This post is focused on WRITING.
Writing is something that simply improves with practice. The more you write, the better a writer you become. However, we want to be careful to not hurt the joy in your child’s writing. Here are a few tips and activities you can try at home to promote writing in a joyful way.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON SPELLING
It is important to not interrupt the flow of your child’s thoughts. If you are correcting their spelling as they are writing, they may become discouraged and not want to put effort into their writing. We believe that it is a lot more exciting for a student to write about a “froshus dbrmn pensr” than a “bad dog”. If we overcorrect their spelling, they will be less inclined to take risks. After they are finished writing, you can bring some attention to any of their Word Work words that have been misspelled. However, beyond that, we encourage students to GUM their spelling. Give it a try, Underline it, and Move on!
TELLING A STORY
Some students are working on their abilities to tell a story. They need to learn to expand their ideas before they can practice writing the words down. Here are a few activities you can do to help them expand their ideas:
Type Up the Story – Ask your child to tell you a story and type it up as they are telling it. This is a cozy activity to do together that helps remove the pressure of your child having to write the words down and helps them focus on the plot. Ask them questions such as, Can you tell me more about this new character? Can you tell me more about the setting? Why did your character choose to behave this way? How do they feel? What does it look like? Smell like? Taste like? Sound like? Look like? Feel like?
Pass the Story – This is a fun game that can be done anywhere. Try it in the car or at the dinner table. One person starts the story with the first sentence. Then they pass the story to the next person who says the next sentence. You keep going around and around until the story is finished!
WRITING
Remember to keep it fun! If your child feels like it is a chore, then this will stunt their growth. Here is a list of activities that you can do on the computer to help build your child’s writing skills.
Symbaloo – visit the class Symbaloo. There is a variety of writing activities that are marked as white tiles. Storyjumper makes fun online books. Cat Kid Comic Club makes online comics. Scholastic Story Starters gives grade level specific story starters. Storyboard That makes storyboards and Scriblitt gives a variety of writing options.
Spaces – visit your child’s Spaces account and have them comment on the weekly posts. They can simply answer the questions written at the top of the posts, they can write what they liked about that they did, write what they found challenging, or write about what they would do differently next time.
Here are some simple fun ideas without the need of tech:
- write a letter to a pen pal or relative
- make books
- write thank you cards
- make a joke book
- write a list
- write instructions such as how to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich
- pick random words and turn them into silly sentences
- retell a favourite story or movie
- write different endings to a favourite book
- write the same story but with their own characters and scenarios
- write a story inspired by photo prompts. You can find some photo prompts >>> here
I hope that you enjoy some of these writing activities at home. Please let me know if I can support in any other way.
Have fun writing!
Cari