Children's literature is one of the most enjoyable forms of writing. It allows you to tap into a magical world filled with adventurous plots and whimsical characters. Most of us have fond memories of the books we used to read when we were younger. The stories we read awakened our imagination, encouraging us to exapnd our minds and learn more about the world around us.
The demand for good children's writers is growing streadily, and we can show you how to make a name in this market. Our course shows you how to make the most of your talent, interests and childhood memories and turn them into marketable stories for young readers. You'll also learn how to approach the growing fields of radio, theatre and television for young audiences.
There are fifteen lessons in total.
1. Marketing Your Ideas
2. Creating Memorable Characters
3. Plot Development
4. Tailoring Dialogue to Children
5. Making Your Reader Laugh
6. Educational Writing
7. Working with Words and Pictures
8. Tales of Horror
9. Suspense and Mystery
10. Children's Radio and Television
11. Selling Your Work
12. Handling Ethical Issues
13. Interacting with Publishers
14. The Editing Process
15. Children's Writer's First Aid Kit
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Showing posts with label writing skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing skills. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Help Your Child Learn Writing Skills
Help Your Child Learn Writing Skills
by Kimberly L. Keith
for About.com
Most kids just aren't that into writing, and it shows in their school work through the years. We save our children's cute early writings; but, except for homework assignments, writing isn't a big part of our kids' everyday life at home. So, what can parents do to help their child develop good writing skills during the elementary years?
Start Writing Early
Educational technology advances have taught us that reading and writing development are intertwined in early learning. The physical act of writing letters and early words enhances the child's ability to read. The complementary relationship between reading and writing continues long after these early efforts, so parents enhance their child's skills dramatically by encouraging the writing habit in childhood. Follow the lead of early childhood educators by allowing phonetic writing rather than worrying about proper spelling in preschool and kindergarten. We get a kick out of trying to figure out my five-year-old nephew's writings to grandmother, but he knows just exactly what it says!
Focus on the Building Blocks of Good Writing
A rich language environment is the foundation for good writing. Learn easy ways to build your child language foundation in this article. Games and activities that build vocabulary increase the range of words your child will know to write with depth. Word games are classic and fun for families. Now, you can find fun word games online. We like Wheel of Fortune and, for the little ones, Between the Lions shockwave games.
* More Language Arts Games Online
Checking your child's homework for spelling and punctuation errors will reinforce the skills your child is learning at school. When she has a report to write at home, help her take the time to write a first draft that you can check. Then, mark the spelling, capitalization and punctuation errors for her to correct. Most middle elementary children are able to use a word processing program to write reports. Teach your child to use the spellchecker, perhaps using the Scholastic Keys program for Microsoft Office.
Provide Tools and Opportunities for Writing
Mechanical pencils and gel pens are fun for kids; and plenty of paper, both lined for your child's grade level and unlined, should be available for spontaneous writing play and projects. Cute note cards and stationery make writing letters and notes to friends and relatives a regular writing habit. Let your child write the shopping list before a trip to the store. Encourage journal keeping for special times such as a family trip. If your child has a creative streak, gifts of writing activity books will encourage that talent.
Learn Easy Strategies for Elementary Writing
Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, authors of The Well-Trained Mind, talk about the two-step writing process for elementary students. The first step is to practice oral composition. First, encourage your child to talk about what he is going to write. The second step is dictation practice. Children learn to put words on paper by copying sentences from books or from story dictaion. This step teaches sentence and paragraph structure.
Julie Bogart at Bravewriter.com offers great tips for helping elementary children develop writing skills. She makes the point that elementary-age children are very poor writers because it takes at least ten years of writing practice to begin to write well! With Bogart's advice in mind, don't be discouraged by your elementary child's lack of writing skill. Encourage practice, build his fund of language, talk and talk about everything, don't be critical of creative writing efforts, and make it fun to encourage a love of writing from an early age.
by Kimberly L. Keith
for About.com
Most kids just aren't that into writing, and it shows in their school work through the years. We save our children's cute early writings; but, except for homework assignments, writing isn't a big part of our kids' everyday life at home. So, what can parents do to help their child develop good writing skills during the elementary years?
Start Writing Early
Educational technology advances have taught us that reading and writing development are intertwined in early learning. The physical act of writing letters and early words enhances the child's ability to read. The complementary relationship between reading and writing continues long after these early efforts, so parents enhance their child's skills dramatically by encouraging the writing habit in childhood. Follow the lead of early childhood educators by allowing phonetic writing rather than worrying about proper spelling in preschool and kindergarten. We get a kick out of trying to figure out my five-year-old nephew's writings to grandmother, but he knows just exactly what it says!
Focus on the Building Blocks of Good Writing
A rich language environment is the foundation for good writing. Learn easy ways to build your child language foundation in this article. Games and activities that build vocabulary increase the range of words your child will know to write with depth. Word games are classic and fun for families. Now, you can find fun word games online. We like Wheel of Fortune and, for the little ones, Between the Lions shockwave games.
* More Language Arts Games Online
Checking your child's homework for spelling and punctuation errors will reinforce the skills your child is learning at school. When she has a report to write at home, help her take the time to write a first draft that you can check. Then, mark the spelling, capitalization and punctuation errors for her to correct. Most middle elementary children are able to use a word processing program to write reports. Teach your child to use the spellchecker, perhaps using the Scholastic Keys program for Microsoft Office.
Provide Tools and Opportunities for Writing
Mechanical pencils and gel pens are fun for kids; and plenty of paper, both lined for your child's grade level and unlined, should be available for spontaneous writing play and projects. Cute note cards and stationery make writing letters and notes to friends and relatives a regular writing habit. Let your child write the shopping list before a trip to the store. Encourage journal keeping for special times such as a family trip. If your child has a creative streak, gifts of writing activity books will encourage that talent.
Learn Easy Strategies for Elementary Writing
Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, authors of The Well-Trained Mind, talk about the two-step writing process for elementary students. The first step is to practice oral composition. First, encourage your child to talk about what he is going to write. The second step is dictation practice. Children learn to put words on paper by copying sentences from books or from story dictaion. This step teaches sentence and paragraph structure.
Julie Bogart at Bravewriter.com offers great tips for helping elementary children develop writing skills. She makes the point that elementary-age children are very poor writers because it takes at least ten years of writing practice to begin to write well! With Bogart's advice in mind, don't be discouraged by your elementary child's lack of writing skill. Encourage practice, build his fund of language, talk and talk about everything, don't be critical of creative writing efforts, and make it fun to encourage a love of writing from an early age.
Monday, 6 April 2009
basic skills of writing
Elementary-school writing consists of copywork, dictation, and narration,
Years One and Two: Practicing Narration
Before requiring the student to write, teach him to narrate. Narration happens
when the student takes something he’s just read (or heard you read) and puts it
into his own words.
This begins on a very simple level: You read to the student and ask him
specific questions about what he’s heard, such as “What was the most interesting
thing in that story?” or “Who was that history lesson about?” You then require him to answer you in complete sentences. As the student grows more familiar with
the process of narration, you can move on to more general questions such as
“Summarize what we just read in your own words.”
As the young student narrates out loud, he is practicing the first part of
the writing process: putting an idea into his own words. He is practicing a new
and difficult skill without having to come up with original ideas first; because
his narrations are always rooted in content that he’s just read or heard, he can
concentrate on the task of expressing himself with words.
He is also practicing this new skill without having to worry about the
second part of the writing process: putting those words down on paper. As he
narrates, you—the teacher—write the words down for him as he watches.
He can simply concentrate on the task at hand, without worrying about the
mechanical difficulties of wielding a pencil. (For students whose fine motor skills
are still developing, this is essential; they cannot focus on narration if they’re also
contemplating how much their hand is going to hurt when they have to write the
narration down.)
Years One and Two: Copywork and Dictation
Separately, and preferably at a different time during the day, the student
begins to master the second part of the process: putting words down on paper.
This is not a simple task. It requires physical labor, fine motor coordination, and
an understanding of the rules that govern written presentation: capitalization,
punctuation, spacing, letter formation.
This skill is developed through copywork and dictation. Copywork and
dictation allow the student to master the second step of the process without
having to worry about the first, difficult task of putting ideas into words.
The beginning student doesn’t even know yet how written language is
supposed to look. Before he can put words down on paper, he must have some
visual memory of what those words are supposed to look like. So during first
grade, he’ll copy out sentences from good writers, practicing the look and feel of
properly written language.
Once the student has become accustomed to reproducing, on his own paper,
properly written sentences placed in front of him as a model, you’ll take the
model away. Now that his mind is stocked with mental images of properly written
language, he needs to learn how to visualize a written sentence in his mind and then put it down on paper.
Years Three and Four: Putting the Two Steps Together
Around third grade, most students are ready to begin putting the two skills
together. In third grade, students will begin to use part of their own narrations
as dictation exercises. They will tell you the narration; you will write it down for
them, and then dictate the first sentence back to them. Eventually they will learn
that, in order to write, all they need to do is put an idea into words (something
they’ve practiced extensively through narration), and then put those words down
on paper (which they’re accustomed to doing during dictation).
They will begin to write.
Years One and Two: Practicing Narration
Before requiring the student to write, teach him to narrate. Narration happens
when the student takes something he’s just read (or heard you read) and puts it
into his own words.
This begins on a very simple level: You read to the student and ask him
specific questions about what he’s heard, such as “What was the most interesting
thing in that story?” or “Who was that history lesson about?” You then require him to answer you in complete sentences. As the student grows more familiar with
the process of narration, you can move on to more general questions such as
“Summarize what we just read in your own words.”
As the young student narrates out loud, he is practicing the first part of
the writing process: putting an idea into his own words. He is practicing a new
and difficult skill without having to come up with original ideas first; because
his narrations are always rooted in content that he’s just read or heard, he can
concentrate on the task of expressing himself with words.
He is also practicing this new skill without having to worry about the
second part of the writing process: putting those words down on paper. As he
narrates, you—the teacher—write the words down for him as he watches.
He can simply concentrate on the task at hand, without worrying about the
mechanical difficulties of wielding a pencil. (For students whose fine motor skills
are still developing, this is essential; they cannot focus on narration if they’re also
contemplating how much their hand is going to hurt when they have to write the
narration down.)
Years One and Two: Copywork and Dictation
Separately, and preferably at a different time during the day, the student
begins to master the second part of the process: putting words down on paper.
This is not a simple task. It requires physical labor, fine motor coordination, and
an understanding of the rules that govern written presentation: capitalization,
punctuation, spacing, letter formation.
This skill is developed through copywork and dictation. Copywork and
dictation allow the student to master the second step of the process without
having to worry about the first, difficult task of putting ideas into words.
The beginning student doesn’t even know yet how written language is
supposed to look. Before he can put words down on paper, he must have some
visual memory of what those words are supposed to look like. So during first
grade, he’ll copy out sentences from good writers, practicing the look and feel of
properly written language.
Once the student has become accustomed to reproducing, on his own paper,
properly written sentences placed in front of him as a model, you’ll take the
model away. Now that his mind is stocked with mental images of properly written
language, he needs to learn how to visualize a written sentence in his mind and then put it down on paper.
Years Three and Four: Putting the Two Steps Together
Around third grade, most students are ready to begin putting the two skills
together. In third grade, students will begin to use part of their own narrations
as dictation exercises. They will tell you the narration; you will write it down for
them, and then dictate the first sentence back to them. Eventually they will learn
that, in order to write, all they need to do is put an idea into words (something
they’ve practiced extensively through narration), and then put those words down
on paper (which they’re accustomed to doing during dictation).
They will begin to write.
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