Raising a Writer: Pro Tips from a Teacher
Raising a Writer: Pro Tips from a Teacher
In my first years of teaching, during a writing lesson, one of my second-grade students told me that writing made his stomach hurt. I understood him. In that one heartfelt sentence, Peter described his experience with writing as I had as a child.
However, I pretended to need more details, so I gave him a blank paper and said, “Could you draw me a picture of how you feel?” He drew a stick figure with a sad face. I asked him to explain to me what that picture meant. This was an eye-opening opportunity as a young teacher, and I planned to change Peter’s perspective. Luckily, I looped with my class from second to third grade and saw enormous progress in all my students, but Peter’s writing stood out. He was writing pages and pages of stories within those two years.
Last month, I wrote about raising a reader, so I decided to spend some time this month on raising a writer. In teaching young writers, I’ve seen students who love writing and those who don’t—from students who write notes and cards, lists and journal entries, and go on to write pages and pages of stories to other students who stare at the blank page like a deer in the headlights.
However, all kids have amazing imaginations. When I was growing up, I had stories in my brain hijacking every brain cell, just bursting to get out. I had an imagination that could turn anyone into a character and any place into a setting. Still, like these struggling writers I was teaching, getting even a few words on paper was debilitating—literally, I couldn’t move the pencil to the paper. I couldn’t spell and barely knew correct sentence structure, and punctuation ruined my life because everything had to be perfect when I was growing up. Spelling, grammar, sentence structure—well, you get it. What eight-year-olds want to write words into sentences when they are expected to get it right every time? Writing about a place called Timbuctoo or wild rhinoceroses is exciting, but spelling those words isn’t worth the trouble if a child fears they must get it right.
Today, teachers embrace phonetic spelling (you may know it as invented spelling) because learning phonemes makes for better writers and readers. It encourages kids to take risks and confidently write stories.
Still, parents who were taught to get it right every time, like I was, pass along that tradition to their kids, and maybe a little fear, too. Trust me; I see if often when a child asks me to spell a word, and I say, “sound it out” or “chop out the sounds,” they freeze because, at home, they are told the correct spelling, or maybe the parent writes the word for them to copy. Back in the day, that’s what we did. We copied sentences off the board—BORING!
What’s my fundamental advice for your beginning writer? You can still help your child spell, but do it at their level, not yours.
For example, “People” may look like “pepl” or “pel” or “ppo” to your child, and that’s okay. They are learning that words are sounds strung across letters. How wonderful! Your child has discovered that letters have sounds and blended sounds make words. That’s amazing!
Reading Rockets and Scholastic also have some tips for parents. They are exceptional resources to turn to if you have new readers and writers in your family.
Four Pro Tips to Raising a Writer
Parents often ask how they can encourage their students to grow their writing skills. Here are my top four tips on what you can do at home.
1. Start with reading
There is that word again. Reading. Read, read, and read to your child. Slide your finger under the words in simple books as you read them. Talk about how the author wrote these words to create her incredible story. Another great benefit of daily reading is the daily practice of mental imagery. This can be practiced by reading a page or two of a story before showing your child the illustrations. This way your child is creating mental pictures—a skill that will also help young writers.
2. Model writing
Children learn by observing. Model writing by making grocery lists, jotting ideas, or writing a card or letter.
Does using a pencil (or crayons or markers) seem old school to you? Why use paper when there is a screen at your fingertips? Because young children have not yet developed the skills you learned years ago.
Students enter the classroom with a diversity of writing abilities. Some students write correctly formed letters, words, and sentences, while others struggle to write each letter. Kindergarten and first-grade students come to school with a definite range of writing levels, but parents can help close the gap.
Using paper and pencil to write and form letters helps young writers develop fine motor skills. The (not so) simple act of gripping a pencil improves dexterity and proficiency. Using simple writing tools like a pencil increases cognitive processing as well. A child may take a minute to draw a stick person or write their name. However, while manipulating the pencil, this slower writing pace helps them organize their thoughts and allows spatial visual awareness and understanding of how to form letters. It is more challenging than it may seem, and these skills come only with support and practice. Modeling is essential, but practice will make permanence.
3. Make a book together
This can be simple— grab a notebook or staple a few loose blank papers together.
a. Encourage your child to draw the story with at least three pictures. This model shows a story's beginning, middle, and end—an essential benchmark for writing a story.
b. When your child has at least three drawings, encourage them to tell you what’s happening. A child is good at telling you everything they see in their drawing and will love sharing everything their picture offers. Let them express the emotions in their story. Encourage them. “Wow, that’s an exciting beginning,” or, “That’s funny.” Point to the following picture, “And then what happened?” And again. “What happens at the end of your story?” Be absorbed in their story and help stir up their imagination.
c. After your child tells their story, encourage them to write it down. They may have expressed their pictures in great detail, but writing all that down isn’t easy. Beginning writers may have only a few words or sentences written, but they see it as the story they just described to you. A four-year-old may see one letter as a whole story. A first-grade student may have all run-on sentences. Encourage the stories of young writers the way they see them. This builds confidence. A child is willing to take risks in writing when they don’t need to perfect it just yet. Don’t fret. When your child begins to put a period after every word (often happens in kindergarten), you’ll know they are showing readiness for a new skill. One skill leads to another. While your young writers are risk-taking, they are also building vocabulary, organizing thoughts, using self-expression, and blossoming a love for writing. And don’t forget, always have your child read what they wrote. You’ll love it when they perhaps find missing words or punctuation and want to fix it—and make it right—at their level.
4. Watch for signs of everything positive
Reading and writing are like two peas from the same pod. One promotes the other and vice versa. Both build critical thinking, imaginative thinking, grammar, memory and retention, sentence structure, the expression of ideas, and so much more. Achievement Network, or ANet, goes a bit more in depth with how one’s success with reading and writing are intertwined.
Favorite Children’s Books to Encourage Your Young Writer
Here are a few of my top picks in children’s books to inspire your emerging writer:
Who's Writing This Story?
By Robin Newman
Your first grader will enjoy this one. This book shows how to write with voice—and it’s a funny take on stories your kids already love.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
by Laura Numeroff
These books are great. It’s repetitive and has funny illustrations. Have your child create their own “If You Give a…”
The Thank You Letter
by Jane Cabrera https://amzn.to/3YK0UnB
Kids love to label pictures. It’s a form of writing, so let your child have at it! It also encourages your child to express gratitude.
We are nearing the holidays, so I recommend Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! by Mo Willems. I mentioned these books in my last blog. They are among the favorites of 5–7-year-olds, and even better, the books use lots of speech bubbles. Your child can write their own story using speech bubbles. How fun!
Another favorite book I loved reading to my third graders was The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. This story has an edge as it’s told from the wolf’s point of view. It’s hilarious and illustrates that stories can have conflicting ideals, like villains have feelings. Reading this favorite sparked so many imaginative stories of other folktales through the perspective of the story’s villain. My students had so much fun writing these stories; your young writer can do that, too.
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh!
By Mo Willems
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
By Jon Scieszka
Last month, Heggerty, an educational materials company that specializes in “innovative, evidence-based curricula designed to cultivate confident, capable readers and writers,” contacted me for an interview to be featured in their “Writers in the World” showcase for their third-grade unit! This is an “end-of-unit” feature that has also interviewed famous authors such as Eric Carle. My interview and corresponding writing prompt will be used in thousands of school districts across America and worldwide.
As a teacher and writer, you can imagine how honored I felt when Heggerty contacted me.
I’m excited to share with you my “Writers in the World” interview and writing prompt for your third-grade writer. Click below to read it!
What I’m Listening to Now
I love audiobooks— here are a couple I’m playing in my Libby app right now.
The Inmate
By Freida McFadden
The Goddess of Warsaw
By Lisa Barr
Books On My Nightstand
Throne of Glass was recommended to me, and I am enjoying it. If you are a Hunger Games fan, give this one a try. It has a different plot and theme but a similar protagonist.
Do you remember the story of Huckleberry Finn? Do you remember Jim? Jim is the black man risking his life fleeing slavery. In James, the story is Jim’s—told through his harrowing world. It’s a great read.
Throne of Glass
By Sarah J. Maas
James
By Percival Everett
It’s always a pleasure to have read and respond to my blog posts. Let me know what you think about this one!
