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!