How Will You Teach Writing? (part 2)
by Kerry Beck

In my last article I described a unique approach to teaching writing.  It follows the guidelines set out by Andrew Pudewa in IEW's Teaching Writing: Structure & Style.  This program spends most of it's time teaching students "how to write" instead of brainstorming "what to write about".  

Using that model, let me share free writing lessons online that you can use with your own children this week (or the first week of school).  If your older children struggle with writing, this is a great place to start.  Begin by choosing a story they enjoy.  This is one way of using predictable books to teach writing.

DAY 1
In order to help your children with "what" to write, you should copy a simple, one-page story, perhaps Aesop’s Fables.  Read the story aloud with your child.  After reading the story, write an outline/structure so you can do a key word outline with your child.  The structure should look something like this.

I.

   1.

   2.

   3.

   4.

If you are an outline perfectionist, you might have a heart attack since there are no letters on my outline.  The only person that will have a hard time with no letters is you.  Children have no problem using an outline that has just numbers.  In fact, they will find it easier to work with.  There should a number for each sentence in the story.

Re-read the first sentence and have your child offer three key words from that sentence that will help him remember what is written.  Underline or circle those words in the copy of the story as he tells them to you.  Once he has chosen three words, write them in order on I.  

Then, move to the second sentence and underline three key words for that sentence.  Write them on 1.  Continue until you have three words for each sentence.  You may have less than three words, but not more.  This forces your child to learn how to make a decision.  Besides, he does not need to remember every detail in each sentence to learn how to re-write this story in his own words.

After you have your outline completed, put away the original source.  Have your child use the outline and tell back to you the paragraph.  Children have a much easier time verbalizing what they have read rather than writing it down.  You just finished half of the writing lesson.

With older students, be sure to have them re-tell the paragraph to you.  This may seem childish to you, but it is imperative to help with older kids' thought pattern as he writes tomorrow.

In my next article, I will share the rest of these free writing lessons online.  You will learn how to use this simple outline to teach your children to write in their own words.

 
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© Kerry Beck, 2008
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