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Original poster

Ideas to get my DD practising writing independently.

45 replies

ohmygosh123 · 05/04/2012 20:41

She is coming back to the UK next year from overseas where there is no independent / creative writing yet in school. She is great with textbooks as that is what she is used to - but simply refuses to write independently 'because we don't have to do it at school'. Has anyone got any ideas for what she can do (suitable for 6-7 yr olds - Year 2) to get her practising writing. Also what is the standard of the above average kids. She is used to being top of the class here and she's going to get a big shock when she gets back to the UK and has to make up stories etc.

I've tried things like mini accordian books as she likes craft and drawing. But I really need to get her to be able to sit down and write on her own for 30-40 mins as apparently that is what the class that she will be joining has just started doing. The better children can fill 2 pages in that time .....

Or do I let her keep doing what she likes (spelling, grammar, reading comprehension - Bond type things) and hope she is more obliging for her new teacher?! I'm going to try and see the school before the end of the summer term so she can see the kind of things they do so it isn't too much of a shock, but was hoping for some ideas to help her in the meantime.

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learnandsay · 05/04/2012 20:45

Get her to write about being good at writing about grammar, comprehension and spelling. That's creative and reflective. And tell her that the UK children would like to hear about how to be good at it. (Which is probably true.)

tipp2chicago · 05/04/2012 20:47

Can she write to grandma/grandpa? Even short letters which get replies might encourage her.

mrz · 05/04/2012 20:57

Ink waster
To warm up the brain and get into a creative mood - give her a topic and ask her to write as much as she can in say, one minute. Time her and ask her to count the number of words then try again with another topic. She should write as rapidly as possible. This limbers up and frees up the mind.

Random words
Choose a book. Ask for a number - this gives you a page to turn to. Now ask for a number - this gives you the line. Then ask for a small number - this will select a word. She then has 15 seconds to write a sentence using the selected word. Then use the same sort of process to randomly select two or three words - can she make a sentence using the words... Be ruthless on capital letter, sense and full stop.

mrz · 05/04/2012 21:01

The old magic box game is great fun and never ever fails. Use Kit Wright?s poem The Magic Box. www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/kit-wright-the-magic-box-poem-only/8837.html
All you have to do is imagine what might be in there - the poem is a great model for stimulating ideas. It can help to discuss what might be in a box forest. Then make a list (the quicker and the longer the better) or things that would be impossible to have in a box - sunsets, a universe, a star, a rhino, a playground, a dream, a memory, a lie, a kangaroo, a rainbow, a scream, etc. Now just make an embellished list:

Original poster
ohmygosh123 · 05/04/2012 21:05

Thanks for that Mrz.

What kind of topics do children write about in year 2 - fiction or non-fiction? She likes animals, so I was thinking about trying to get her to write descriptions of her favourites - would that be any use?

I've tried letters to people - its like pulling teeth - although I did manage to get two sentence letters out of her once for thankyous after Christmas ......

My problem is that the system she is in encourages perfectionism - so as soon as she doubts the spelling of a word she gives up. I do dance around the room with delight when she spells something incorrectly but phonetically.....but more often that not she just gives up if I tell her to guess. If I could point her at something to aim for, she'd be fine, and she'd practice. So I guess I'm going to have to take her into the school sooner rather than later, so she can see that in England, children do write!

OP posts:
Original poster
ohmygosh123 · 05/04/2012 21:07

The BBC is evil - I can't access that clip from abroad........thanks though, and I'll try googling it.

OP posts:
mrz · 05/04/2012 21:11

www.poetryclass.net/lessona.htm

that's the poem shame the clip is Kit reciting it.

Animal game
Make a list of animals. She has to write a sentence about each one - as playful as possible. Put in certain criteria, e.g. use a simile, use two adjectives, use an adverb, use 'after', use 'when', etc.

Alliterate
Use the animal list to create alliterative sentences - one per animal, e.g. the tiny tiger tickled the terrified terrapin's two toes with torn tinsel.

mrz · 05/04/2012 21:29

We do a lot of our writing based on the book we are studying. Last term we read The Spiderwick Chronicles so lots of descriptive writing on settings, instructions how to trap a goblin, diaries, a class field guide to the magical world around us ...

pastoralacademia · 05/04/2012 22:37

Where are you based ohmygosh123?

skybluepearl · 06/04/2012 20:30

In the long run, I think it's more effective to get her to spend lots and lots of time reading exciting and fun material. Books are the answer - and don't worry about how complex a book is, think quantity and enjoyment. The more books she reads, the more she will grasp grammar, punctuation, story construction etc. She will also have a good collection of stories, outcomes, scenarios etc in her head. It may not happen for a while but eventually all her knowledge will spill out on to paper.

I agree it might be worth trying some of the shorter more imaginative excercises mentioned above but I wouldn't force her to spend hours practicing 'quantity writing'.

The girls in my sons class who were writing 2 pages aged 6/7 were 'in waffle mode' (according to teacher) and the writing wasn't of great quality. I know for a fact they used to compete to see who could write the most. Now aged 9 my book worm son is one of the best writers in the class. It took a while for his writing talents to surface and now his writing really does reflect his high reading ability.

skybluepearl · 06/04/2012 20:38

I've just read that the writing is like pulling teeth. I would really advise you stop pushing the writing if she doesn't enjoy it. You will put her off completely! Find some great books for her to read (Geronimo Stilton, Mr Gum, Michael Laurence etc) .. and help her to love reading. Every week or so pass new books her way. Help her to find words fun and everything will click into place.

mrz · 06/04/2012 20:46

Did you read she enjoys doing grammar, spelling and comprehension exercises and the OP is looking to apply her obvious knowledge into independent writing?

RueDeWakening · 06/04/2012 20:59

You could try getting her to write about the place you live in now - so she knows all about it, maybe describing a day at school or where you live. It's not quite so scary as a completely blank piece of paper, as she can write down facts/things she is familiar with.

I made DD some story cubes too - half a dozen blank wooden cubes, draw a different picture on each side, throw them like dice and make up a story that incorporates every picture in some way. You could do something similar with picking bits of paper out of a hat if you can't/don't want to go with the cubes. Pictures I used are things like a crown, tree, frog, cloud, shoe, telephone, car, lorry, lightening, queen/princess, envelope, bee, cat, dog, compass, arrow, skyscraper, castle, duck, whatever I could think of that fit onto a 1" square :o

DD also has a padlocked diary that seems to magically make her able to write loads Hmm

wigglesrock · 06/04/2012 21:41

My dd1 is in her third year of primary school (6 going on 14 7) - every Monday they have to write about their weekend. She also loves notebooks, diaries etc.

MadameChinLegs · 06/04/2012 21:46

Magnadoodle?
Aquamat?
Bananagrams is a brilliant game which, while doesnt encourage handwriting, will help her spelling link
Kids magazines usually have some sort of crossword in them, or comic strip which she could annotate?

MadameChinLegs · 06/04/2012 21:47

Ash her to write out the shopping list, while you call out what you need from the kitchen?

wigglesrock · 06/04/2012 21:52

Oh and menus, both my dds love writing out menus, taking orders etc.

Original poster
ohmygosh123 · 07/04/2012 08:04

Skybluepearl - I don't push it with her. I can find she's done half a book of reading comprehension without me realising it. At the moment we read paragraphs and she tells me them in her own words - trying to help her hold a story in her head. She asks to do that - but they do that at school, so its 'fun'. But thanks Skybluepearl - your second post has reassured me.

My DD is wierd - I'm the first to admit it - the teacher at her school (French) describes her as not just keen to learn but incredibly greedy for learning. She is unstoppable in anything that she thinks they 'do' at school, loves reading non-fiction etc. She is very competitive ...... BUT she listens to the teacher more than me. She simply does not believe me that independent / creative writing is an option in the UK. This means she loves dictation, she loves Bond, Haydn Junior English, VR & NVR, maths (she learns times tables for fun), colouring, reading, has perfect cursive handwriting etc - all because either they do it at school or because a kid I coached for 12+ entry to UK school was doing it. She wants to be able to do anything that other children do ......and if I can't get her going now, I know I am going to have one furious kid coming home from school in the UK. And then I will have to endure another - I need to learn this NOW .....

We've done shopping lists - but she needs to write a sentence! We don't have school here on Wednesdays, so Wednesday morning is english 'time'. She has a choice of doing things with me or going to english school.

Mrz I love the idea of the Spiderwick Chronicles - just the kind of book she would like. She loves things like Little House on the Prairie - history and real life. The little animal sentences might work too.

Story cubes also sounds like a good plan.

OP posts:
BoattoBolivia · 07/04/2012 08:16

Will she tell stories orally? Is it a creativity issue, or a perfectionist issue? Can you try retelling fairy tales in funny ways or using the story cube ideas to tell silly stories? Maybe she needs to get used to the idea of making things up without the pressure of writing, then move on.

Another game to play is silly stories: you agree chartacters and a starting sentence together, then each add a sentence on your piece of paper and fold the written bit backwards. Next pass the papers to the other oerson, do not look at what has been written abd write the next sentnce, fold and pass back. Keep going until you have had enough, open and read aloud. I have varied it by deciding which word we will all start our sentence with each time eg 'fortunately', 'suddenly', 'after that' etc.

Original poster
ohmygosh123 · 07/04/2012 14:57

Yes she'll tell stories herself - eg. taking turns, to make silly stories - but only verbally. She will read a short story and tell it back to me, also has good recall of details. She rabbits away about all kinds of stuff.

Apparently she knows how to write, because she can write in french (spelling, reading comprehension, grammar and dictation) ...... I've left it and left it, thinking well at least her handwriting is good. But I've talked to the head of the school she'll be going back to - and if she wants to stay on top tables, she's going to have to write more than half a sentence! Her reading is top table easily, but obviously not her writing. They have 40 mins independent writing completely undisturbed every week......she can't just sit there and cry with fury when she gets home!

She writes - but it is creating 'fake' schoolwork (spelling or maths) - which gets ticked and marked as 20/20. So perfectionist issues could be part of the problem. But I've brought her up on 'it doesn't matter as long as you try', and 'mistakes are good because it means you are learning something new' ...... basically because she showed perfectionist issues at about 2 years old.

I'll try the silly stories - and the dice, and both writing sentences together. The problem is that she compares herself to me - I do design as a job - so today's gem was "its no good, I'll never be able to draw as well as you." My response - no reason why not, depends on how much you practice.

OP posts:
LeMousquetaireAnonyme · 07/04/2012 15:22

Have you thought about a pen pal?

I have PM you for more details about DD1 who sounds exactly like your DD Wink.

LeMousquetaireAnonyme · 07/04/2012 15:30

Sorry I post too early. It might work for getting her started because it involves a 3rd party (which is fine with DD1). Less stubbornness than if I ask DD1 to write to her GM which she has trouble relating too. With a 7 yo girl, she is more willing.

UniS · 07/04/2012 19:44

DS is in Yr 1, we are encouraging him to write independently as school have said he doesn't do enough writing for them to assess where his writing level really is. DS is perfectionist and wants to be spoon fed every spelling of every word. School want him to "have a go" and get something, anything , down on paper. In class they have been writing riddles, their favourite bits from a story, captions for photos and some children will write stories and "poems", just not my DS.

So this holiday I'm insisting on 3 lines of writing every day. He's not keen on doing a diary- all very samey, "I went to X I went to Y". Writing Easter cards was of course rather samey " dear X Happy Easter from Y" , the best option so far has been instruction writing. He wrote down how to play a game he made up, and he wrote down how he goes to buy eggs. Its been a battle to get him to write 3 sentences BEFORE he can ask for a spell check. but after a week we are getting there.

This is the kind of writing I know he will be expected to do in Year 2. I've seen children's work on the wall in the classroom. I know he will also be expected to retell traditional tales either with a twist or with different characters ( like big bad pig and the 3 little wolves). I know he will be learning to break a story into scenes and story board it, then animate it. I know they will be writing descriptions of where they live and go and go to school. I also know that the Year 2 teacher doesn't expect it to all be perfectly spelt. Indeed for the lower ability tables a target is "I can help a grown up understand my work" .