Engaging Children to be Readers — Developing Powerful Writers — Part 11
“Students are readers of the past and present so they can become authors of the future.” — Dr. Ernest Morrell
I love that quote above! Everyone has a story that is uniquely their own and want to share it. Some people want to share it outloud verbally and others are more quiet but still have a burning desire to share their story. Writing is the vehicle for them to say what they want to say. In previous posts I have shared about my writing journey. I was a reluctant writer. I didn’t feel that I was a good writer, but I have kept writing over the course of my adult life, mostly in a journal until I started this blog for Learning For Life. We need to remember for all writers that writing is not so much about showing that we command of grammar and usage but the importance of the message or story that we want to share. As a reminder, my mom was a secondary English teacher so grammar and usage was very important in our household. At the end of January, I wrote several blog posts about writing. Writing: How to Overcome the Fear was the first in a series of four posts. In that blog I share my journey as a writer.
The question becomes, how do we develop powerful writers? Like with anything else, it takes time and practice. I know as an elementary teacher, specifically Kindergarten to grade 3, the focus is heavily on learning to read. Remember I am a literacy person and have worked with struggling readers for over 20 years so I know the importance of time spent learning to read. However, young students need just as much time learning to write in those early formative years. Reading and writing are reciprocal. Reading is the decoding process of going from letters to sounds to figure out the code. Writing is the process of encoding and going from sounds to letters to write words. When children do not have an opportunity to learn about how language works through writing we are handicapping some children that actually learn to read because they are naturally strong writers. Writing with young children can be a very laborious process. This was the time of day that I liked to have as many parent volunteers as possible to assist with reading student writing and helping guide the process. Admittedly it was not my favorite part of the day but I knew how important and integral it is in the learning process so I powered through each day.
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” — Mark Twain
In those early formative years, as adults (teachers or parents) we have the power to instill confidence and a feeling of enjoyment in regard to writing. Children should be allowed to get their message out before it gone over with a red pen and murdered. To me that is the most discouraging thing we can do as teachers and parents. We need to first value the message or story and talk about what is included what is possibly missing and give them an opportunity to get the message all written down. Once they have accomplished that and they are happy that they have included everything they want that is the time to discuss the mechanics and do the editing. The quickest way to discourage a young writer is to put the emphasis on how they are writing rather than what they are writing. Keep the focus on the what first.
As a writer my genre is narrative writing. There are a lot of other powerful writing genres that children need to be exposed to and given the opportunity to explore and practice. Some of these include: blog posts, research reports, memoirs, poetry, short stories, plays, documentaries, and song lyrics to name a few. When given genre options this automatically moves children into writing for an authentic audience. The more they are writing for an authentic audience, the more they will embrace the importance of revising and editing their work so they can communicate an engaging and well written message. Teaching children about writing and the joy that it can bring sharing their story or message to their audience is a powerful gift. Spread the joy of writing to the children in your life!
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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
― Frederick Douglass
The joy is in the journey!
Blessings and Peace,
Mary
