For some, free-writing means five or ten minutes of scribbling out the plethora of thoughts and ideas tumbling around in their heads. For others, it is a period of frustration made all the more difficult by the sounds of other pencils furiously scratching across the paper. Learning how to put your thoughts on paper can be difficult and frustrating. Getting your child to work on a report may feel like you are pulling teeth. How do you help guide your child through the writing process? Here are some key writing elements that will help your child get those thoughts onto paper.
Getting Started: The Thesis
When your child has a paper to tackle, the first thing she will have to do is to develop a thesis. One of the trickiest areas for young writers is staying on topic. Those who develop a thesis right from the beginning will have a clear focus. A trick that I always employ is to develop my thesis and then tape that thesis where I can see it while I write. This keeps the writing focused and keeps my mind from wandering. Have your child decide what her thesis will be. Tape it nearby, and when you read over her paper, or work on her pre-writing, always ask the question: "does this fit with the topic of the paper?" If not, throw it out. Through this exercise, your child will quickly learn how to streamline the writing process.
Mapping
Teach your child to pre-write. Many students have the ideas, but they end up getting bogged down in the thought process as they try to sort out what they want to say. Having it in your head is much easier than trying to convey the idea clearly on paper. Thought organization is the most difficult -- and the most important -- writing technique. When your child has a paper to write, she should always start by organizing her ideas. Have her write the topic down. Then have her go through and list the important points that she would like to cover in her paper. This can be done in outline form, but many students prefer to use a mapping process. In this process the main idea is written in the center of the page and circled. Lines are drawn off of the main circle and connected to the main points, which are also circled. In the same manner, even the main points can be connected to smaller supporting points. When she is done, she will have a map of how her paper will look. It is much easier for her to begin writing once she's organized her ideas.
Provide Specific Material
One of my favorite lessons was taking my middle school students out to the playground and letting them play. After about 15 minutes, we went back to the classroom and I asked them to write about the experience they just had. With a specific, recent experience in mind, not one student turned in a blank piece of paper. Often, the worst part of getting thoughts onto paper is narrowing down which thoughts to write about. Providing your child with a fun experience to write about gives her a place to start and creates a fun writing activity.
Journal
Another way to bring fun into the writing process is to encourage your child to keep a journal. If your child doesn't want to keep a journal, use writing as an alternative to a less desirable activity, such as bedtime. Allow her to leave her light on in her room for an extra fifteen or thirty minutes as long as she spends the time writing in her journal. You can even take a trip to an amusement park, with the agreement that when you get home, she writes about her experience at the park in her journal. You know what motivates your child. Find a reward and incorporate writing. Journal writing allows her to write informally. Informal writing will still give her the practice of organizing her thoughts on paper, but it allows her to write without the pressure of knowing that someone is going to be looking at, and grading, her writing. Allow her to pick out some fun-colored gel pens to use on her journal. This gives the hard work of writing, a fun twist and she may be more eager to write if she has new writing equipment. Remember, teachers don't usually allow colors other than blue or black at school, so writing with fluorescent pink, purple, or green is a lot of fun!
Writer's block happens to even the most experienced writers. Writing is hard work. However, writing is one of the most important skills your child can develop. It teaches her to organize her thoughts and gives her the opportunity to practice reasoning. These are skills your child will need throughout her lifetime.
Pre written Paper
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