Interest led writing?

[diaperjoys]

I'm wondering about letting my rising 3rd grader choose some topics for writing next year. He's done WWE 1-3, and I'll still do some formal something with him- maybe WT or WWW. But I think he'd enjoy the end result of a writing project that centered around, say, spiders. Or turtles. How can I guide him in this area?? Is there any curricula that could help shape this somewhat?

 

I'm off to a big book fair in two days - can ya'll give me suggestions of materials to look through??

[Karen in CO]

Take a look at My First Reports or the full set of them from Hewitt.

[LindaOz]

Bravewriter (The Writer's Jungle).

[birchbark]

Understanding Writing

[ErinE]

I didn't use any curriculum other than my own writing experience. Outside of his daily writing assignments, my ds9 has written narrative papers on the NFL and airplanes. His current project is dinosaurs.

 

He picks a subject, and from the library, he checks out 4-5 books, easy ones that are his current grade level but far below his reading level. The first week, he reads one book a day. I sit with him when the book is done and we take notes together. I give him pointers: Is it interesting? Would your reader want to know this information? Does it help the reader understand the subject? Otherwise he tends to throw in all the facts without culling for interest. I write down the information; ds9 is still a reluctant writer and I don't want him fixating on the physical act of writing while note taking. By the end of the week, he has read and narrated notes for all the books. The last day, he reviews the notes and decides if he wants narrow the number of subjects. For both papers thus far, he wrote paragraphs on 3 subjects.

 

The next week we write paragraphs, one each day. The first day, we decide on a topic sentence for the whole paper and write an introduction around it. This paragraph is usually the worst writing in the rough draft so I may skip this step in the next iteration and do it last. For the remaining days, he writes a paragraph on each subject. I discuss topic sentences, supporting details, and conclusions. For the airplane paper, he narrated the sentences before he wrote them down. For the NFL paper, he wrote the paragraphs on his own after the first day. I sat with him the entire time. The last day is spent writing the conclusion.

 

Then, I put the paper aside for the weekend.

 

After the "rest" period, ds pulls out his rough draft and we start fixing it. We work on the subject paragraphs first, then the conclusion, and leave the introduction for last. He reads each paragraph out loud, and he can usually tell when something doesn't sound right. I correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I also encourage him to notice repetitive sentence structure, repeating terms, and boring words. If there's a problem with flow, I'll encourage him to switch sentences around. Although I mentally use the Six Traits writing checklist (easily available through web search), I don't give him a rubric to follow.

 

When he finishes his corrections, I type up the final draft. We give it one final read and if it is "clean," I put it in his school notebook, a binder described in the WTM.

 

He really enjoyed the process and the final product. I've caught him looking back through his school binder reading his papers so I plan on assigning the papers again next year. Since he's nine and the writing process can take 3-4 weeks, the bulk of his writing will be narrations, but he has responded well to this assignment.

[diaperjoys]

What writing background does your son have aside from these interest led projects? It sounds like he might already be familiar with the idea of an introductory paragraph, conclusion, etc?

 

I didn't use any curriculum other than my own writing experience. Outside of his daily writing assignments, my ds9 has written narrative papers on the NFL and airplanes. His current project is dinosaurs.

 

He picks a subject, and from the library, he checks out 4-5 books, easy ones that are his current grade level but far below his reading level. The first week, he reads one book a day. I sit with him when the book is done and we take notes together. I give him pointers: Is it interesting? Would your reader want to know this information? Does it help the reader understand the subject? Otherwise he tends to throw in all the facts without culling for interest. I write down the information; ds9 is still a reluctant writer and I don't want him fixating on the physical act of writing while note taking. By the end of the week, he has read and narrated notes for all the books. The last day, he reviews the notes and decides if he wants narrow the number of subjects. For both papers thus far, he wrote paragraphs on 3 subjects.

 

The next week we write paragraphs, one each day. The first day, we decide on a topic sentence for the whole paper and write an introduction around it. This paragraph is usually the worst writing in the rough draft so I may skip this step in the next iteration and do it last. For the remaining days, he writes a paragraph on each subject. I discuss topic sentences, supporting details, and conclusions. For the airplane paper, he narrated the sentences before he wrote them down. For the NFL paper, he wrote the paragraphs on his own after the first day. I sat with him the entire time. The last day is spent writing the conclusion.

 

Then, I put the paper aside for the weekend.

 

After the "rest" period, ds pulls out his rough draft and we start fixing it. We work on the subject paragraphs first, then the conclusion, and leave the introduction for last. He reads each paragraph out loud, and he can usually tell when something doesn't sound right. I correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I also encourage him to notice repetitive sentence structure, repeating terms, and boring words. If there's a problem with flow, I'll encourage him to switch sentences around. Although I mentally use the Six Traits writing checklist (easily available through web search), I don't give him a rubric to follow.

 

When he finishes his corrections, I type up the final draft. We give it one final read and if it is "clean," I put it in his school notebook, a binder described in the WTM.

 

He really enjoyed the process and the final product. I've caught him looking back through his school binder reading his papers so I plan on assigning the papers again next year. Since he's nine and the writing process can take 3-4 weeks, the bulk of his writing will be narrations, but he has responded well to this assignment.

[ErinE]

What writing background does your son have aside from these interest led projects? It sounds like he might already be familiar with the idea of an introductory paragraph, conclusion, etc?

 

My son's writing program is based on the WWE Instructor Guide, using readings from assigned science, history, and literature. His papers are a separate project. Narrations and dictation are put on hold when he works on his papers.

 

I taught him about paper and paragraph writing. Discussion is a huge part of the process. His target audience is a child his age, so I always go back to the same questions. Would you find this detail interesting? When read aloud, do you understand the sentence? Writing, like conversation, is just another form of communication so i spend a lot of time talking with my son during the paper's writing and editing. The paper is basically a multi-day narration exercise.

 

I sit with him before he starts writing and we talk about his task for that day. Day one, I tell him about introductions, how they should "hook" the reader, give a broad overview of the subject, and have a topic sentence that summarizes the paper. I don't call this sentence a thesis because he's not making an argument.

 

Over the next few days, I talk about body paragraphs. We discuss the various sentences before he writes: topic, detail, and conclusion. As he's writing, we are conversing continually. I try not to edit in the first draft, but if he throws down his pencil after writing 2 sentences, I'll ask him if there was anything else he found interesting.

 

Before writing the conclusion, i talk about summarizing the paper. I give him guidelines. Don't introduce new information. Review the main points. Perhaps add a bit of personal opinion. Combined with the first, these are usually the most clumsy paragraphs of his writing. But, at his age, I don't expect much style.

 

As we're editing, I discuss transitions and tying separate paragraphs together. I might point out that multiple sentences are short or Subject-Verb-Direct Object. I ask him to look at combining sentences or switching up the order so the writing is less choppy.

 

If I need a refresher, I might do a quick web search to touch on any main points. There's a wealth of information available online and at the library to teach writing. Many .edu websites have great tips; I particularly like the Perdue writing workshop website. For my personal enjoyment, I like to read writing websites and books intended for adults so I adjust the tips for my kids. I also highly recommend the writing threads by 8filltheHeart. She has several posts summarizing her teaching style for writing and it helped me set aside packaged curriculum.

 

On a final note, these papers are big projects for him. They require time and energy commitments from both of us. I'm sitting with and actively teaching my son the entire time. I don't leave him when he's writing because he has a tendency to get distracted. I also don't hand him the assignment and expect him to write on his own. He would be overwhelmed with the amount of work required. He needs my guidance and support to break down the steps and stay on task.

[Farrar]

Seconding Bravewriter.