One of the biggest blocks for young writers is not knowing what to write about. They need content.
We have all heard of writer's block, but we often ask children to write about topics they know very little about. We ask them to write creative stories, but many of us have trouble thinking of a story to tell our children.
The skills to write well are vital - but how can our children learn to write well if they don't know what information to include, if they don’t know anything about their topic, if they can't think of a creative storyline?
Write in Colour addresses this block by ALWAYS providing the content first. It is why our writing assignments are generally based on factual writing or retelling a narrative. We do not expect children to provide content out of nowhere.
The first step in every writing assignment is always to read or view content.
Step 1 - Read the information through carefully with your children.
Sometimes this might be your whole lesson. This step is vitally important. We want our children to comprehend what they are learning. We want them to think, to think deeply, before they write.
High-quality writing lessons are not focussed on how many lines of writing are on the page. The first step is truly knowing and understanding your content. We need to give them something significant to write.
Step 2 - select words from what you have read
We do this through Build a Wordbank and Taking Notes.
Idea - Photocopy or print the text you are reading together. Underline key words and new vocabulary.
Parent - write these words onto slips of paper for your child. Encourage them to arrange these slips to construct a sentence that explains the new concept. Provide any extra words. Write for them - Why? Becuase you are providing scaffolding so they can concentrate on comprehending their subject and structuring sentences. In this manner, they will have the courage to produce the very best sentence possible with the highest level vocabulary.
Once your child knows the content, they can then ‘talk’ their sentences. Talking sentences is vital. It provides your child with an opportunity to construct and hear their sentences. You can record these for them in writing. Even very young children (5-7 years) can learn to write (talk) complex sentences and paragraphs using this method long before they can spell the words and hand write legibly.
When we provide clear content and take time for our children to really comprehend it, we are providing the scaffolding for them to build their vocabulary, their knowledge of the subject and their ability to construct sentences.