During the first week of March, I will be presenting a writing workshop each night. The workshop will be a fun and interactive time to discuss and practice creative writing. But before we can get to the creative stuff, we need to get our students writing. YUCK!!! That is usually what comes to my mind when I have to teach writing....I really don't like it. I don't know why, but teaching kids how to write is not an easy task, especially when they don't like to write. So how do you get them to want to write??? Well, you can't make anyone do something they don't want to do, but take these ideas into consideration when your student just feels like giving up:
1. Share other writers' struggles. Show how real authors have had their own hard times when it comes to getting words down on paper. You could check out an author's webpage online and read about their journeys as authors.
2. Have students read eachother's work and comment on it. Peer feedback can be a lot of fun and also comforting for students at the same age level to help one another.
3. Find something positive within their writing. Maybe it's great sentence structure, or a fine use of adjectives. Find the good and highlight their strengths.
4. Partner younger students with older ones. As older students help their younger partner, they might see ways to improve their own writing. And of course the younger students love to learn from their older peers.
5. Publish. Get on the computers and type up their writing! Publishing is a satisfying conclusion to the end of the writing process.
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