I have a reluctant writer at home. My son, a fifth grader whom I homeschool, is very curious and very inquisitive in an understated way. When we take trips to the library, he immediately visits the animal books: dinosaurs, sharks, reptiles, all creatures that interest him most. Learning to appreciate reading, however, continues to be a battle. It isn’t something that comes naturally to all students. We thought early on as parents that if we read to our children, if we exposed him to books at an earlier age, if he sees me enjoying a good novel, or sees me writing my fiction, well, it is all a matter of genetics then which will kick the proclivity for language arts into high gear. But that was wishful thinking. We are not surprised that our reluctant reader would be a reluctant writer as well. We had to ask ourselves, How then are we to help our son enjoy reading while we help him overcome his apprehension for writing? When my husband and I began to explore language arts curricula over a year ago, we found the answer we believed would be fitting to our son’s interests while engaging him in the skill of writing. The language arts curriculum my son used last year in fourth grade had plenty of instruction on the topics of sea snakes, pill bugs, desert tarantulas, and starfish. It proceeded to teach about historical figures like George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Genghis Khan. Eventually, he read fables—such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Princess and the Pea, and the Lion and the Mouse. For his final research paper, he chose to study the Komodo dragon, which gave him a sense of relief because he was finally able to elect his favorite subject to write about. We found out not only through other homeschool parents that one of the main culprits of the reluctant writer is the unfounded interest in the subject matter. We truly favored the curriculum and are using it again this year because it continues to feed the hunger my son has for reading about these topics, and writing about them as well. His approach to his writing holds a focus that we thought we’d never see. Even though he will slowly get drawn into a book, he won’t pick up a story and read it for pleasure. What matters in this instance is that he isn’t as apprehensive about reading as he was before. We’ll change things up a bit, knowing the tools we have help him learn, but motivating him is another feat. What has helped is the participation in the library’s summer reading program, and the Cover to Cover Club by In-N-Out Burger. Rewards, incentives, payoffs remain the crucial motivator for the reluctant reader. It’s been a long enough road to see my son, who really struggled to read prior to being homeschooled—when he was attending a private school—look forward to reading chapter books with attentiveness. It is a season, it seems, when the embers are still hot and then they cool after burnout in the homeschool. In fact, to encourage my son further, we challenged him to write a short story. Earlier this year, a short story writing contest for homeschoolers had an open call for submissions. We thought it was a perfect exercise for my son. Being the sequential, logical mother that I am, I was relieved to have followed a systematic plan that guided me in the process. My son, on the other hand, being apprehensive about all things language arts, was stretched enough to have a chance at exploring creative writing. The fixed prompt of the contest, the deadline, and the toolbox from his curriculum were what helped him accomplish the assignment with minimal frustration. I don’t know if my son will win the contest in his age category, but I can say that the introduction to a challenge outside of the homeschool, a panel of judges that are lined up to judge his work, is reward enough. It is already a victory to know that he set his hand to the plough through every sentence, every sequence of events, every moment of tension, and every line of dialogue that was necessary to tighten his story, and to loosen the grimace on his face.
writing process
Character, Plot, and Setting, Oh My! (Part 3)
Developing the Elements of a Story, Part 3 I can’t even count how many times I have read Thomas’s Christmas Delivery or Little Bear’s New Friend. My children never tired of hearing about Thomas’s and Little Bear’s adventures. Though as adults we may not read the same book as many times as our children reread their favorites, we can appreciate the draw of a good story. It’s that connection we have with the story that keeps us up to the wee hours of the night turning page after page and lingers in the periphery of our minds, wooing us as we go about our day. But what makes a story one to treasure, and how can we help our kids develop a tale beyond a sequence of events? The glue that holds a story together is character, plot, and setting, and when children understand and develop them, a great story is born. Have you ever imagined strolling along the paths of the shire or sitting in potions class at Hogwarts? The authors of these worlds have so craftily described the settings of these places that it makes it easy for us to fall right into the stories alongside our favorite characters. The setting of a story can set the mood, influence the characters, and affect the readers’ emotions. Although setting is an element children tend to forget, developing it can add interest not only for the reader but also for the writer. First, children need to understand the different aspects of setting: time, place, and environment. When and where does the story take place? What does the place look like? Who lives there? Is it a suburb, city, or countryside? Is it a rich or poor area? There are free lesson plans available online for teaching about setting. “Using Picture Books to Teach Setting in Writing Workshop,” by ReadWriteThink.org is a useful guide and easily adaptable to the homeschool classroom. Second, developing the setting is more than just telling the reader the where and when. Like the rest of the story, the writer should show rather than tell the reader the setting. This is not an easy task, but Teaching Ideas provides a wonderful lesson sure to help kids see and practice how this is done. Finally, once the children have a better understanding of what setting is and how it is projected, they can have some fun developing the setting for their own story. A simple way to do this is to have them list the aspects of time, place, and environment on a sheet of paper and brainstorm ideas for each category. For example, have them attach sensory descriptions to the environment category. Primary Paradise, however, has free graphic organizers that both upper and lower elementary aged students would find useful for this purpose. Story writing should be fun for kids. When they also understand and develop the elements of a story, they not only become better writers, they also go on an adventure, exploring their characters, plot and setting—oh my!
Five Simple Tips for Revising
Let’s face it. Writing is fun. It’s the revising we avoid. When we first write, our pen goes wherever our ideas lead; we create characters and situations, mold them and direct them at will. Then we sit back, marinating in the satisfaction of our finished work. Enter the dreaded voice of revision, whose sole purpose is to highlight all that stinks about our wonderful composition. Of course we don’t want to deal with it, and children are no different in this respect. But as Katherine Patterson says, revising is the process when spilled milk gets turned into ice cream. It’s necessary if our children are to become better writers. Even though the revision process isn’t always a child’s favorite part of writing, it doesn’t need to be a chore. With the following tips, it may even become an interesting, dare I say enjoyable, activity. 1.) Step back: After your child finishes a first draft, let her bask in her greatness. Don’t mention revising right away. Let her read the draft to you and talk about it. Then just have her put the draft aside for a few days before she takes it out again to revise. The extra time will allow her to wind down from all that energy she just spent writing it and will put the draft out of her mind. In turn, she will come back to her work with fresh eyes and a clear, less biased, perspective. She will not only be better able to identify weaknesses but she will also be more open to fixing them. 2.) Collaborate: A completely different set of eyes is always helpful in the revising process. If you don’t have other children in your home with which to workshop, get your child together with another homeschooler who is also working on a writing project. Teach them how to read and constructively comment on each other’s papers. Working with other children will help your child get feedback from a real audience and evaluate her own work through her readers’ eyes. 3.) Read aloud: Though often overlooked, it’s one of the most effective revising strategies. Reading a paper aloud helps the writer hear rhythm and voice. She will get a sense of where the piece flows and where it is stunted, where ideas are unclear or wordy, and where it goes off topic. When your child returns to her draft, have her read it aloud (alone if she is uncomfortable reading in front of others) and take notes when she finds something that needs to be changed, added to, or removed. 4.) Type it: If your child does not know how to type, it’s worth teaching her. It’s a skill that can be learned at a young age and will make revising and editing easier. Unless your child is a fluent typist, she should write the first draft, and then type it in a Microsoft Word document. The act of typing will itself highlight areas in need of change, but more than this, it will make revising and editing less tedious. If a sentence needs to be moved, she needs only to cut and paste to change it. If she needs to add a sentence or even a paragraph, she won’t need to rewrite the whole paper; she can just insert the new information. 5.) Work from paper: After your child types her draft, print a hard copy to work from when revising and editing. Often what gets overlooked on a computer screen will stand out on a hard copy; however, it will still be easier to change since the original is easy to access and manipulate on the computer.
