Ridding the Rules of Writing

     Fourth grade. Writing test. The year our little ones must keep to the hows of writing and put aside the whys to demonstrate mastery of the rules. Asking a lot? Maybe, definitely, not really, well it depends. Depends on interest, personality, instruction, and of course, practice. How can we build interest for kids, especially ones that show none? If a child has trouble writing a paragraph, or a sentence, you need to start there. Tackle the daily practice of just writing, building complete sentences, using proper grammar, exposing run-ons and fragments, improving spelling, and practice, practice... This will help the basics of writing, but still may not build interest. Step it up.

     Get to know the student's personality, as I've said before. If organization is a struggle in other areas (desk, backpack), you can bet that organizing thoughts into paragraphs to make a rule-based composition, will definitely be a task. Use graphic organizers, flow-charts, blank boxes with arrows, to model how to organize thoughts and show progression. Practice this in all subjects and all areas. "Let's make a flow chart of our writing lesson today. First, we will write simple sentences. Then, we'll practice stretching them. Finally, let's make a story book, each page having a stretched sentence and an illustration." Show this progression of your lesson visually. Point out how you organized your day on the board, and how writing is similar. (This may start your exploration into the whys, which you never really shelf... and in fact, learning the whys will be one of the keys to building motivation for kids --in all subjects.) This might be a great introduction to paragraphs, beginning with the intro. Make a connection there and write a short introductory paragraph about your writing lesson for the students. Include the why!

     What is 'stretching a sentence?' I've used the term, 'super sentence,' too (along with 'super paragraph'). It's taking a simple sentence like, The boy walked to the park., and making it more elaborate and complex. Make a lesson out of building a better sentence. "Let's brainstorm on what this boy looks like?" "What are different ways you can walk?" "Why is the boy walking to the park?" Johnny wiped the sweat from his forehead as he walked briskly to the park to catch his friends at a game of soccer. This takes practice, but together you could easily make some elaborate sentences of this sort. To emphasize the kind of writing necessary in a personal narrative, try a sentence with I, my, or we. I remember when I helped my grandmother. can become I'll never forget the bittersweet day I helped Grandma move into her new apartment; bitter because she was suffering from a broken hip; sweet because she was my favorite person. That's stretching it a bit for a fourth grader, but place no limitations and you'll be amazed at their super abilities!

     So, finally, what is an easy and realistic way to build interest in writing for kids? It's actually opposite what you'd think. Remove the rules. Tell them, "Today, forget the rules and just have fun writing."Every now and then, we would do an activity called, Create Your Own Story, or as my kids would say, "Make a Book." I'd pass out blank paper and students were instructed to create any story they wanted without thinking about any writing rules. The object was just to create --using anything they wanted (crayon, marker, pen, pencils) any way they wanted (diagonal words, picture, then words, words in a shape, or just words on the paper.) Okay, I did have ONE rule, they had to write as much or more words as there were pictures... The page soon progressed to book. One sheet became several sheets. And although I told them initially they didn't have to share with anyone, they were usually more inclined to. 

     Of course, a ping pong of writing activities using rules and no rules will make better writers and the rules will naturally carry over into their limitless writing worlds, yet with some of the stress removed allowing for a safe place to write. Create Your Own Story will hopefully become a favorite activity and the three to five paragraphs that are required by the end of the year should become less of a challenge. Sound easy? Well... it's attainable, and definitely fun and worth it!

Embracing Personalities... Especially in Teaching

     I have a fascination with personalities- that is, truly learning and examining what makes people tick. This passion has carried over into my teaching and is one of the tools I use to get to know my children in effort to see them grow and progress throughout the year, and is an especially important approach in the world of Special Education (as has this interest been extremely helpful as a writer).
     Some children have a keen self-awareness and a natural ability of verbalizing what they like and don't, and what their limitations are. This is great, not only for the child, but for the teacher. Part of our job, before building that essential relationship, is learning about the child's interests, learning styles, and comfort zones -basically getting to know them. A child that knows what makes him frustrated, say participating in a loud game with the class, can conscientiously learn to work within a group, prepare for the frustration, and work through it with a support person like the teacher, to make it a feasible task without a blowup.  
     One that doesn't know this about himself may have an unexpected blow up when the teacher pairs him up with a group, or may be clueless how to step away if the noise is unbearable. The first step in his remediation is awareness of the dislike or sensitivity and communication with the teacher. Now, you're both prepared for the event and can learn strategies that make participating in a loud, large group easier or possible.
     I was not one of those self-aware children... and it wasn't until middle school that I had a teacher call out my visual learning style, which I took as an insult. Maybe it was the way she said it.
     "I can see Aim'ee is a visual learner..." like I wasn't as smart as the others, but what the teacher was probably noticing was my artistic side, always doodling, mostly respondent to visuals, not so much to teacher lecture or books on tape.
     The one thing I did know as a kid, as far back as I remember, was that I was shy. It took years to learn how to be assertive. I don't think I even knew what the word 'assertive' meant until well in my 20's.  
     Picture a little girl, quiet and timid, always off -playing by herself, always drawing, a little odd, a little inattentive, but smart and bold in her unique way. I assume this was how I might've been perceived as a child, though even in high school, with years of good grades and honors classes, I felt like a dumb reader if after one story I was in la-la land.
     Had I understood more about my personality, I probably wouldn't have beaten myself up over not seeing a story the first time, but might've learned how to reread and take notes, or catch that I was distracted -instead of going for my own throat. Or just learned that I was a little bit of a perfectionist, if I knew what that was, and that all I needed was to teach myself to lighten up and read it again. I was clueless about my own personality at 17 years old.
     These days, I make it a point to help my students learn more about themselves at 10, what works for them, what doesn't, what distracts, what livens them. The kids seem to eat this up. They love learning about themselves, and they love me giving them the attention they need. A boost of self-esteem just at the process of learning who they are -you can't argue that.
     The best tool yet, is helping students learn not to beat themselves up over something they don't understand. It's amazing what a little self-awareness will do.