1. My Child, the Writer!
Ways to support your child’s writing growth at home!
Ms. Zipp
August 2012
2. What will we accomplish today?
Today we are going to talk about the following
things to make sure your child experiences the
most success this year in writing class:
1.) How to understand your child’s emotional reactions to writing
2.) How to best support a struggling writer
3.) How to best support a writer who excels and loves to write
4.) Ways to motivate your child to improve and take pride in their writing
3. Scenario One: I try to get my child
to write, but they HATE it! How do I
motivate them?
4. There are many reasons why a child
may express a dislike for writing.
The main reasons are:
1. They feel that they have nothing to write
about
2. They feel that they “can’t” do it and are
scared that they will fail
5. This is a tough situation! But there
are ways to support our reluctant
writers.
6. (1) Write as a family: The more your child sees
you writing, they more they will want to
write.
7. (2) Let your child choose what they want to
write about-whether it be a video game or a
trip to Castle and Coasters. It may not seem
interesting to us, but if it is interesting to
them, then let them write about it!
8. (3) Help them think of ideas for their writing by
flipping through magazines or other high-
interest books that can spark their
imagination.
9. (4) Praise their writing- tell them how wonderful
it is, even if there is room for improvement!
10. (5) If your child can’t think of something to write about
you can use try one of these strategies:
Put a number of items in a box. Ask your child to reach into the box and
pull out an item. Then, ask them to write a story about that item.
Write a list of ten words. Ask your child to make a newspaper headline
out of those words and write a story using that headline.
Does your child love science or math? Ask them to write a story about
magical animals or magical numbers!
Pictures are GREAT ways to give kids writing ideas! Collect interesting
photos or advertisements from your daily life for the times when your
child says, “I have nothing to write about!” Even grocery story coupons
work!
11. Scenario Two: My child loves to write!
How do I make sure I am challenging
them so that they continue to be
motivated to improve their writing?
12. (1) Have short, “writing conferences” with your
child (just like I will do with them in class).
Meet with them over a cup of juice and
talk to them about their writing. Let them
tell you what they think about their own
work and how they think they can make it
better.
13. (2) Challenge your child to read the writing of
one of their favorite authors.
Discuss why they love that author so much
and ask them what they think makes that
author’s writing so wonderful. Then, ask them
how they can incorporate those great writing
techniques into their own writing.
14. (3) Challenge your child to improve their
writing by using resources such as a
dictionary or a thesaurus to incorporate
higher-level vocabulary words.
This will help them to develop both
their writing and reading skills.
15. (4) Challenge your child to write in different
genres.
If they wrote a fairytale last week, maybe
they should try a newspaper article this
week! Or if they wrote a research paper
last week, maybe next they should try
writing a recipe. Show them how many
types of writing there are, so that they
stretch their horizons!
16. For all students, we must make sure that
we support them as writers so that
they feel comfortable taking on new
challenges, even though they might fail
the first time.
17. Key Point:
How do we support all of our
young writers and help them
to build and maintain their
academic confidence?
18. Writing is important!
We must help our young writers
understand that writing is just like
talking! It helps us communicate with
the world.
19. (1) Ask your children to share their writing!
Use one evening a week as “writing
share time” where everyone in the
house gets a chance to hear about the
writing piece that your child is working
on.
20. (2) Showcase your child’s writing so they
know that you are proud of them. Let
them take their time and produce work
that they want to show to the world!
Make sure they can see their
accomplishments displayed in their
home.
21. (3) Read, read, read! Students become
better writers as they become better
readers! Make reading a priority. Spend
time at the library, and allow your child
to choose the books that they are
interested in.
22. (4) Publish your child’s work. Even if this
just means putting it in a nice folder on
the kitchen counter. Let them see that a
finished piece is something to be valued
and cherished.
23. The Bottom Line…
Every child deserves the opportunity to feel
proud and accomplished when they write.
Your children deserve the best, and there are
ways that we can work together to give them
the education that they deserve!
24. I am SO EXCITED to see how the
students grow and develop this year. I
know that it will be a fantastic year
for all of us!
25. If you’d like more information at any point
in the year, or if you’d like to chat about
more specific ways to support your
child, you are welcome to contact me at
any time. :)
26. Resources
Fletcher, R and Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing
Workshop: The Essential Guide.
Portsmouth: Heinemann.
To listen to a verbal Screencast of this
Powerpoint, visit:
http://www.screencast.com/t/9w3ZFnMVU
