Some new writers are happy to draw, write, and story tell with reckless abandon. They may even wallpaper your home with stories, drawings, lists, books, and the like.
Other writers are adamantly opposed.
Our son was not interested in writing, or holding a pencil in anything but a death grip. In fact, he was averse to any activity that wasn’t parkour off the furniture or any task that required him to slow down under his standard 1,000 mile per hour operating speed.
Then we had a second child and she came out of the womb holding a pencil perfectly, practically writing in calligraphy style cursive, and embracing her writer persona.
From these experiences with our children, and the many elementary writers that I’ve coached and conferred with, I’ve compiled a few techniques to build skill, momentum and confidence.
Here is my short list of things that I tell new, reluctant, budding, or overly perfectionist writers who are slow to get going:
- Writing is like talking, you just get those ideas and words on the paper. (This little tip works wonders for those that are always chatting. Sometimes you can get them going by writing down one or two things that they say and have them read it back to you.) Next, tell them, “Say more...and write it on the paper.”
- Writing is frustrating for so many intelligent people like you, because your brain is moving really fast and your hand can’t keep up. The best way to get over this hurdle is to keep practicing and it will get easier over time.
- Get ideas on paper and don’t stress about perfect spelling and handwriting. These will converge at a later time.
- Just get started. Use your voice, say the words, then go back and write them on the paper. If you get stuck, go back and reread your last sentence. It may help you remember what you wanted to say next.
- Invented spelling is one step in the process. I only correct words that the learner knows. If they are stretching out a word and they don’t know the vowel team for the long ‘e,’ so they have a single ‘e’ instead of “e, double e, always says E,” then I ask if that letter makes the correct sound and keep it moving! (If the invented spelling is completely made up or created using shapes and mock letters, that is ok. It is a beginning step. See - Underwriting as a technique.)
Here are some ideas and techniques for getting writers going:
Sketching & Labeling - One of the quickest ways to capture a thought or idea is to create a quick sketch, and add some labels. If you are short on time, or you have a big idea, a sketch can capture the gist of the idea and serve as a reminder of all the things you want to say when you go back to add the narrative. This works at every skill level and it is especially effective for getting beginning writers going with an idea.
Underwriting (used for mock letters and the very early stages of scribbling, drawing and writing) - Have writers get those ideas on paper. Then as they read it to you, use a colored pen or marker to add the closed captioning version of writing under the word or sentence so everyone can appreciate the art and craft of the initial draft.
Sound Writing - Letter names don’t help you read, and unless it is a long vowel sound, they are abstract knowledge that can get in the way of a new reader/writer. Instead, I introduce printed letters, but I teach them as sounds.
It looks and sounds like this: I hold up a letter card (m), and say, “This sound is /m/. What sound?” The reader responds with /m/.
I might even reiterate the correct sound by saying, “Yes, /m/.”
Anytime I introduce a new sound, I model sound writing. Sound writing is writing the letter, while saying the sound. For example, to introduce sound writing for /m/, I would say, “To write /m/, I start on the dotted line, slide down, touch the baseline, trace back up, make a hump, and one more hump.” Later I might shorten it to say, start on the dotted line, down, hump, hump.”
I start by modeling a few /m/s, and then I ask writers to trace my last one, and write a few more on your own. I always want them to “say it while you write it,” meaning I want to hear them saying the sound as they write the letter.
I teach sound writing because it shortens the encoding and processing speed for writing. If children learn to write a letter and they attach the letter formation to the letter name, then when they want to write the word “mat,” they first have to think of the sound /m/, then remember that the /m/ sound is an “m.” Next they think about writing an “m.” Then back to the beginning for the next sound.
Instead, if they are in the habit of printing the letter while saying the sound, then the retrieval process in the brain is much shorter. It’s quicker to retrieve the three sounds in the word “mat” without stopping to think of other abstract concepts in the process.
Word Dictation - Sometimes just attacking one word at a time builds confidence and incremental successes. I say the word, I want the writer to say the word, and then say it again slowly as they write the letter or letters for each sound that they hear in the word. Once the word is written, I ask the writer to check what they wrote by reading it and make sure it matches. If you are using word cards, they can compare their word with the printed word. If they make a mistake, I like them to line through the error and write the word one more time to help imprint it in their memory.
Sentence Dictation - Once writers build up a little stamina and you want to stretch the encoding process and build some memory muscle, I move up to sentence dictation. Ideally, this is a sentence that we are reading in decodable text.
Here are the steps: (Tip- Tell the writer that you will say the sentence only one time, so they need to listen closely. After you say the sentence, they will repeat it back to you. This is a completely oral exercise.)
- Coach - Say the sentence aloud.
- Writer - Repeat the sentence back.
- Writer - Draw a line for each word that you hear in the sentence and you repeat the sentence again. Coach them on leaving a space between each word and adding punctuation.
- Writer - Go back and repeat the sentence one last time as you write each word on the lines. Check for capitalization and punctuation after the sentence is complete.
- Writer - Reread to check, and then compare with the printed sentence. Make any edits necessary.
Copywork - I am not a huge fan of copywork, which is copying a sentence that is already printed, but it can be useful for getting a writer going, especially those perfectionists afraid to get started. This can be a sentence in a text, but my preference is having the writer tell you what they want to say, then write it on a piece of paper, and have them transfer it onto their own paper. Use this sparingly, but it can be a helpful tool for new writers to see their words in print.
Happy Writing & Coaching!
Kristy
**Letters between / marks signify making the sound. Lowercase vowels represent the short sound, uppercase vowels signify the long sound (when the vowel says its name).