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Teaching Writing Skills: Part IIThis summer I’ve been posting reviews of our writing products as well as some articles about writing. This is an article that I wrote last summer that I thought you might find helpful.
In the last article, we talked about Andres Pudewa's amazing guidelines on Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. Rather than teaching students writing strategies such as how to brainstorm a topic, he emphasizes teaching them how to write. It's a unique approach that gives fabulous results. Using that model, let me share free writing lessons online that you can use with your own children this week (or the first week of school). If your older children struggle with writing, this is a great place to start. Begin by choosing a story they enjoy. This is one way of using predictable books to teach writing. Here’s a video review of one of our writing products, “Elegant Essay".
DAY 1 In order to help your children with "what" to write, you should copy a simple, one-page story, perhaps Aesop's Fables. Read the story aloud with your child. After reading the story, write an outline/structure so you can do a key word outline with your child. The structure should look something like this. I. 1. 2. 3. 4. Note that this outline contains only numbers, not letters as you may have learned in school. A numbered structure is easier for your children to follow. As you create the structure, make sure you have a number for each sentence in the original story. Go back to the story, and re-read the first sentence. Ask your child to choose three key words from the sentence. These words will help him to put the story in his own words, which happens later in this exercise. Underline or circle these words, and then write them beside the "I". Make sure you write them in order. From there, read the second sentence and choose another three key words. Write those words beside 1. If your child only has a word or two, that's fine - just make sure that there are no more than three words. Your child must decide for himself which words to choose. We are not trying to force your child to remember every little detail, just the highlights so he can re-write the sentences later. Continue in this fashion until the outline is complete, and then put away the original story. Now let your child tell you what each paragraph was about, using the written outline as a guide. It is easier for children to say it out loud, rather than writing it all down. Congratulations! You have completed the first half of this writing lesson! Whatever the age of your children, make sure that they tell you the story again, paragraph by paragraph. It may seem childish, especially for older children, but it is an important part of the thought process. Join us for the part three, which includes more free writing lessons online. Using the outline you created today, you will take the next step - teaching your children to write a story in their own words. __________ Copyright Kerry Beck, 2009 You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below. Kerry Beck specializes in encouraging homeschool moms and classroom teachers with high school writing. Go grab Kerry’s free mini-course on Teaching Writing Easily at http://www.howtoteachwriting.com/ today. 10:38 AM - Jul. 24, 2009 - post comment
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