How can I help my child get started writing?
By jfallonPosted in Because Writing Matters... At Home
Following is the Teaching Tip written by Matt Daneker that was included in the last issue of MY Access!® Newsletter sent to all Home Edition users. As it has generated so much interest, and is applicable to all students, I thought it made sense to post here to make it available to a larger audience.
Question:
How can I help my child get started writing?
Answer:
Getting started is tough for many writers, even those we might call professionals. Sometimes this initial block is caused by having too few ideas about a topic, but it can also be the result of having too many ideas in mind. In either case, students become anxious when they are unsure of how to start writing. There is no single way to overcome this initial writer’s block, but you might find these suggestions useful.
Narrow the focus
A student may initially find the task so wide open that he or she can’t find a place to start. Have the student identify the purpose of the writing task (what the essay will be about) and the audience for the essay (who will read it). Consider this task: Write an essay about your favorite pet to your pen pal. The student can now decide what content to include in the essay (facts about a pet) to address the purpose and what kind of tone (friendly and informal) is appropriate for the audience.
Open the creative floodgates
Once the student has identified the purpose and audience of the writing task, have him or her list each and every idea he or she thinks relates to the topic on small slips of paper. Other than a time limit of fifteen minutes or so, the student should not put any limits on what he or she brainstorms. Once the time limit has passed, have the student sift through the ideas. Try to put the ideas into a logical order. For example, put the slips of paper in order from most important to least important or from most interesting to least interesting. Alternately, have the student create small piles of three to four ideas containing related ideas. Finally, have the student choose the top three to four ideas in a list or a pile and use each idea as the topic of a body paragraph.
MY Access!® Home Edition Tip
A focus checklist is available on the student workpage within MY Access!® Home Edition. Use this checklist to narrow your focus as you begin to write.
Need more ideas?
Use the topic wheel, found in each MY Access!® Home Edition Parent account, to create an endless variety of interesting writing topics. Because some of these topics are silly, they can free children from the pressure of “serious” writing and help them learn to let their thoughts flow freely. Think of these topics as warm-up exercises for writing!
March 18th, 2008 at 11:43 am
If you have other ideas, please share them in the forums. A discussion based on this idea has already started here: http://reach.vantagelearning.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=48
June 25th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I think the best way to get a student to write is to ask them to write something about themselves. No prior knowledge is needed, so they can’t say, “I don’t know what to write about!” If they are asked to write something about themselves or describe something that has happened to them, it will be easier to motivate them.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:37 am
You’re absolutely right. Beyond motivating them, writing about themselves, or something that happened to them, can take the “What should happen next?” dilemma out of the equation. If it happened to them – they already know what happened. Plus, if they’re writing about a pleasant memory, they’ll enjoy reliving it which can help keep them going.