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Teachers: Tips for Better Writing

The Word Well. Writer's block is something that does not have to occur. Kids
are intimidated by a blank piece of paper or blank computer screen (so are
adults). So, step one for any writing project is to simply not have a blank sheet
of paper...start out with some writing already on the page. It gets the pen
moving and makes contact with the paper and dirties up the page enough to make
it look familiar and less scary.

How do you do this? It's called a word well. I draw a box (a word well) right
on the page and I put words and phrases in in which I might use. If I'm
writing about going to my grandma's house when I was a kid, I might put:

cigarette smoke,
cat, Chester
neighbors close by
apartment
laundry room
shades drawn tight
taxi
small tv in kitchen
stairwell
different cooking smells
...and so on.

I go through all 5 senses, and also ask myself, how is this different or
newsworthy compared to what I am used to? Now, how can I not write an interesting
story? I have a blueprint right in the word well in the form of these words
and phrases which I can just check off one by one if i like.

On longer pieces, like a booklet:

Ever see the ice skating on the olympics? What seems like free-form
expression is actually a series of requirements. The skater must perform so many of
this move, x amount of spins or triple lutzes... these are something that they
must do at some point in their program. We can use the same principle in
having elementary school students write books or booklets.

These are a sampling of the requirements I have for 4th graders and up; You
may modify them for younger writers:

The One Hand Rule: If you use the same noun, verb or adjective 3 times in an
area that is no larger than you hand, STOP. It doesn't mean you're doing
something wrong, you just want to stop, look at it and decide if the repetition
works...it should be your decision, not just a "default decision" borne out of
laziness. Sometimes it is exactly what you want. Other times, referring a piano
as a "Steinway" "an old upright" or "her father's favorite spinet" might work
well, too.

Underline Each Noun. Why? Because I said so. Also because it will remind you
that in front of some of nouns, there should be an adjective. "A dog" tells
me something, but "a friendly, spotted dog" tells me more. Children must
comprhend that what they can picture in their mind is just that -- a picture -- so
lively, accurate adjectives will help them to paint that picture for us, the
reader, in words.

Alliteration. This is like "Charlie chopped the chicken" or "Sandra saved her
seat." Alliteration is the occurrence of the same sound (often the same letter) in
words which are near each other. I cover this on pages 72-73 in Rainbow Soup;
Adventures in Poetry. Let's try to do this twice in your book.

Concrete Images. This would be arranging the letters or phrases, or even page
so that it takes the shape of its subject. Like if you were writing about a
vase, and the paragraph was shaped like a vase. Or if you wrote the word
raindrops vertically to make it look like rain falling. Or if you slipped and fell,
and the sentence was written upside down. I do this in my book, Rainbow Soup
on page 46. Try one somewhere in your book.

Similies and Metaphors. You know these. If not look in Rainbow Soup on page
81. Try three each in the book you're doing.

Onomatopoeia. This is a word or action which sounds like the vocal imitation
of the sound associated with it such as hiss, click, or boom. Try one of
these somewhere in your book.

Personification. This is something I talk about on page 54 of Rainbow Soup.
Here you are giving human qualities to an inanimate object. Have the children
make a list of all the things from the eyebrows to the toes that the human
body can do: wiggle, sniff, cough, laugh, whistle, shout, shrug, bend, and so
on... Now use one of those words with an inanimate object. This is how poetry is
born. You’ll end up with busses wheezing to a stop, cars coughing before
finally starting and yellow sunlight winking through the kitchen shade. Try one
in the book you’re writing

Edit. A good book, paper or paragraph isn’t written. It’s re-written. The
problem with 10 year-old’s writing is not that they don’t have good ideas, or
that they don’t have engaging topics -- they often do! The problem is that they
fall in love with the very first thing they put on a page (I see your head
nodding!). Having kids switch books or papers and having them make comments
like “NEXT TIME, I WOULD TRY_________" is one approach to editing, that is the children offer an edit on one another's papers. Or, the students might ask for clarification, as in,

"DO YOU MEAN “HE” THE DOG, OR “HE” THE BOY?" In that particular sentence?

I ask them for three comments total when they are critiquing. I also don’t require that the
recipient of the criticism to carry through with the change, just to evaluate
it, and decide whether or not to act. I don’t change everything my editor asks,
so why should they? Also, I don’t even have them hand it over to the other
student until THIRD DRAFT.

Hope this helps!

Brian P. Cleary
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