Entries Tagged 'Teaching Writing' ↓

As students enter junior high and high school, it’s time for them to practice writing business letters. Whether writing to a company to offer praise for a product or addressing a city councilman about a neighborhood eyesore, using a  more formal business-letter format adds credibility to the sender’s request, position, or opinion.

In WriteShop II, we teach students how to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper. The example composition in the student workbook urges the governor, by way of a letter to the editor, to take action on a bill. With a few word changes, the letter could just as easily address the governor himself.

The point of the lesson, of course, is to help students articulate a concern and seek or suggest action. The audience can be a member of any political, social, or commercial group as long as the student is learning how to address such a person with polite conviction.

Who’s the Audience? 

But if your children need an audience for their letters, and the daily newspaper isn’t the outlet that seems to work for them, you might suggest a different audience. Some ideas that spring to mind:

• City council member
• State legislator
• State representative
• Governor
• Owner or developer of a property (eyesore, maintenance issues, health and safety concerns, etc.)
• Owner of a local business
• President or CEO of a corporation
• College or university admissions department
• Chamber of Commerce (to request brochures or travel information)

If you shift away from the letter to the editor and instead have your student address her letter to one of the above-suggested recipients, consider teaching her how to format a business letter. Since WriteShop doesn’t teach business-letter structure, this would be an added tool in her writing belt.

When to Write a Business Letter

• To praise a product, service supplier, or staff person
• To compliment a speaker
• To compliment or praise an author
• To praise someone for an achievement
• To complain about poor product quality or poor service
• To ask for political or social action or change
• To write a letter of recommendation
• To request information

Would you like to teach the business letter to your kids? Here’s a link to a site that models several kinds: WriteExpress.com (Business Letters)

WriteShop II teaches advanced descriptive narration, persuasion, and beginning essay writing (including timed essays). To learn more about WriteShop II for your high schooler, visit our website at www.writeshop.com.

Part 1: The Problem

My son is a brain. What can I say? He’s in England right now finishing up his master’s degree in philosophical theology. I can’t read most of his papers, but not because they’re illegible. His vocabulary simply surpassed mine years ago.

He was a smart child, too, assembling complicated Lego creations with the skill of a trained artisan and the patience of Job. And he was a verbal little guy who could spin stories around the campfire that kept us glued to our logs!

We were grateful for those glimpses into his bright young mind because academically, that boy struggled at every turn. He had an ear for literature and knew all sorts of historical facts and details. But the three Rs eluded him. He finally learned to read (sort of) at age 7, but couldn’t manage chapter books till he was 11 or 12. And writing? Forget it! His hand and shoulders tensed and cramped as he gripped his pencil in a stranglehold.

Illegible handwriting. Horrible spelling. Letters and words that ran together like ink in the rain. And an overall aversion to anything having to do with pencil and paper.

Although Ben wasn’t diagnosed with a specific learning disability, he did have a kinesthetic deficit that created learning challenges and caused him to exhibit symptoms of dysgraphia.

I’m no expert in the area of special needs, but let me give a brief overview of three common learning difficulties, including dysgraphia, that can affect the writing process.

ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity and can lead to a variety of academic problems. The ADHD writer’s symptoms often include:

• disorganization
• lack of focus and general distractability
• difficulty paying attention to detail
• making careless errors
• having trouble finishing assignments
• avoiding writing projects that require the student to stay mentally focused

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that can produce its own set of writing difficulties. The dysgraphic writer’s symptoms include:

• poor or illegible handwriting
• holding his pencil in a death grip
• avoiding writing at all cost
• using the shortest words instead of the best words
• strong oral/verbal skills but difficulty communicating ideas in writing
• problems forming letters
• poor word and line spacing

Dyslexia

Dyslexia, though a reading disorder, can affect the learning process in writing and spelling as well. Dyslexic students usually show a big gap between their ability to tell you something and their ability to write it down. In addition, the dyslexic student’s symptoms can include:

• avoiding writing whenever possible
• laborious, often illegible handwriting
• problems with sentence structure
• long run-on sentences
• incomplete sentences
• poor spelling
• poor word and line spacing
• difficulty proofreading his own work (or appearing careless) because he can’t see his errors.

No doubt about it, writing is a tough subject for most of us to teach. But if our kids have been diagnosed with a learning disability, the challenge is magnified. I want to encourage you that there’s hope for teaching your own learning-challenged child.

Though I tried to teach Ben to write using the conventional methods that worked with his sisters, something just wasn’t clicking. Bursting with ideas, he couldn’t manage to transfer his thoughts to paper.

So how did that boy make the leap from struggling student to academic A-list? Honestly, I can’t pin it on any one thing. Rather, a number of factors contributed to his turnaround, including the teachings of the late Dr. Raymond Moore, high school involvement in homeschool speech and debate, and WriteShop.

What worked for us may not work for you, though I’m sure you already know that. Still, there are some universal principles that might help you over the hurdle. I encourage you to check back next Monday for Part 2 in our series on Learning Disabilities and Writing. I promise to share all sorts of tips and solutions for helping your struggling writer.

Copyright © 2008 Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

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June Sale - StoryBuilders!

Woohoo! It’s an Introductory Special! During June, you can get WriteShop’s newest World of Animals StoryBuilders for 50% off! Normally $7.95, the set is yours for only $3.99.

To take advantage of the discount, order here and use Coupon Code ANIMAL6 at checkout.

And there’s no tax or shipping–you can download your StoryBuilders immediately . . . and then let the fun begin!

The Phomnnaeil Pwoer of the Hmuan Mnid

Aoccdrnig to rscheaerch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are. The olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Pttrey azmanig, ins’t it?

Tihs is why WirteSohp bevelies so stonrgly in teh slef-edintig prcoses! We encrougae sutednts to raed thier ruogh drfats oevr and oevr aigan to mkae srue tehy dno’t msis ayninthg.

Hepfull hntis

• It rlleay hleps if wrtiers raed thier pragrapahs bckaarwd bcaseue, wehn tehy do, they are froecd to raed evrey sgnile wrod. It’s eisaer to fnid “to be” wrdos, rpeaeted wodrs, and eevn sellping eorrrs.
• Anthoer vabulale tool is raednig aluod wrod for wrod. Aigan, it hleps sutdntes ctach mroe erorrs wehn they hvae to raed each wrod invidlliduay.

The iompartnt thnig is tihs: Encuorgae yuor chldiern to tkae thier tmie and not rsuh thougrh thier edintig. Tehy wlil see a dffirecene!

Another question from the WriteShop mailbag . . . 

Q:  My 12-year-old is a very reluctant writer who has done little writing. I want to know if he is supposed to write each of the assignments by hand, or can he type them? I want him to be creative and hopefully begin to like writing, but if he’s having to concentrate on his handwriting I’m afraid he’ll never learn to enjoy it. Is it okay to let him type each copy of the assignment?

A:  Kids should start getting comfy with a keyboard at an early age. After all, they’ll use computer skills all their lives! But unless students have a learning disability, we generally encourage them to handwrite the sloppy copy (rough draft) and type the next two revisions.

The Benefits of Writing by Hand 

It’s important for students to keep up this skill. Even though you might hear that typing is the wave of the future, rest assured that your kids will always face situations where they must write by hand—notetaking, job applications, and timed essays come to mind. If they’ve had very little practice putting pen to paper, trust me, they’ll have a tough time of it when faced with an SAT question that must be answered without the benefit of a laptop!

Writing by hand also allows your child to proofread for spelling and grammar errors without depending on spell-check. Kids need to practice the lifelong skill of self-editing because, among other reasons, spell-check isn’t always accurate.

Making Exceptions

Your student may be on the younger side, extremely reluctant, or struggling with the physical act of writing by hand. This describes our own boys before they turned 13! In this case, you might bend a bit to let him type his sloppy copy, especially in the beginning. Another idea: Have him dictate his sloppy copy to you first. Then ask him to copy it onto fresh paper before he begins to self-edit.

As his small-motor coordination, hand strength, and overall handwriting skills improve through exercises like copywork and dictation, he can eventually begin writing the sloppy copy by hand.

Typing Is a Good Thing! 

Once your child has self-edited his rough draft using the Student Writing Skills Checklist, he can go ahead and type his first revision. When we were teaching WriteShop classes, we actually preferred that our students type their revisions!

Not only is a neatly typed paper easier for the parent to edit, it’s also easier for the student to make changes before printing out a polished final draft.

. . . . . 

Curious about all this talk of sloppy copies and parent editing and polished final drafts? This is all part of the writing process, which is incorporated into every WriteShop I and II assignment. To learn more about WriteShop for your junior high or high schooler, visit our website at writeshop.com.

As promised…the final installment in our three-part series called Teaching Writing.

• In Part 1, we talked about the struggles and the anguish common to reluctant writers and to parents who feel insecure about teaching writing. 
• Part 2 introduced some simple steps you can take to begin to make writing more enjoyable.

Today you’ll learn how the writing process can help free your struggling or reluctant writer from her self-imposed torture. And of course, reluctant writers aren’t the only ones who benefit. Make sure that your eager, motivated writers take their compositions through these steps as well to ensure a well-written final draft.

Continue reading →

Last week in Teaching writing, part 1, I promised you some good news, and here it is: writing doesn’t have to be a tearful, hair-pulling experience! Plant a few seeds by trying some of these simple ideas, and soon your kids’ writing will begin to bloom!

Establish limits. When you set limits—such as giving step-by-step directions for the writing project—your children will feel more secure in their efforts. Provide concrete help by way of checklists, brainstorming worksheets, or skill-building exercises. Even something as simple as limiting composition length allows the reluctant writer to admit, “OK. I can write five to seven sentences.”

Expand skills. Start by introducing students to the thesaurus so they can choose more vivid, descriptive, or concrete words. As they make stronger word choices, not only will their vocabulary improve, their writing will begin to sparkle as well.

As a side note, our very favorite thesaurus is The Synonym Finder. Entries are alphabetical, so it’s easy to use. Plus, it’s the most complete thesaurus we’ve found. If you only have a junior thesaurus on your bookshelf, it can frustrate your kids because they may have a hard time finding entries for the words they use. The Synonym Finder, on the other hand, is comprehensive. They’re sure to find just the word they’re looking for.

In addition, teach your students to incorporate grammar concepts into their writing. Are they learning about prepositional phrases or appositives, for instance? Require them use one in a current composition.

Offer variety. Your kids’ writing diet consists mainly of boring book reports, change things up a bit!

• Descriptive writing lessons help students use their senses to zoom in on details—the crunch of golden leaves underfoot; the rich, buttery aroma of sugar cookies browning in the oven; the mournful howl of a winter gust as it whips through barren branches.
• Informative writing can include biographies, news articles, recipes, advice columns, short reports, instruction manuals, and more. As students get older, introduce persuasive essays and research papers as well.
• Narrative writing can take students well beyond the mundane memoirs of last summer’s vacation! Your kids can have so much more fun with their writing when they interview someone and write a narrative of his or her emotional experience. Or, they can retell a simple fable or Bible story from the perspective of one of the characters. For additional variety, introduce personification by asking them to write a story from the first-person point of view of an object. “I Am a Mirror” or “I, Weedwhacker” can inspire some lively prose!

The last part of the series, Teaching writing, part 3: The writing process, will appear next Monday, April 7. Come on back to learn how to use the writing process to set your kids up for success!

Copyright © 2008 Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

It should have been so easy.

After all, you weren’t asking for much—just a story or something. To simplify things, you didn’t even care how long it should be. Or what topic he picked. Given a lot of freedom, you reasoned, he wouldn’t feel so squished or frustrated…and the words would just flow.

So what went wrong?

Your plan backfired miserably, and now your son hunches tearfully over a mountain of wadded pages, each one a smudged and wrinkled reminder of what he already believes about himself: I can’t write!

If it’s any comfort, you’re not alone. This scene plays out at kitchen tables and makeshift schoolrooms around the country, where dejected students scrunch up papers, break pencils, bang keyboards, and cry buckets—and disheartened moms throw up their hands in frustration.

Maybe it helps to know that homeschoolers everywhere share the same lament: Why is writing so hard to teach?

Continue reading →

In Thursday’s blog, I offered a challenge to readers to spot the paired adjectives in the museum plaque. Thanks to all who joined in the fun! The winners will receive a free World of People StoryBuilders eBook. But don’t despair! Even if you guessed incorrectly, we’re still sending you a fun consolation prize just for giving it a shot.  

Our winners!

Congrats to: Heidi, Susan P., Irene, Penny, Ann, Beth, Susan M., Laura, Donna, Jennifer, Amy, Rebecca, and Angela.

And the answer is…

Continue reading →

Want to add a little fun to your younger students’ school day? Give your daughter a princess wand and your son a wooden sword. What? You’re not studying medieval history? That’s OK, because I’m talking about using these, and other amusing objects, for teaching reading and writing!

Pointers are fun and educational. They help children track words better, strengthening reading and writing skills. Gather or make a collection of pointers and keep them in a jar or can in your school area.

Just about any long, thin implement makes a fabulous pointer that you can use to enhance your teaching time. Practical pointers include a ruler, Continue reading →

Did you know historical fiction is growing on your family tree?

Every young writer of historical fiction has plenty of inspiration just waiting to be plucked from his or her family tree. Family Tree enables students to harvest this vast crop by producing short (or long!) stories that are not only thoroughly researched and well-written, but heirlooms to be treasured by your family for generations to come. Continue reading →