Category: Teaching Writing

  • How to Evaluate What Your Kids Write

    How to Evaluate What Your Kids Write

    The world needs to hear what your kids have to say that is uniquely theirs to share. Here’s how to help them.

    Meet the Six Traits of Great Writing.

    I can still remember my confusion as I stared down my first pile of student essays. Now what do I do? How do I decide who gets an A and who gets a C? Is this good writing for a fifteen-year-old, or not? Even more mysterious—what do I say to help them improve?

    Ever feel that way when looking at your kids’ work? I sure did. Math always seemed obvious—this answer’s right, this answer’s wrong—but their stories, essays, poems? What do I tell them? I’m their mother! Seems likely I will be too hard or too easy on them. Odds are slim I’m going to give them feedback that’s on the money.

    All that changed when I learned about the six traits model for teaching writing. Suddenly I had a language to discuss writing with my kids and students they could understand—and their writing took off.  As their writing coach, I knew what was working well. I knew what to suggest that they try next to improve.

    Download Six Traits of Great Writing for Teens Rubric.

    Here are the six traits in a nutshell:

    While following the conventions of the English language for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization plays an important role in great writing (it’s trait number six), it isn’t our most important concern.

    The number one trait of great writing is ideas. When you read something your child has written, first respond to the quality of the ideas in the story or report. Are the topics discussed interesting, unique, thought-provoking, or insightful?

    Your kids will be eager to gauge your reaction to what they produce. Begin with feedback about the sections of the paper you find most intriguing or thought-provoking. Focus here so young writers learn that their ideas matter most. With beginning writers this was often the only aspect of the assignment I responded to. If writers don’t pack their essays, reports, and stories with solid ideas, none of the other traits matter—readers won’t read what they’ve written. So, invest lots of time learning about and working on the most important trait: ideas.

    The second trait of great writing is organization. Ideas need to be presented in an order that makes sense to the reader. Is there a logical progression in the way ideas and details are revealed? Readers like to have their curiosity piqued; they also enjoy the unexpected. A logical progression can include an interesting fact or question at the beginning or a surprise ending. Young writers need practice using common organizational schemes (there are only a few)—chronological order, order of importance, compare-contrast, cause and effect, lists, and summaries, as examples. If the order of ideas appears to be random or illogical, show the writer where you get confused.

    The third trait of great writing is word choice. Consider the vocabulary your child has used. Is it academic enough for a science report? Is it descriptive enough for a short story? Are certain words often repeated and should be replaced to keep readers interested? Is your child’s vocabulary growing and can you see this in his or her writing? Praise your kids for attempting to include new words in what they produce, even if misspelled or not quite right for the context. Reward experimentation and risk-taking. A rich and varied vocabulary keeps readers reading.

    The fourth trait is sentence fluency or syntax. Syntax is the way a writer builds sentences. Great writing has a rhythm to it. This is created by varying the length of sentences—some are short, some are long—or by varying the types of sentences. For instance, some begin with an introductory phrase like this one.  Others are more complex and include several phrases and clauses strung together—like the next one. This variety is pleasing to the ear and adds interest, which keeps the reader engaged. And keeping the reader reading is a writer’s number one job.

    The fifth trait is voice. This may be the most difficult to understand, but if ideas are the foundation of great writing, then voice is the capstone. Voice is the writer’s personality shining through. I tell my students to think of it this way: in the same way you can identify your mom’s voice calling from the kitchen or a friend’s voice on the phone, you can tell a writer’s voice by the ideas, organization, word choices, and syntax he or she commonly uses. Kids will certainly try many different voices as they grow as writers, but eventually they will each settle into habits of writing that identify a piece as uniquely theirs. We should celebrate the distinctives of each child’s writing and emphasize the value of this trait. God loves our diversity—we should too.

    That’s a whirlwind tour of how to evaluate what your kids write. I hope this brief introduction gives you some tools to work with. Want to give it a try? I conscientiously tried to model the six traits of great writing in this article. How did I do? Can you give me feedback on my ideas? Do you recognize the organizational scheme I used? What about my vocabulary—do I have enough variety? Have I varied the length and types of sentences? And even if you’ve never met me, do you have an impression about my personality? (Do you want to meet me?) Finally, have I observed the conventions of English for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization? Or do I have distracting errors?

    If you can answer any of those questions, that illustrates how the six traits model gives readers a language to discuss what a writer produces so he or she can improve.  I’d love your feedback because I want to help you raise writers in residence—I think it’s a sacred mission. The world needs to hear what your kids have to say that is uniquely theirs to share.

    Aim Academy English classes are writing-intensive and focus on teaching students the six traits of great writing.

  • Help! My Child Hates Writing

    Help! My Child Hates Writing

    So your child says he hates to write. What’s a homeschool parent to do? Believe me, I feel your pain. Teaching writing classes for thirty years, I’m no stranger to students who dread writing. With experience, though, I found some strategies that work. I love the challenge of convincing reluctant writers that they have something worthwhile to say.

    Start here: Why does your kid hate to write?

    Figure out why your child hates to write–ask. If she doesn’t know, then observe when the resistance sets in. Is it during the planning stages? (I can’t think of anything to write about!) Maybe it’s the fear of making a spelling mistake (tell him spelling doesn’t matter here). Or, your student is tired from all the handwriting (many curriculums require too much of this.)

    Once you have some insight into the root of the problem, become partners in removing those barriers. Tackling the challenge together will show your teen how to solve her own roadblocks to learning going forward.

    In my experience, I find two big reasons students hate to write:

    1. Kids dread writing because they lack self-confidence.

    They don’t like the way their words sound, and they believe others will view what they’ve written negatively. They think their ideas are stupid or their grammar and spelling are unacceptable. If this is the fundamental roadblock, create a writing environment that guarantees success and affirmation. Avoid situations (like a graded class) where perceived failure might occur.

    2. Kids dread writing because the physical demands of handwriting (or keyboarding) suck up precious energy.

    Your child’s attention span is a limited resource. If the physical act of creating a written piece saps his energy, then move the physical act of writing on to someone else’s plate (yours). Work on developing the stamina required for handwriting or keyboarding in other subjects.

    Neither of these two barriers to confident writers may fit your child.  One of the joys of homeschooling is learning how our kids tick–then tailoring our program to fit each kid. What barriers do you suspect influence your child’s dread of writing?

    Once I’ve figured out what underlying obstacle is in the way, I select from my arsenal of strategies that have worked in the past:

    Ten Writing Hacks to End the Struggle

    1. Deescalate the hostilities.
      If your kids have strong negative emotions about an assignment, their ability to create will be compromised. Positive emotions enhance our creativity and cognitive functioning. Change the requirements of the assignment. Change the assignment. Eliminate the threat of a grade. Never share something a student has written with others without the student’s permission.
    2. You write too.

      You will be surprised by how engaged your teen becomex when mom or dad take on the assignment too. They will be eager to see what you produce. And, more importantly, you will gain a lot of empathy and insight into the struggles of a young writer as you try to answer the prompt as well.

    3. Create a spark.

      Do something different, take a field trip, bring in a surprise visitor, read a story, share a unique image etc. Then ask your kids to write about the experience. Do it right away, while the moment is fresh in their minds. Or, when something unexpected happens, seize the opportunity to use that as a writing prompt for everyone. Enjoy comparing perspective later on.

    4. Have your kids write responses to questions.

      Relate the questions to one central idea and increase them in complexity. Here’s how I might help students start a short story:

      • Pick a name for your character.
      • Is your character a boy, girl, animal, fantastic creature?
      • How old is your character?
      • What does your character look like?
      • Where does your character live?
      • Who are your characters’ parents?
      • Who is your character’s best friend?
      • What are your character’s favorite hobbies?
      • What is a big problem your character is facing?
      • Who is preventing your character from solving this problem?
      • Who is helping your character solve this problem?
      • How does this big problem get worse?
      • What will happen if your character can’t solve this big problem?

    5. Ignore irregular spelling, please!

    When we emphasize correct spelling in anything other than a final draft, we limit what kids will write to the words they can confidently spell. This produces very boring, stilted writing. Let them use their full vocabulary and commend them for reasonable guesses. Celebrate any attempt to use new words, even if not technically correct. Most confident teen writers were once wildly experimental elementary writers. Spelling is an interesting cognitive skill that has little to do with a child’s writing ability. It is more connected to the strength of a child’s visual memory skills. My twin sons were natural spellers. My two daughters were inventive spellers. I’m a not a natural speller either. I didn’t use a spelling program with any of my kids. My daughters’ spelling improved by high school, but they had to use spell checkers and me to edit their work. Because my students were typically in high school, I did circle words that were misspelled in their final drafts, but I did not deduct points.

    6. Let your kids dictate their thoughts to you.

    Whether it is the beginning of a short story, a personal essay, or a research paper—the first step in transforming thoughts into formal written language is to state those thoughts aloud. (I frequently talk to myself when I’m writing.) With older kids you might negotiate an arrangement where you record one paragraph, and then they record the next. Or, you might agree to record the first page and then they take over from there.

    7. Encourage your kids to just start writing anything on the page.

    The key is to get the composing process underway. Coherent ideas often begin to emerge about half way down the first page. The act of writing has a reciprocal effect on our thinking. As we write, our brains become more capable of organizing our thoughts into a logical progression of ideas.

    8. Write every day.

    Clear the schedule of all other distractions and ask your kids to write for 15 minutes. Set the timer. Don’t give up. Stick to it. By the end of the first week, you should start to see less effort and more enthusiasm for the act of composing.

    9. Have your kids read what they write to the dog.

    Truly, a pet is an indispensable life hack for every homeschool program. If you don’t have a pet, then a stuffed animal will do in a pinch. But pets make the ideal listener—no judgement, just love and affirmation. Lots of kids became confident readers and writers because the family dog/cat/fish/rabbit always had time to listen.

    10. Co-author with your child.

    Professional writers do this all the time and it’s a smart way to produce more writing. Work on some pieces together—they will love this together time. Collaborate with your child wherever a barrier to writing exists. Some of my own kids were in middle school, and I was still collaborating with them in authoring or typing a paper. (If you child is in a co-op class, just clue the teacher in so there are no misunderstandings.)

    If none of these work, let me know, please. I’m happy to brainstorm with you. No matter what, don’t eliminate writing from your homeschool program. Our kids need to leave home confident, capable writers—it’s an essential skill that will open the doors to their futures.

    Need more inspiration? Read this next:

    Three Powerful Reasons Kids Need to Write.

    We can help you raise a writer: Check out Aim Academy English classes.  For all ages and all skill levels. Read our reviews.

    Join My Mission — Raise a Writer in Residence

    I’m passionate about helping parents raise writers in residence in their homeschools. I’d love to hear from you—what writing successes and struggles have you experienced in your homeschool? Anything I’ve missed in this post that you’d like to share? Connect with me on Facebook and at DebraBell.com.

    Aim Academy offers writing-intensive English classes. See our selection here. We’d love to help you experience success in your homeschool journey.

  • 3 Powerful Reasons Kids Need to Write

    3 Powerful Reasons Kids Need to Write

    Why writing is powerful
    Writing is a powerful learning tool for your homeschool.

    #1 Write to Learn

    One of the great mysteries facing homeschool parents is how to help kids become confident writers. In my experience, we often make this task harder than it needs to be. Mostly, kids just need time they can count on to write—and for three critical reasons. Writing is the art of transforming what we think into words. That process is the first reason writing should be a fundamental part of your homeschool program. Writing is a powerful learning tool—perhaps the most powerful one at your disposalThe secret to raising confident writers is having a regularly scheduled time where your kids write about what they are learning.

    “I don’t know what to write!” We’ve all heard this complaint and experienced it ourselves. Yes, that is the crux of the issue – our kids don’t know what they think, what they believe, what they know, or what they understand. The real power in writing comes from their struggle to find the words to express their thoughts. That is when their brains are growing—making connections, pondering questions, sorting and classifying details and experiences—all to figure out what it is they have to say. Cheer your kids on with this truth—every moment they spend drafting and polishing an essay or story is building a better brain. The more kids write, the faster their brains will work. Research shows that kids who write are better learners (in all subjects) than kids who do not.

    Test Me On This

    Try this experiment for one week and see what results you achieve:

    Once a day ask your kids to write for at least 15 minutes about what they are learning. Don’t limit this to school subjects. Everything they experience and read is fair game. The goal is to get them busy transforming their thoughts into words. Help them get started with these writing prompts:

    1. What did you learn today that you didn’t know yesterday?
    2. What did you think a lot about today? Why?
    3. What did you read about today that you found interesting?
    4. What did you study that you want to know more about?
    5. What did you see, hear, smell, touch, and feel today that you want to remember?

    Notice how once kids have a regularly scheduled time they can count on to write, they begin to have more to say and the words flow more quickly.

    #2 Archive Their Childhood

    What your children write captures their intellectual history. The stories, essays, and reports your kids create as they grow will become the archives of their childhood. The writing portfolios my own four children produced during our homeschooling years are among my most precious possessions. This amazing journey toward adulthood is worth capturing and treasuring forever. Do you mark your children’s physical growth on a wall in your home? In the same way, we should mark and celebrate their cognitive growth. Both are signs of God’s love and care in their lives.

    Consider the experiences, books, and people your children will wish you had preserved memories of from their growing up years. Get them writing about these now! Yes, document all these memories with your camera phone, but then use the photos as writing prompts to get your kids’ creative juices juicing. It is fine to keep these assignments informal. It isn’t necessary to draft, revise, and polish everything children write. Writing every day is the goal. (I asked my four kids to work on a writing project four times a week. Fridays I reviewed what they wrote.)

    Ask your kids to write about why something happened or how it affected them, in addition to answering the questions “who,” “what,” “where,” and “when.” The latter fact-based questions do not require kids to think as deeply about their experiences as the “why” and “how” questions do.

    Read What They Write Often

    Then take time each week to read and savor together what your kids have written. Talk about it. Ask them what they like best about each entry. Point out where you see improvement. Let them know what you enjoy and find most interesting. Seeing improvement is critical to anyone’s ongoing motivation, so be a cheerleader and enthusiastic writing coach.  At least once a year take out your children’s previous writings and compare these with their current year’s work. Together notice how each child is growing as a thinker, learner, and writer.

    #3 Capture Their Voices

    In my opening letter to students in Writers in Residence, volume 2, I write “your ideas, memories, investigations, and stories are all part of what makes you you right now in this time and place—and that is worth saving.” That brings me to the third powerful reason kids need to write. . .

    Writing gives voice to each child’s individuality. If there is one thing God obviously loves, it is our diversity. Throughout creation we see the abundance of His creative spirit overflowing—no two snowflakes alike; no end to the different species of plants and animals we discover. God is more glorified when we put what makes us unique on display. Forget about assigning those formulaic essays that you also hated to write in school. Instead focus on helping your kids express with words what only they have thought, experienced, or imagined. We need the God-given voice of each child to be captured, polished, and shared.

    Language is an amazing grace from God and a gift to steward and revel in. When we teach children to write, the benefits of skill and confidence in crafting words will open doors for them and help lead them into their futures.

    Cast a Vision for Writing

    Most of us learned to write through meaningless assignments for a nonexistent audience. That is the main problem – writing should be authentic. Authentic writing always has a living, breathing reader on the other side. Whatever writing projects you assign in your homeschool, make sure your children are writing for real people that they care about and look forward to sharing their finished product with—Grandma, a writer’s group, friends, their family members, and you.

    Give your children a vested interest in their writing projects by letting them choose what they write about. Even if you require them to tackle a specific form of writing, such as a research paper, personal essay, or opinion piece, make sure the topic is one that matters to them.

    Cast a vision for God’s purposes and design in your children’s creativity. Inspire them to see writing as an expression of their individuality that God and you both love. Infuse your writing time with lightheartedness and freedom. While suggestions for improvement are helpful, grading a writing assignment is a stress-producing proposition. We all produce our best work when we are filled with enthusiasm and joy for the task at hand.

    Got a reluctant writer? Read this next:

     Help! My Child Hates Writing

    Why I Am On a Mission

    I have taught literature and writing for more than thirty years –online, in homeschool co-ops, and conventional classrooms–I’ve seen firsthand how becoming a confident writer powerfully impacts a child’s intellectual growth and self-esteem. I believe it is a holy calling to use God’s glorious gift of language to draw attention to His creativity and unique expression of Himself in each of us. I’d love to hear from you—what writing successes and struggles have you experienced in your homeschool? Anything I’ve missed in this post that you’d like to share? Connect with me on Facebook and at DebraBell.com.

    Join My Mission — Raise a Writer in Residence

    I’m passionate about helping parents raise writers in residence in their homeschools.  I’d love to get your feedback about this article (give you some practice transforming your thoughts into words!) Connect with me at debrabell.com or join my Facebook group about raising a writer.

    Debra Bell’s Aim Academy also offers writing-intensive English classes. See our selection here.