Model for your kids that writing is
fun, challenging and open to many avenues....
Start with a story topic such as
Tell about a time you were nervous. Think aloud with your kids - when were you
nervous? How old were you? Where were you? How did you overcome it or did you
stay nervous?
Spend lots of time discussing and
sharing ideas. Let your children learn about your childhood by sharing stories
like this. Take plenty of time to let everyone participate and share ideas.
This discussion time is helping children think through their story and generate
ideas to use in their writing.
Remind your children that when
writing a story, it is okay to exaggerate and embellish the truth. Make the
writing fun by making up details if necessary. Also remind your children that
they can steal ideas from their siblings and their parent. The goal is for kids
to write a good, interesting story full of descriptions and action. Creative,
engaging stories make writing time fun.
To get started....
• Make a list of words you want to
be sure to include in your story. As you write the words, ask your kids to help
you hear all the syllables and make sure you spell correctly.
• Leave the list of words posted so
that when children start to write, they can refer to these words for spelling
help and for story generation.
• Next, use an organizer to help
students think through their story from beginning to middle to end. Using an
organizer teaches kids to focus on their topic, to think through their ideas
and it gives them a place to write ideas as they think of them.
• Use one organizer and write one
story together as a group. Model for your kids how to read aloud the organizer
like a story. Model writing many, many times before asking kids to complete one
on their own.
• When orally telling the story, be
sure to use creative adjectives and vivid verbs.
• The more fun you have including
detail in the story, the more your kids will start to add detail.
• Try to vary your sentences in the
story - don't start every sentence with the word "the". Start a
sentence with a verb or a phrase. Teach your kids how to use a variety of
sentences.
Teaching writing is a process. The
best thing you can do as a teacher is to model for your children that writing
takes time, yet it is fun. Always ask your children to tell you their sentence
before writing it. Telling it out loud requires them to think through all their
ideas before writing. Encourage your children to always use an organizer and to
stick to it.