To be a better writer - Read!

We haven't written much in our journal lately.  Becca is on this kick about reading books at or above her reading level (this is good!) and then taking a reading exam on the computer that tests her comprehension of the story. The test is Accelerated Reader, or AR.  Becca has now taken, like, ten tests and is reading books listed at the third grade reading level.

One of my primary philosophies is that in order to be a better writer, one must read, read, read! I encourage that with Becca, and we are a family of readers. At any given time, one of us is reading a book. Becca carries around four or five chapter books in her backpack and is jumping from one to the other, reading, and - here's the best part - she remembers the story line from each!

I had Becca in class this week, though, and she worked on the assignment I have for the first graders.  She has been writing in her journal, away from her father's prying eyes (are fathers supposed to read daughters' journals?).  Well, as we get another assignment done, I'll add that to the blog.  Right now, how about another writing tip?

Writing Tip #2 - Paper

I should take a moment and mention that the type of paper is important when working with primary writers.  In the classroom, my primary writing students use wide-lined brown paper, and handouts also use the wide-ruled lines with the dotted lines between.  With this kind of paper, primary writers can practice their letters, word-spacing, and sentences without feeling cramped in their writing the way college-ruled paper makes a young writer feel.

Then, you may ask, why is Becca using college-ruled paper? Well, if you know Becca, she can be pretty stubborn.  She grabbed the composition book from my classroom and has refused to give it back.  When I tried to suggest using the wide-lined paper, she absolutely refused (she uses it when in class).  I think it has something to do with wanting to write on the type of paper older kids and grown-ups write on.

That's fine.  In fact, as Becca gets older, and remember, she's only a little more than a year from third grade, in which she will use college-ruled paper, she will need to learn to write on regular paper.  At this point it is great practice for her.

The second journal entry

One of the hardest things to work with primary writers is conventions.  Conventions is the sixth of the 6 Traits.  As students work their way up through the elementary grades, conventions becomes a part of their everyday writing.  How to indent a paragraph; where to put commas and periods; spelling words correctly; all of these develop over time.  Becca is just beginning to spell words.  She has a weekly spelling test in her class, of which she does well, most of the time.

For her second entry (March 7), I asked Becca to write about her favorite book or books.  We talked about what it means to indent paragraphs, to add titles (not necessary in journals), and to write more than one paragraph.  We are also beginning to work on the spacing of our words and how they should fit between the lines.

As you can see, her writing is an average example of a primary writer.  From here, we will work on penmanship, and by fourth grade, she will be working on writing in cursive.  Again, spelling is a skill that develops over time, therefore, we should not be worried if our primary writers misspell words.  We want our writer to develop her thought process, thereby developing the other writing traits, which we will get to in future journal entries.

On a side note, Becca reported on a first grade field trip this year and has been excitedly participating in school newspaper.  She's been looking at newspaper stories and how they appear on the page.  If you notice in her entry, the beginning words of the two paragraphs have bolded letters.  This is because we use drop caps in our newspaper stories (which makes the first letter of a story three times larger than the rest) and she's trying to copy that.  Recognizing text features (writing titles larger, bolding letters, etc.) is a sign of the developing writer within a primary student.  If your primary writer does this, let her!  It's always good to promote the creative side of your writer!

Writing Tip #1 - Primary Writers

Once first graders get past the scribbling stage, start writing a sentence or two, then the young writers are ready to address writing topics.  The hard part about teaching these primary writers writing is coming up with an idea to write about.

Don't underestimate first grade writers. One way to get them thinking about writing topic is to create lists.  Creating a list falls under the writing trait IDEAS.  First, discuss with these young writers about mom or dad going to the grocery store.  When mom or dad goes, they usually create a grocery list.  Help them create a list of items they would find at the grocery store.

As an activity, you can do one of these with your primary writer:

1. Create a list of favorite foods.  Write at least five items.

2. Create a list of your favorite toys or games.

Finally, ask your primary writer to create a list and write down things they could write about.  Help them brainstorm.  The list could look something like this:

1. Things I do at Grandma's house.
2. Going camping with my family.
3. My toys.

Have fun with your writer.

The first journal entry

Becca and I sat down over the weekend and she drafted her first journal entry.  As proud of her as I am, I must say her skills have come a long way this year.

I should preface this blog by saying that I have been teaching my daughter how to write for more than a year and a half.  When Becca entered kindergarten, I began teaching writing to the K-5 classes, of which Becca's class was one.  So, at the beginning of 2009, Becca began taking my class once a week.  This year, I see her once every eight days.  Her growth as a writer has been on par, or better, than her peers, but something I had only seriously looked at it in the last few weeks as something that we could do together.

Maybe it has something to do with her reading.  I've always promoted that Reading and Writing go hand in hand.  Becca's reading skyrocketed within the last few months.  She's now reading books that interested first graders, like Junie B. Jones and Cam Jansen, third grade leveled chapter books.  One of the ways our school checks comprehension is through the Accelerated Reader program.  Becca excels at this as well.

It's hard to ignore my daughter's request for writing.  In thinking of something for her to write about, I asked Becca to write about her craft activity she had just completed with her mother (the entry she circled).  She sat down and wrote nearly a half page.  On the second day, she added to the entry (the bottom half of the page).  We're still working on adding the date.

March 5 - Deciding to journal

Of all the things my daughter has expressed interest in, I didn't really expect her to want to write. All children want to emulate their parents, I get that. But, writing?  I teach writing to more than 900 students in an elementary school, and it is very rewarding to see them be excited about writing.

My wife and I have tried to expose our daughter to various things, like playing on the lake, swimming, tubing, boating, cooking, all the things that we do ourselves in our lives.  Our daughter, Rebecca, or "Becca" as she likes to be called, has wanted to do everything we do.

Knowing that her father writes, and spends time typing on the computer, or putting things down in a journal, has given her an insight into writing. So, the other day she expressed a desire to keep a journal, "One that I can write in Daddy!"  I explained that she had already started journaling in notebooks by scribbling and drawing at age 5, which by the way, is perfectly natural for a developing writer. Now 7, Becca actually wants to write!

She found a black composition book in my classroom the other day and absconded with it. By hiding it in her backpack, she actually thought she could sneak it home.  Not wanting to keep it hidden for very long, she showed it to me and asked, "Will you teach me how to write in a journal?" What would any father say to that?