| HomeschoolingResourceCenter.org Home | Search | About Us | Contact Us |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Ask an Expert - 'Replies' Teaching Tips March 2010 |
|
Q: How do I get my child to write? What writing curriculum do you recommend? Short Answer: Over the years I have found that problems with writing boil down to six issues: 1. what writing involves and why it is so hard for many students 2. different types of writing require different skills 3. the thinking process 4. mechanics of writing 5. grading writing 6. the child's age and developmental level Since each of these issues requires some explaining, we will look at them individually over the next few months. Part 2 – Different Types of Writing and the Writing Process Writing is communication. Communication takes at least two people to be effective. Good writing enables the reader to gain information or insight into what the writer wants to express. This desire to express something implies a purpose for writing. We can think of purpose as our general target. Each writing assignment should have a stated purpose. Examples are: • to explain how to do something (instructional) • to persuade the reader as to the validity of some idea or argument (persuasive) • to inspire • to entertain • to identify cause and effect • to report (present information or offer observations) • to evaluate (critique) • to express an opinion, viewpoint, or personal reaction (essay) Each purpose or type of writing requires different techniques and adjustments to the writing process. The main difference is in how the assignment is organized. To inspire or entertain, the writer wants to provide a background to the story, build suspense or expectations, and then finish with a “bang.” An instructional piece needs to provide clear, step-by-step sequencing. To evaluate or express an opinion, the writer wants to state the position, provide detailed support, and then restate the logical conclusion. The type of writing will determine the tone or style of the piece – whether it is written in first or third person, uses formal or informal language, and concise, to-the-point sentence structure versus flowing, elaborate, and complex sentence structure. Think Ernest Hemingway versus Jane Austen. The intended audience will also influence these style issues. These different purposes are another reason why it is hard to recommend one writing program over another. Most programs focus on one or two types of writing in order to encourage mastery. Walch Publishing offers a workbook designed for intermediate students (grades 6-8) entitled 8 Kinds of Writing – Lessons and Practice for Writing Tests and Sample. It recognizes the different organizational skills needed for eight types of writing and provides simple graphic organizers to walk students through the thinking process. The assignments themselves are somewhat arbitrary, but they do provide some practice in each kind of writing.
Most writing programs touch on the writing process itself: • prewriting – brainstorming ideas, researching topics, narrowing the topic, thesis statement, note-taking, organizing • writing – rough draft to get the thoughts from the prewriting step down on paper, usually double-spaced to make it easier to revise • revising – modifying the content and flow of the writing, usually two to three more drafts • editing – correcting step, focusing on the mechanics of writing • publishing – final assignment The step of the writing process that the student will have the most trouble with will depend on the child's learning style. Concrete, detail-oriented students often have a hard time with prewriting. Random, global students will have a hard time with editing. Even though the prewriting stage is crucial, it is often overlooked. The writing step will be much easier if the student spends time jotting down thoughts and ideas and then organizing them in some way. Outlines work well for sequential, concrete learners. Graphic organizers work better for random and global learners. The point of this step is to get words and phrases down on paper so they can be put together in a meaningful way. The common story web is a good example – with the main idea as the center of the web and supporting ideas as extensions of the web. A key element of the prewriting stage is the thesis statement or theme of the assignment. This summary statement is the point the writer wants to make, and it should be as specific as possible. It is based on the purpose of the assignment. One common mistake made by high school students is to write a thesis statement that is more appropriate for a report than an essay. A report chronicles or summarizes information about a topic or book. It is an elemental type of writing. An essay offers an opinion or reaction. As such, it requires more advanced thinking skills and taking a position that is clearly stated. The more specific and clear the thesis, the easier it will be to organize the assignment. The purpose of the assignment can be compared to a target; the thesis is the bull's eye. Every paragraph should point back to the thesis statement. If the sentence or paragraph has little or nothing to do with the thesis, or is a tangent that doesn't build from the thesis, then delete it. The thesis statement serves as the underlying thread that ties the assignment together. The first draft then becomes a sort of “fill-in-the-blanks” as the student puts the phrases or notes into sentences. The key here is to just write. Don't allow the student to get bogged down in the specifics yet or revise at his stage. Just write without worrying about sentence order or the mechanics. The revising step is when the flow of the content will be corrected. The acronym ARMS helps at this stage: Add, Remove, Move around, and Substitute. Add content and supporting evidence where needed and remove redundant words and sentences. Move the sentences around so that each paragraph deals with one aspect and the flow of the piece builds to the logical conclusion. Review words and substitute synonyms for more lively and interesting writing. It usually takes several drafts to get the writing into an acceptable form. One technique that works well is to read the piece aloud. Our language has a certain rhythm to it and reading aloud will help identify awkward phrasing and unwieldy sentence structure. Most students don't realize how much work is involved in writing. Good writers rarely are satisfied with less than four or five drafts. It's important that the student understand that even though they are putting a part of themselves down on paper, their writing isn't “sacred.” They can't take it personally when corrections need to be made. Creativity is a messy job. It requires a lot of fine tuning to get a piece of writing to be clear and flow well. It's not until the editing stage that students should be concerned with the mechanics of writing such as spelling and grammar. Using a Mechanics of Writing checklist can help the student remember all the elements to check. One last point to remember about writing. There are four levels of language skills that are sequential and descending. The first level includes the words a student can understand in conversation. This is the most developed area. The next level includes the words a student can use in conversation; this will be rather extensive for most students, but not as broad as the first level. The third level includes the words the student can read. Again, this is fairly broad, yet less than conversational vocabulary. The final level includes the words a student can use in writing. This is the vocabulary the student is most familiar with and uses most often, but is the narrowest range. These levels can be seen in students who have an extensive conversational vocabulary, yet have a hard time reading or writing. Auditory and hands-on students tend to have highly-developed oral vocabulary and often struggle with the mechanics of the writing process. Print-oriented, linguistic students can often write well even in the elementary grades, yet often struggle with standard school subjects. 1049 Words To view more 'Teaching Tips' Articles please 'Log In' and visit the 'Achives' page. |
