| Teaching Teens |
Choose A Topic To Teach WritingThis 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.
Lately, I have written a number of articles to help you teach kids, whether you're teaching in a school or home-schooling your own children. Recently, I was reminded yet again of the importance of allowing children the freedom to choose their own writing assignments. Thanks to my son, I learned a valuable lesson to make me a more effective teacher, while turning him into a more powerful writer.  Last week, my son's lesson was writing a biographical sketch in five paragraphs. We had recently been studying the Roman Empire, and I hoped that he would write on one of the church's founding fathers - not only would this reinforce those lessons, but he would also have the chance to delve more deeply into books which we had not had time to read earlier. Despite my excitement, I could see he was less than eager. He was clearly not interested in the topic which I found so fascinating. Once we talked about baseball, that all changed. He had been reading about the life of Derek Jeter, and wanted to learn more. When I suggested that he write his biography on Jeter, his whole attitude changed - suddenly, he could not wait to get started! He already knew of three sources for more information, and could not wait to get started. That settled it - Derek Jeter it would be. Here’s a video review of one of our writing products,
“History Based Writing Lessons.”
Over the past week, he has studiously collected information on Derek Jeter for his paper. Today, we narrowed his topics down to only three, keeping him from being overwhelmed. Over the next week, he will create an outline and begin writing.
He is much happier and more enthusiastic about his assignment, since he is writing about a topic that interests him. This keeps him motivated, and his writing is most effective when he has the freedom to choose a topic. He'll learn more, and retain more, this way. By letting your kids choose their own topics, they take ownership of their project. Give it a try - it makes a huge difference! Your children will learn more and be happier about it; you'll be thrilled with the results. __________ 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 encourages homeschool moms and teachers with middle school writing. Grab Kerry’s free mini-course about Teaching Writing Easily at http://www.howtoteachwriting.com/ right away. 6:30 AM - Jul. 30, 2009 - post comment
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