How should writing be taught?
By Alex Deakin
We all want our children to write well, but a problem that most parents are faced with is how exactly do you make a good writer? Maybe you learned a certain way and now you’re trying to pass it on to your child, and they're just not getting it. Or maybe you’re wondering whether or not what you are teaching is right in the first place.
But it’s clearly worth the effort. Students who improved in writing also demonstrated enhanced critical thinking as well as increased levels of imagination and creativity, which clearly demonstrates its importance.
Writing skill is developed with time and effort. The Learning Library understands this: we’ve been teaching children reading comprehension and writing since 2006. Our very own Kim Lentejas, a director at The Learning Library and a professional reading specialist, shared with us tips on how parents can do their part in honing their child’s writing skills.
How Do I Encourage my Child to Write?
Writing is essential to a child's communication. Teacher Kim herself said “If you don’t know how to write well how will you be able to spread what you want to say?” but we might not always know how to encourage our children to start writing, if you're having these problems try these tips.
Start a Writing Log
A writing log is a great way to get your child to begin writing. Here they are simply tasked with writing about anything that is of interest to them, search online and look for prompts if you’re having any difficulties looking for ideas to get started.
Keep a Journal
A journal allows your child a unique form of self-expression. Here they can write freely about their thoughts and emotions. A tip for keeping a journal is to allow your child to keep it private and something that they feel is their own.
Help them start a private blog
If you feel as though your child would be more inclined to write on a device then starting a private blog is a good way to get them writing. Using a website builder can also be a fun hobby for your child with the amount of creation tools available to them, check this out for more on how start a private blog
As your child begins to get more comfortable they will eventually transition to more formal writing but by building this habit of writing as a means of expression writing will become something they will want to do.
What Can I Do to Help?
Learning to write well is a continuous process. As Teacher Kim says, “Nobody can write well in one day… Students acquire things [knowledge] through mentoring, it’s really the guidance, collaboration, and immediate feedback”. Let your child know that writing will be something that can always be improved and will take years of practice.
If you need to learn more tips on how you can provide this type of mentorship and what you can do to develop strong writing skills in your child, here are some hacks that might help you get started!
Set The Place
Ensuring that your child has the right environment is the first way to help them on their writing journey. Make sure they have a space where they can write, preferably a desk or table that is well-lit.
Help Your Child With Their Writing
The much-needed guidance, collaboration and immediate feedback should come from you: be someone your child can talk to about their writing. Even if you may not be confident on the technical side, simply asking your children to clarify the details of their story or helping organize their thoughts goes a long way.
Practice!
The saying practice makes perfect is especially true in writing. Give your child enough time to properly practice and don’t get discouraged if you feel as though it’s taking too long. Allow them to work on something over a long period and let them make mistakes. Writing is a process that takes patience.
Use Model Texts
A model text is a strong example of a piece you are trying to get your child to write. It helps show your child the correct structure and proper conventions that should be used in writing. By using this your child will develop a better understanding of what it means to write properly.
The Different Ways To Write
There are different types of writing. Both exposure and practice in each one will allow your child to find out what he or she is best at.
Expository Writing
An expository essay is a way of writing where you are delivering facts and information as opposed to telling a story. It requires the writer to research the topic, evaluate their findings and come up with a clear hypothesis or argument
Descriptive Writing
A descriptive essay allows the writer to describe what it is they are writing about. It encourages them to create a work using figurative language, as well as make use of our 5 senses to come up with something that paints a picture in our minds.
Narrative Writing
Narrative writing is what is often used in creative or fiction writing. Here you create a story with characters and a plot. This is not only limited to novels but can include short stories, fables or even screenplays.
Persuasive Writing
Persuasive writing is writing meant to influence the reader. Here you use logic and arguments to attempt to convince readers of your point. Examples of these are reviews, criticism, and debate-style writing.
What Is The Best Way to Assess Writing?
One of the best ways to teach and assess writing is the 6+1 Traits. With this system, you can develop a consistent framework that the child can follow to seamlessly transition from grade level to grade level. Here are the traits of good writing:
Voice - The first way to assess your child's writing level is the voice of the piece. This is the way the writer can personalize the story, you can use this on your child by seeing if the peace has its voice, does it feel personal? Does it have its own tone?
Ideas - The idea refers to the meaning of the piece they are writing, ask yourself if your child is presenting something with what they are writing, what story are they trying to develop and portray?
Presentation - The presentation talks about the overall look of whatever it is they are writing. Does the paper look like real paper? Is this something that you feel is presentable?
Conventions - When talking about the conventions we are trying to see if the work is correct in terms of basic language rules. These are things such as grammar rules, such as capitalization, punctuations, spelling, etc. This is to check if your child understands the rules when writing.
Organization - This is about the structure of the work. Is what your child is writing organized, is he able to categorize his thoughts and ideas into sections of the work? Is there a defined beginning, middle, and end?
Word Choice - This is more self-explanatory. What words is your child using? Have they been stagnating and only using simple language consistently or are they pushing themselves?
Sentence Fluency - The last trait is sentence fluency, this asks if your child can have the sentences flow properly. Do the sentences feel connected to one other? Or do they feel like individual ideas each time they start a sentence?
These are the same traits that we use to assess writing here at The Learning Library. Read more about the 6+1 framework here.
Get Writing!
Now that you understand the benefits and how to assess your child’s skills and progress, you can have them start writing and enjoying it in no time!
If you’d like to have a teachers’ help, send a message to The Learning Library through inquiries@learninglibraries.com and sign up for a free online writing assessment for your child.