Kid Writing
Steps for Beginning Writers
- Have the child think of an idea he or she would like to write about and then draw a picture to illustrate the idea.
- Ask child
to tell you about the drawing. Repeat the child's story back as one
complete sentence. Say one word at a time, emphasizing the sound/sounds
the child is ready to write.
- Ask, "Do you hear any letters in the word ______?" Allow the child to write what he or she thinks the letters are.
- If the
child has no idea of what letter makes the sound, encourage the child to
use a magic line (horizontal blank line) in place of unknown letters or
words.
- Praise the
child for his/her great kid writing. Then write the story in adult
writing underneath (be careful about spelling, print clearly and
use capital letters only where they belong). While doing the adult
writing, ignore the child's mistakes and instead point out any elements
of his/her kid writing that match the adult writing.
- Have the child read the story back with you, touching the writing while reading.
- Remember to celebrate and praise the child for his/her attempts at writing and emphasize all correct elements of his/her writing.
