How to Teach Kids to Write

Getting kids to write, teaching children to write effectively, and having them like to write, are challenges for parents and teachers. Writing is natural for children. It's fun. They love to scribble at an early age. The challenge is to keep it fun and keep them loving it.

Things You'll Need

• Paper of all colors, sizes, shapes
• Writing implements of all sorts
• Variety of pictures from magazine, photos, etc
• Variety of books for use as models
• Scissors, glue, stapler

Instructions

1. 

   Read. To be great writers children need to have heard great writing. If you haven't been reading much to your children/students, start. It is never too late. Internet sites and librarians have great lists of kids' books. Read to children while pointing out the characters, descriptive words, and story lines.

2. 

   Brainstorm and Research. Help children learn to brainstorm by showing them how to make lists, webs, and picture maps of their story ideas. Use books, internet, video, experts, magazines and newspapers to fill in any needed information so that their story/essay idea is complete.

3. 

   Genre. Have children think about types of stories and what type his or her story will be ... fairytale, science fiction, mystery, adventure, tall tale, how-to, biography, and folktales are a few. Each have their own unique qualities which you can review by reading one together.

4. 

   Characters. Have children think about who will be "telling" the story. Will it be from the point of view of a narrator or one of the characters? Make the characters come alive by having children draw pictures and describe in words or pictures qualities such as physical size, age, personality, voice, coloring (eyes, hair, skin), gender, relationships to others, their homes, hobbies, cars, what they eat ... the list is endless.

5. 

   Setting and Title. Children need to understand that setting doesn't simply mean a geographical location such as "forest" but also includes the places within the main setting (cave in the forest) and the time. Time includes where in history (past, present, future) as well as time of day. The title should grab the reader's attention. Let children have fun with how the title is written and play with lettering. Use computer fonts or book samples for different ways to write letters.

6. 

   Plan. A plan and rough draft are not the same. A plan helps the rough draft flow from their fingers. The plan should not be long or detailed. Let them write it in marker, crayon, or any media. Pictures and/or a web will work ... make it fun. Have children think about the beginning, middle and end of their story, problems and solutions, and action scenes.

7. 

   Rough Draft. Teach children that a rough draft is supposed to be messy and quick. Don't let them get stuck on details and fixing mistakes as that comes later. Scratching out, adding and subtracting words and ideas, and moving story elements around with arrows and lines are all great! The messier the better ... it means they are thinking!

8. 

   Illustrations. Be sure to let your children draw illustrations by finding important passages they wrote, rereading them, and drawing pictures to match. This helps them to read their own writing carefully. Illustrations might be real or abstract. They might have different shapes, lines, patterns, and viewpoints.

9. 

   Share. Sharing their writing and illustrations is extremely important. This helps children to see their writing from the viewpoint of others. They also often catch their own errors and correct on the spot. If you are doing this with several children be sure they understand and use "constructive criticism" only.

10. 

    Revise and Edit. After sharing, children should decide if there is any revision they want to make. Generally, revision means to make major changes such as moving story parts around or changing beginnings and endings. Edit means to fix errors such as spelling, grammar and left out words.

11. 

    Format. Format discussions and decisions are great fun for children. These should never be left out as they help motivate their writing. Children should decide on the size, shape, format (flaps, pop-ups) and color of their books. This is where much of the cutting, gluing and stapling takes place. Of course all of this can be completed using technology as well.

12. 

    Publish. Always let children publish their books. This simply means to let them pick a format and write the "best copy" of their story, report, or essay in it complete with illustrations, cover, and title. They will want to share their finished work proudly which feeds their excitement to write more. This is the goal of it all.

Resources

• Children's Book Lists on the Web