May 11
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Improving writing: 7-12 year olds
Before you can help a child with writing problems, you need to assess his writing in a rational way. Look at several different first drafts because these will give you the most useful information for improving writing. Final drafts are likely to have had input from other sources.
There are 5 questions to ask yourself as you check out each piece of writing. The ‘ example’ answers below suggest that each skill is developing well.
Q1 Has he made the purpose for this writing obvious?
Does he know why he’s writing?
A Yes. He has used a recognisable text form (narrative). He knows that its purpose is to entertain because he has tried to make his story exciting.
Q2 Is he clearly targeting a particular audience?
Does he know who he’s writing for?
A Yes. He has written a draft for a picture book for young children and has used appropriate language (simple words) to suit that audience.
Q3 Do the ideas flow in a logical order?
Does it make overall sense from start to finish?
A Yes. I get a clear picture of the storyline as I read.
Q4 Has he elaborated on any ideas, events, people or characters?
Has he given any details? Does he understand that writers attempt to create images in their readers’ minds through careful use of descriptive language?
A Yes. He has written more than one sentence to describe an event, and has used some adjectives and adverbs to describe the characters.
Q5 Is there any evidence that he has proof-read his writing and edited it?
Has he reviewed his writing along the way, and/or after he has finished?
A Yes. There are some crossed out words or passages. Words have been added to replace some that he has crossed out.There’s an arrow showing he wants to move a sentence to a different place. There are some lines down one side that suggest paragraphs. Some mis-spelt words are underlined.
How To Get Your Child To Write provides activities to help overcome writing problems, motivating even the most reluctant writers and improving writing skills dramatically.
