Teaching Writing: Children

Lesson 1: Getting Started

Warm-ups

Getting students ready to write is easy with these warm-up exercises. The goal here is to get the creative juices flowing and to just get the children used to putting their pencils on paper and writing. This kind of writing should not be judged or even shared if students aren't willing. Think of these as mental exercises to get the mind ready for the real writing ahead.

Free Write

This simple warm-up will just help students open themselves to writing. In Free Writing, students just write for a certain amount of time. Start with one or two minutes and have them write continuously for that amount of time. If a student says he has nothing to write about, just tell him to write "I don't know what to write about." over and over for the allotted time. No just sitting and playing with a pencil allowed! Most students will soon find something else to write about.

It is important not to give a topic, like "what you did this morning," but to just let them write and make their own associations. You might even wish to demonstrate on your chart - free write for one minute, letting the students read as you write, or real aloud what you are writing as you write (that's harder!). The important thing is to keep your marker on the paper and write. Don't worry about actually telling a story. In fact, if you have a bit of trouble getting started, your students will feel better about their own first efforts.

Quick Write

A Quick Write is much like a Free Write, except this time you focus the students with a topic suggestion. You might choose to have them write about a character in a story they are reading, or about a Science or Social Studies concept (there's that integration), or about what they had for dinner last night. You might give them a specific prompt, or a more general topic on which to focus. In either case, everyone should write for three to five minutes, including you.

When time is up, ask volunteers to read what they have written. This can be very informal, no Share Chair needed for these. If students are hesitant, read your Quick Write and elicit comments from the students. When they see you modeling the procedure, some students will want to share, also.

Pass Around Story

The Pass Around Story is a version of a collaborative story. It works well with small groups of 4 or 5. To begin, decide on a general topic. Again, this can be a prompt you offer, an idea for a fictional story, or an idea generated by the group. It is sometimes helpful to have a topic jar - a coffee can with ideas written on slips of paper. In that case, be sure the ideas are general enough to apply to everyone in the group, and allow each group to select an idea.

To begin, each child will need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. At your command, each child begins writing about the chosen topic. After one minute, signal that papers are to be passed to the right around the group. Give the students a bit of time to read what was written, and then allow them a minute or two to continue writing the story. Continue in this way until everyone has had a chance to add to each story.

Ask students to share their collaborations. These are fun, as no student is sharing his own work alone. Again, be sure not to judge the writing - these are just mind stretches. But even when your students are good writers, doing a warm-up on occasion will help to rejuvenate them.

Here is a good lesson on another approach to collaborative stories.

A Word on Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a very potent writing warm-up, and should be encouraged before all kinds of writing. Brainstorming can be done individually, in groups, or with the whole class. When you are first teaching brainstorming, it is good to demonstrate on your chart or on the chalkboard. Brainstorming can take the form of a list, a web, a story map, a graphic organizer, or a simple outline. These are all useful ways for students to begin to access the information they have on a topic and to organize their ideas.

Now that everyone is warmed up - let's get ready to write!

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