Love of Learning: Writing
Winter has arrived on the Island…hope everybody was able to be safe and enjoy it! Where we live it snowed for 3 days straight. I wasn’t able to “write home about it” as my original home is Ontario and I don’t think they would have given me too much sympathy!
Our final blog on the “Learning to Love” series is on WRITING!
Writing seems another struggle for students. The Foundational Skills Assessment results for Nanaimo shows that 23% of students in Grade 4 and 19% of Grade 7 are not yet meeting expectations. The results are similar for the whole of Vancouver Island. (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/district.php)
Some ways to encourage writing practice:
Let your child write naturally. Do not work on correcting spelling and grammar as much as encouraging the writing practice. After the story is finished work on proofreading and editing. Praise the story ideas, characters, and other elements of the story to encourage them. See last week’s blog on how to teach spelling at home.
Make a writing corner, near your word wall list.
Let them write out the grocery list; make writing practical. If they want a treat, have them write a few words on why you should let them. Write notes to each other; they can be silly or express emotions that might be difficult to do otherwise.
Provide writing prompts; sometimes is just that they don’t know what to write.
Have them write a story about a familiar character (tv, games, websites, etc.)
“Publish” their stories. Write down the stories they start to tell. Start with you writing the words and the child drawing the pictures. Advance to providing the pictures, or better yet your child providing them, and have the child write the story. Create covers with construction paper. Include these stories in reading time.
Tell a relay story. This can be done orally, while waiting in traffic, or share a piece of paper between you. Writing is more than pen to paper – it’s the creative ideas too.
Start a family newsletter to keep in touch with relatives.
Encourage them to keep a diary and/or a journal!
Have them write a letter to a celebrity, the editor of your local paper or a family member.
Have them experience an item with all of their senses. Have them touch it, smell it, listen to it, look at it, draw it, and if safe taste it. This will help them develop descriptive writing.
Tutoring…With A Twist tutors not only support learners in every subject area; we also support them with a predetermined life-skill. By helping learners develop the tools they need to succeed in the classroom, we also help them develop the tools to succeed in life.