“But I can’t think of anything to write about,” my kids cry as an excuse for daydreaming out the window. Then in an attempt to divert their attention from the window or to prevent a breakdown, I end up struggling along with them in the quest for a great idea. I’ve heard that the best ideas are often right in front of you, but it wasn’t until after I had fenced far too many complaints of writer’s block that I realized I had the answer to this problem all along. Over the years, I’ve used art to inspire my writing, creating an ekphrasis based on a Remedios Varo painting, or a haiku inspired by a photo of my grandpa as a boy; however, I had never thought to incorporate art right in my own home, in my children’s writing lessons. Who knows if that light bulb would have gone on had I not stumbled upon the article, Ten Ideas That Get Kids Writing, which relates the story of a Chicago-based teacher who used sculpture to inspire her students’ writing. “Of course, why didn’t I think of using art before?” Painting, sculpture, music, photography, dance, the arts are a wonderful way to get a child’s creative juices flowing. Where is this boy going? Now when ideas are slow to come, I have a supply of photos on hand that often help solve the problem. The photos include shots of family, friends, previous vacations, and nature; pictures of paintings and sculptures from galleries or the Internet; as well as clips from children’s magazines. I give them three or four photos to choose from so as not to overwhelm them; after they choose a photo, we talk about what’s happening in it, how it makes us feel, and what it makes us think of. Many times this process alone sparks an idea, but if not, I’ll provide an additional prompting question based on the photo, like “Where is this person going?” “Why is she happy/sad?” “Why did the artist use… (Fill in the blank)?” These questions may lead them in various directions from making up a story about someone in the photo to writing about the artist or creating something seemingly unrelated to the photo altogether. Not so long ago, my daughter struggled to come up with a poem using a repeating pattern. After looking through some photos, she chose one of our cats, and here’s what she came up with: My Calm and Gentle Cat As I wander around the house, I see my cat lying on the bed. As I gently pick him up, I feel as if I’m holding a cloud. As I rock him side to side in my arms, love rushes through my heart. As I see him close his eyes and fall asleep, I gently lay him down, and his soft purring fills me with peace. Art doesn’t have to be saved as a last resort. When you have more time to plan, why not develop a lesson around a trip to the local art gallery, symphony hall, or dance performance? These are great opportunities not only to help children appreciate other art forms but also to inspire their writing. What emotion do you feel when listening to the violinist? Write a lyrical poem about it. What story are the dancers telling? Write a fairy tale about the lead dancer. Whether it’s pre-planned or off-the-cuff, art in various forms not only inspires ideas but it can also help you teach genre, such as poetry and short story, as well as specific writing techniques. If you’re not sure how to start, Literacyhead is a helpful site that offers numerous writing lesson plans using images. So let the arts move you.
writing
Book Review: “Models for Teaching Writing-craft Target Skills” by Freeman and Koehler
No doubt about it, reading positively affects writing; however, educators often struggle with how to integrate the former into writing instruction. Freeman and Koehler seek to meet that need with Models for Teaching Writing-craft Target Skills, a teacher’s guide for utilizing “the strong connection between reading and writing.” Using “literature models,” the authors present their method for teaching the craft of writing to children in kindergarten through eighth grade. The approach of using literature models, more commonly referred to as mentor texts, relies on well-written fiction, nonfiction, and poetry as representations of specific techniques that children will learn. Models for Teaching provides a thorough overview of why and how to use this approach to teach writing, but the core of this book is its presentation of specific writing craft techniques, which they call Target Skills®. These skills are categorized into three groups: organizational skills address writing introductions and conclusions and using the writing process; composing skills include but are not limited to descriptive writing and using literary devices while skills in conventions deal with punctuation, spelling and grammar. Each individual technique is provided its own page that not only describes the device and its function but also provides an example and the titles of five age appropriate and easily accessible texts that represent its use. As experienced teachers and curriculum developers, Freeman and Koehler anticipate the teacher’s apprehension about lesson presentation, so they provide a sample step-by-step instructional outline and script, making this text a teacher’s “go-to guide for writing-craft instruction.” Although Models for Teaching is written with public school teachers in mind, it proves to be an invaluable addition to the homeschoolers reference library. Logically organized and void of excessive academic verbiage, this instructional text is understandable and easy to adapt to the homeschool classroom. Because the authors have completed the tedious and time-consuming task of finding exemplary texts as well as provided lesson planning guidance, Models for Teaching Writing-craft Target Skills makes it painless for parents to incorporate this effective literature-based method into their children’s writing curriculum.
Words of Wonder
It never fails. Whenever I visit my mother for a few days, I make my way to the basement bookcases. A bouquet of old stain, pine and mildewed pages welcomes me as I peruse my fondest childhood memories that line the shelves. Each time it seems that one or two books find special notice, and most recently it was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a hardcover, beautifully illustrated first edition I used to carry around everywhere. The writing in those pages took me inside the most interesting factory I’d ever known, introduced me to a lovable, eccentric candy maker, even helped me taste the scent of chocolate that antagonized Charlie’s desperate hunger. When I was done reading it, I still held that book close. Dahl’s words drew me in to Charlie’s story, and I didn’t want to leave. Words that writers choose and how they use them have power. Children can learn to fashion words to tantalize their readers as well. Word Choice Two fundamental parts of speech can create wonderful imagery for the reader: adjectives and verbs. Most kids understand adjectives to be describing words, and it is important that they learn how to create sensory images using adjectives. However, adjectives can also be used in other ways. When I write, “My mother was somehow prepared for the news, her lined face, stoic,” we are drawn to and impacted by the last two words because of stoic’s unexpected placement after the noun. Likewise, C.S. Lewis writes, “It was a desolate, featureless sort of country mainly devoted to cabbage and turnips, with poor hedges and few trees.” The use of “poor” to describe hedges is another unexpected use of an adjective that evokes a different image than bare or ugly. Therefore, adjective choice and order can affect the reader. Let’s also not forget the delights of a good verb: “Then Jonathan went tramping to the gate, his boots making big footprints in the snow” (The Bears of Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh). The verb tramping evokes the sense of an over-bundled child trudging happily through the snow, something that wouldn’t come through with a verb like walked. Finally, children love funny and unusual words and often enjoy making up their own to describe something. Professional writers do as well. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Room had trees and bushes that were “eatable” after all, and Out of the Silent Planet’s Ransom did not have a “man-of-the-world air.” With these techniques, children will welcome the freedom to let their inventive sides shine. Special Effects Just like movies use special methods for creating visual and audio displays, a writer sometimes needs to move beyond the standard grammar rules to create an image or feeling. Figurative language is one of those special effects writers use. Simile, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and hyperbole are four of these techniques that children of any age can learn to some extent. Metaphor is useful as well but is best introduced after second grade. Another special effect is using styled sentences. A long-winded sentence, one that seems to go on and on, can convey excitement, frenzy, or drifting thoughts. When Esperanza describes her mother’s hair in The House on Mango Street, the reader feels carried away with her reflections because of the long-winded sentence structure. Now most people learned that they should always write complete sentences and that paragraphs should be at least five sentences long. Hogwash. A well-placed fragment can get the reader’s attention and emphasize or echo an idea. Felicia McSweeney (age 11) artfully places a fragment in “Beautiful Night:” “Every time I lifted my head up to breathe in the salty air I noticed how beautiful the moonlight caught the waves, how the symphony of the ocean crashing against the rock was so enchanting. And then silence.” This final fragment gets the readers’ attention, takes them from one emotional state to another. A fragment isn’t the only one liner that works. A one-sentence paragraph also draws attention and underscores. Poor Mr. Popper spends nearly three pages on the phone explaining and re-explaining his penguin problem to city officials, each time being transferred from one bureau to another. “He decided to hang up.” I’m sure we can all relate to his situation. The tension and frustration that builds up over the three pages is released in that final one-line paragraph. Other Punctuation Punctuation is like glue—it connects our ideas (but I bet you knew that). Want to make a side comment to the reader? Use parenthesis like I just did or dashes work as well. The latter acts like a blinking arrow on a highway saying, “Pay attention to what’s coming up,” as it did in the first sentence of this paragraph. The same effect can be made with colons, which are also useful for other things: showing an example (like we are right now), and expressing thoughts or dialogue. And last but not least, the elusive three little dots. The ellipsis is often mistakenly used in place of a comma, but used correctly, it conveys a lost train of…. What was I writing? Oh yes, a lost train of thought, a continuing idea or action, or a loss for words. There are related topics also worthy of teaching including those that deal with organization and tone, such as genre studies. Of course, the basics should always come first, such as general sentence and paragraph structure, basic punctuation, and the parts of speech (at least to have a common vocabulary with which to discuss writing). These four are like the hammer and screwdriver in a toolbox. They’re fundamental. While word choice, special effects and other punctuation are like a miter saw or drill. They can help children expand and refine their creations.
