your own writing by sharing it with your students is  also a great motivator.

http://storyjumper.com

http://www.kidsbookshelf.com

http://writingfix.com

http://www.bookhooks.com