Developing Good Writing Habits  

 First of all, students are expected to write each and every day. Just as the mailman is expected to deliver the mail in rain, wind, sleet, hail or sunshine, your child is expected to write daily.  You can promote this by providing a quiet spot for your child to write.  You can also provide a place for him./her to post their work.  Kids eat that up.  You can provide your child with stickers, colored pencils, and other items they can use to decorate their writing.  If you have the time and Internet access, you can have your child create a blog.  There are many sites out there that will allow you to blog for free.  Blogger and Edublog are just a few.  This is not to be confused with MySpace or those type of sites.  Blogging is like an on-line diary.  You can also have them write about the following:

1.      What did you do today?

2.      What did you learn in school?

3.      Describe some places you would like to go.

4.      Describe likes/dislikes.

5.      Describe anything relevant to the child’s world.

6.  If the child wants to watch something on television, require him/her to write reasons as to why he/she should be allowed to watch it.

7.  Keep a diary.  You don't have to purchase a fancy book with a key and lock.  You can use a composition book and have your child decorate it.

8.  Write a letter to a friend/relative.

      Students are also expected to come up with topics and ideas for writing.  This can be difficult for students to do but there are some things that you can do at home to make it easier for him/her.  To do this you can have your child read a book to get some ideas.  Reading and writing go hand in hand.  Since the children are required to read everyday, why not have them write about something based on what they have read.  You will be surprised at the ideas or topics your child can generate.  I frequently explain that most television shows, cartoons, movies, etc. begin as a written story.  Remind your children of this.  Children have vivid imaginations and should be able to easily come up with things to write about.

      Students are expected to reread their work often with the understanding that others will be able to read it as well.  Make sure your child understands that he/she would be able to read his/her own work without your help.  You should also be able to read the writing as well..  Have your child read what he or she has written.  If he/she is unable to read it, ask them to revisit it.  In the classroom, our author’s chair is mushroom chair.  Have your child read or share his/her writing from a special chair at home.  Children who otherwise are not likely to share their writing are often more apt to share what they have done if there is somewhere special they may share from.  Students in the class who initially did not want to share their writing now thrive on sharing because they want the chance to sit in the author’s chair.   You can even give your child a special treat (ie. sticker, free time, etc.) when he/she shares.  I created stickers for the classroom that even say "I got to share my writing today in Mrs. Cowan's Author's Chair."  They love these little incentives.

      Students are expected to solicit and provide responses to writing.  After reading a book, discuss the writing style of the author with your child.  See if your child notices any patterns.  Have them look for word families, rhyming, or rhythm.  They can also look for uses of various literary techniques such as similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia and so on.  For example, Bill Peet's texts frequently use onomatopoeia (sound words) as well as alliteration (first letter repeats in several words - Jumping jaguars.....)

      Students can figure out what makes good writing.  When your child is sharing his/her writing, ask them about it.   Here are some questions you may wish to ask:

1.      Ask if your child feels they have written a good piece of work.  Children are much more aware of this than we realize.  they will know if their piece meets the standard or exceeds it.

2.      Ask what they would change in their writing.  Children know what they can keep the same and what they should change.

3.      Ask what they like/dislike about their piece of writing.

4.      Ask where they got the topic from.

5.      Ask why they wrote about that specific topic.

Narrative Writing or Writing a Story

      Students are expected to be able to write a fictional (made-up) and autobiographical (story about themselves) story.  The students are expected to be able to write a story about themselves by themselves.  The story may be a retelling of an actual event or it can be something made up.  A good activity that you can do to get your children writing about themselves is to have your child write about what they have done on a weekend every Sunday afternoon.   Have them write a story about what they did that weekend.  You may also have them write a story about how the school week went on Friday or Saturday.  Children love the opportunity to share their experiences.  Have them share their experiences through writing.  To have children write a made up story about themselves, have them write about what they wished they could have done. 

      Students should be able to organize their writing, including making decisions about where in a sequence of events they should enter.  This is where your child plans the events in his/her own story.  To do this, have your child plan what will happen first, next, and last.  They can do this using a bubble map, t chart, and a wide array of other graphic organizers.  You can find many graphic organizers at Education Place by Houghton Mifflin.  Again, tie this to your reading.  After reading a story, discuss the specific sequence of events in the story.  Have your child tell you what happened first, next, and last in the story.  They should be able to do this since we have been doing this all year.  Then have your child write his/her own story, keeping in mind to follow a sequence of events.  You can also give your child a few index cards and have them create a storyboard first about their story.  They can jot down and illustrate key ideas they will be writing about in their story and then sequence those events.  As I have said, most movies, television shows, etc. start as written stories.

      Students should also be able to develop a narrative or retelling containing several appropriately sequenced events.  Readers should be able to retell those events easily.  Your child, being the author, should then often react to, comment on, evaluate, sum up or tie together.  Again, this ties into the statement above regarding first, next, then, and last.  Your child’s writing needs to contain a first event, followed by a second event that is tied to the first event, and then a last event that sums the story up.  Use books that you have read with your child to model this. You can even discuss a television show to help your child understand sequencing events if they are struggling with this concept.

      Students can incorporate drawings, diagrams or other suitable graphics with written text, as well as gestures, intonation and role-played voices with oral renditions.  Quite simply, have your child draw a picture that relates to their written story.  Use picture books to model this aspect of writing.  The students often pick the books that contain colorful pictures.  Use that to help your child write.  Have them create their own colorful picture to make his/her own story more fun.  As for gestures, intonation, and role played voices, model that when you read to your children.  Make up funny voices for different characters.  You will find the more you do that, the more your child will imitate that and begin to do that with his/her own writing.

      Students demonstrate an awareness of author’s craft by employing some writing strategies, such as using dialogue, transitions or time cue words, giving concrete details, alliteration, and providing some sense of closure (for example, “The End,” “And I will never forget that day,” “I was glad to have my dog back. I will never forget to love him again”) for example.  Have your child use dialogue (or “talking marks”) in his/her writing.  If you happen to read a book to your child that contains “talking marks”, see if your child can spot them.  Ask your child to explain what they are and then use them in his/her own writing.

      Students imitate narrative elements and derive stories from books they have read or had read to them.  There is nothing wrong with having your child imitate a writing style he/she has observed in a story read to them.  The children are beginning writers.  This allows them the opportunity to grow and develop their writing skills.  They will eventually develop their own writing style but in the meantime, allow them to attempt to imitate what they see.  Bill Martin’s Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you See? was an excellent book that provided the students an opportunity to imitate a very easy writing style.  The students each wrote over a dozen sentences based upon this book alone.  Granted, they imitated the book but they also added their own touches to the story.  Imitating a writing style allows your child to experiment with his/her own writing as well as feel successful.

      Students in some cases, begin to recount not just events but also reactions, signaled by phrases like “I wondered,” “I noticed,” “I thought” or “I said to myself.”  Ask your child if they noticed anything about his/her own writing.  This will promote higher level thinking in your child and ultimately improve his/her own story writing skills. 

         Informing Others: Report or Informational Writing

      Students are expected to gather information pertinent to a topic, sort it into major categories – possibly using headings or chapters – and report it to others.  Report writing is taught at the end of first grade.  You can, however, start now by doing a few things.  First of all, have your child research what they are learning about in science.  For example, we may be studying plants in science.  Have your child look up the term in a dictionary.  If you have an encyclopedia, have your child look up plants in the encyclopedia.  They may not be able to read what they find but it gets them in the habit of looking for information.  Allow them to use the internet if possible.  An excellent search engine for children is  http://www.yahooligans.com .  This site is child friendly and easy to navigate.  Visit the public library and research topics there.  You may also have your child research things he/she may be interested in.  You may also have your child research holidays or current events. 

      Students should be able to independently recognize and exclude or delete unnecessary information according to appropriate standards governing what “fits”.  In other words, if your child is doing a report on "The Solar System", he/she will know that information about penguins does not belong.  After your child shares his/her writing, ask them if all of the information they wrote fit in with the report.  Model this by researching something in the encyclopedia or off the internet.  As you read something to your child, insert a silly sentence that does not belong with what you are reading.  Chances are your child will question the statement.  Have them explain why the statement does not fit.  If they do not question you regarding the statement, ask them if the statement belongs.  Again, this promotes higher order thinking as well as gets your child in the habit of sticking to the topic in his/her writing.  One of the biggest reasons students do not do well on the FCAT Writes! is because they fail to "Stick to the TOPIC."   Remind your child of the importance of sticking to the topic.  They can even put their writing into chapters to make it more interesting.  You can have your child take notes on note cards and then sort that information into categories.  This will help them to organize their writing as well.

      Students should demonstrate a growing desire and ability to communicate with readers by using details to develop their points; sometimes including pictures, diagrams, maps and other graphics that enhance the reader’s understanding of the text.  Allow your child to research various topics and focus on the pictures, diagrams, etc. the author uses in his or her book.  When your child writes a report, allow them to include their own illustrations to support their writing.

 Getting Things Done: Functional Writing

      Students should be able to write clear instructions.  When having the students write instructions, I have them use 4 specific words to start each of their sentences initially.  They must use First, Then, Next, and Last.  By using these words, the students are forced to keep their instructions in order and focused. To get your children in the habit of using instructions, allow them to look at instructions for a game or a recipe book.  Let them write how to do things such as ride a bike or bake a cake. As their writing improves, you can easily move on to the more complex transitions such as "followed by", "additionally", etc.  If you have any instructions at home, make a point to show them to your child.  Show them instruction that are easy to follow as well as those instructions that make you want to "pull your hair out" so to speak.  Students need to see examples of clear instructions as well as instructions that are a jumbled mess.  You can also have your child detail instructions on how to make an ice cream sundae.  I have done this number of times and the children are amazed when the sundaes do not turn out as expected.  They key to doing this activity successfully is to follow your child's instructions EXPLICITLY!  This helps to prove your point about making sure instructions are clearly written.

      Students should describe, in appropriate sequence and with a few details, the steps one must take to make or do a particular thing.  By getting the students in the habit of using First, Then, Next, and Last, it is keeping the students writing in sequence.  Once they master writing those simple direction in sequence, you can move on to the more complex instruction. 

Producing Literature

      Students should be able to write stories, memoirs, poems, songs and other literary forms.  By the end of the year, the students should be able to write in a variety of styles.  This is why we ask that they read many genres besides simple fiction.  I strongly urge you to allow your children to read non-fiction, fables (stories with a lesson), poetry, action/adventure, mystery, fantasy, and fairy tales to name just a few.  For an assortment of stories, visit http://www.readingatoz.com.  I would also suggest using http://www.yahooligans.com.  to research other sites as well. 

      Students should demonstrate not only an awareness of but also an ability to reproduce some of the literary language and styles they hear and read in the classroom (these may include alliteration, metaphor, simile, rhythm, complex syntax, descriptive detail, sound effects, dialogue, gestures, familiar story grammars or plot lines and rhyme schemes).  As I stated before, allow the children to try to imitate the writing styles of author’s they have read.  This will help them to develop their own style in the long run. 

Quick Writing Ideas

1.      Have your child write daily in a journal or diary.  Give them free choice on what they want to write about.

2.      Have your child respond to a story that has been read to them or that he/she has read.  Here are some suggested prompts:

• This story makes me think of…

• I like the part…

• I don’t like when…

• This story reminds me of…

• My favorite part was when…

• My favorite character was…

3.      Allow your child to use the word processor or computer to write on.

4.      Participate in writing contests whenever possible.

5.      Visit websites that allow for story writing and sharing of stories.

6.      Allow your child to email friends or relatives.  This is excellent writing practice as well as practice for computer usage.

7.       Encourage your child to write for different purposes (grocery lists, thank-you letters, invitations) and praise his/her work

8.  Practice in writing will help your child to become a better writer.

9.  Have your child write notes to you to tell you where he is going and what he/she is doing when he goes out to play.

10. Work with your child to write letters to friends and relatives. Give stamps, envelopes and writing paper to your child as a gift.

11. Have your child write letters, notes, or reminders for you.

12. Make original greeting cards and envelopes.

13. Write stories together about things that interest your child.