Reluctant middle school writer

[countrymum]

What did you use with your students who struggle to get thoughts on paper?

Did it help?

Any other thoughts?

Student is 12 and has good thoughts he likely has mild dyslexia and is starting to spell a tiny bit better. He reads well and for fun. He hates anything cute or funny or that's trying to make school "fun". He likes school work to look lol me work and be efficient.

[SilverMoon]

Based on your last two sentences, I'd take a look at Winning With Writing. It has clear daily lessons, scaffolded skills, no fluff, and looks like a school book. Level 6 is average 6th grade level, but the covers say level. My dysgraphic kid uses them one level back. If he gets overwhelmed we set it aside for some 6 Trait or Nonfiction Writing from Evan Moor for awhile. 

 

If yours is the kid who simply doesn't have much to say but is on level across the board, I might also consider Writing With Skill. It's also broken into clear daily lessons with scaffolded skills and looks like a school book. It's a little more aggressive right from the start. 

[Amoret]

Writing is really hard. Students have to have an idea, put that idea into words, string words together in conventional ways, hold those strings of words in their minds, and then write them out, properly and clearly, in a way readers can understand. Each of these skills takes time to develop.

You don't give much detail about the exact nature of your DS's challenges, but if he struggles to write freely and easily, you might consider setting aside all worries about proper spelling, form, organization, and conventions for now (perhaps for a few months or so) and just let him write. Freewriting is really useful for this. You can choose a topic, let him choose a topic, or use writing prompts (something like 642 Things to Write About is useful for this sort of thing. If it's too "fun" for him, serious topics can work equally well).  Set a timer for a duration that is appropriate for his abilities and tell him that the only rule is that he has to keep writing. Even if he just writes "I don't know what to say. Freewriting is stupid. I don't like this activity. But I am writing lots of words. I guess that's the point," he is still making progress. You might do just 15-20 minutes per day, and that's it for his writing. He should be able to write these passages without any critical judgment or pressure, though you might read them over and find one or two very specific things to praise and reinforce.

Once he can get his ideas down with little effort or frustration, then you could start working on the "skills" of writing, such as organizing ideas, using conventions, and so on. I don't use a formal writing curriculum, but I'm sure others will have suggestions. Trying to forge ahead if he is still struggling to put words on paper could lead to a lot of frustration.

 

[countrymum]

It is partly just writing anything. He does not write fast. He can do about 4-5 dictated sentences from All About Spelling level 4 in about 5-7 min thinking hard about spelling. 

Edited September 30, 2023 by countrymum

[Not_a_Number]

I'd definitely find something that motivates him. 

For DD11, who is a good but reluctant writer, that has so far been math proofs and the newspaper she's been putting out with our co-op. Everything else has been like pulling teeth. 

I'm sure it varies a lot between kids, though. 

[SilverMoon]

7 hours ago, countrymum said:

It is partly just writing anything. He does not write fast. He can do about 4-5 dictated sentences from All About Spelling level 4 in about 5-7 min thinking hard about spelling. 

Not WWS then. It needs a kid who can spit out a couple paragraphs fairly comfortably.

I expect my youngest (WWW user) would take longer than that. We break WWW lessons into half if it expects more than a basic paragraph, and he's welcome to ask for spelling help if needed. 

6 Trait Writing is more gentle still. It's been the one book that got mine comfortably discussing writing concepts. Each week has four worksheets practicing a specific concept and a small writing project in the teacher pages. It looks like a formal school book. 

[A.M.]

IEW SSS level B. This has worked well for one of my children who doesn't naturally produce pages and pages of writing. Within months he was writing on a daily basis, almost painlessly. Towards the end of the first year he was writing letters (inventive writing), and basic essays.

He enjoys the teaching style Mr Pudewa.

I think the website has good sample lessons that you can check with your son.

Good luck finding the right resources!

[countrymum]

He CAN write a paragraph. He is slow and would probably rather do anything else. So I think some is speed and stamina some is mental block (this is hard) some is motivation, some may be dyslexia or or.....

He's my oldest boy. His 10 yr old sis writes letters for fun....like I said he'd rather do anything else...

[Melissa in Australia]

I used IEW with my 5th child.. He has dyslexia.. I really wish I had discovered it for my other children.. It is an excellent program. After we did SSS level B we did many of the themed books. I wouldn't say that ds enjoyed writing, but he improved hugely

[Green Bean]

How About Cover Story?

https://clearwaterpress.com/product-category/cover-story-writing/

Jump In! (skip the freewrites)?

https://writingwithsharonwatson.com/jump-in/