Why should you use reading journals with your students?

Personally, I believe reading journals are an excellent way to have your students interact with their readings and improve their writing at the same time. Whether your kids are six or sixteen they can write about what they read and begin their journal writing programs.

My teenagers kept a reading journal this past year. It specifically dealt with their literature reading assignment. At the beginning of the year, they wrote about the events that occurred in the story. As the year passed, they began writing more about the characters or the lessons they were learning from the story. By the end of the year this was an informal essay, going beyond simply recapping what they read.

My son is twelve and I plan to start the year with a journal entry at the end of each day. This will tell me what he “really learned” that day. He has made journal entries for specific readings, similar to narrations. We have used journals especially with his Bible readings. He writes a paragraph about what he read in his morning devotions and I believe this helps reinforce what he reads.

When my children were younger, they would narrate aloud what they read earlier that day. I would write it down for them. The following day, my kids would copy the narration in their best handwriting. Young children can have journal writing instruction as they enter copywork into their journals.

Journals help my kids write on a daily basis, but I don’t think it teaches writing. I use Teaching Writing: Structure & Style to make a longer assignment that gives my kids the opportunity to write to a final draft form.

To recap, we have two types of writings: informal journal entries about what they are reading and formal writing assignments where they learn how to improve their writing. Sometimes we will use a journal entry and turn it into a polished final draft.

———————————–
© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms with journal writing programs. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

A few months ago I shared a writing tip you could use in your classroom or homeschool. Since that time I was once again reminded how important it is to let our children have some ownership over their writing topics. Let me share my story….

A week ago my son listened to IEW Student Writing DVD for his assignment. His lesson was on writing a biographical sketch in a 5-paragraph paper. In the back of my mind I thought it would be great if he wrote about one of the early church fathers. We were studying the end of the Roman civilization and it would help him remember one of them. Besides, he could read one of the books that we didn’t have time to read in history. Of course, he wasn’t very interested in those men.

I could tell his disinterest as we talked about his topic. So, we started talking baseball. He had just finished reading a biography of Derek Jeter, so I suggested doing his paper on Jeter. He didn’t complain and even told me of two other sources he could use. He had to use a minimum of 3 sources and only one could be internet.

It was decided. He would write about Derek Jeter.

This week he found interesting and important information about Jeter. Today we narrowed his paper to three topics about Derek Jeter. Next week, he will outline his paper and begin writing.

Believe me, I have a much happier son because he is writing about someone he likes, not someone Mom told him to research. I know his paper will be much better, just because he has an interest in his topic.

Do you let your kids take leadership, and ownership, in their writing topics? If not, why not? Next week, discuss an assignment and then let your kids choose their own topic. They will be so glad you did and you will be glad when you read their finished paper!

———————————–
© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–
Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms with a lesson on writing a biographical sketch. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

Do you have children that complain about writing assignments? Last summer, I discovered (again) that giving my children a purpose for writing increases their motivation and willingness to fulfill their assignments. It is also a fantastic way to teach the process of writing format through publishing.

A few years ago, all three of my children wrote books which are now available for purchase. My son worked for an entire year studying about the jungle and choosing just the right animal or plant to include in his ABC Jungle Book. After making these choices, he wrote a paragraph about each one, using a writing stylistic checklist.

You must be realistic and know that he did not write or research every day for the past year. He took breaks from this project which was completed at the beginning of June.

He was highly motivated for a couple of reasons. First, he chose the topic of jungles himself so he was quite interested in the topic from the beginning. Secondly, the idea of making money from his writing project and publishing a book was exciting. This project gave him a purpose for writing. Not every writing project will end in a money-making project, but each writing assignment should have a purpose.

Other purposes for writing assignments may include sending a letter to a friend or relative, entering a writing contest, writing a letter to the newspaper editor, writing a summary of your science fair project, sharing a story about an event in your life, writing a ministry letter, or a myriad of other purposes. Do your children have a purpose for their writing?

Once your child has a purpose for writing, he needs to put his ideas down on paper in a thoughtful, cohesive manner. There are many writing programs on the market, but best source I have found to teach your child “how” to write is Excellence in Writing. This course deals with the “hows” of writing instead of “what” to write about.

Using the process of writing format through publishing automatically gives your child a purpose for writing. As you look for a writing program, look for one that uses writing with whatever subjects you are studying. Writing should not a separate subject in and of itself. That’s the way life is…writing is part of all aspects of your life and your students should be able to write in many areas. Writing in a variety of subject areas will also show your students that writing has a purpose in all of life.

———————————–
© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms with the process of writing format through publishing. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

Writing is often a difficult subject to teach kids, but using this method can simplify it for you and your students. Using predictable books to teach writing also simplifies your efforts as a writing teacher. After you outline a simple story, follow the guidelines below.

DAY 2

Get your outline and a blank sheet of paper. If your child needs to refresh himself on the content, have him retell the story aloud. He can use the outline to help him.

Next, your child will write a sentence for each line of his outline. The sentence does not need to be an exact replica of the original paragraph. In fact, your child may improve on what was originally written. When he finishes each line of the outline, he will have a completed paragraph.

If your child is young, you might let him tell you each sentence while you write it down for him. At this point, you (the teacher or parent) should edit the paragraph for spelling and punctuation. Notice I did not say rewrite the sentences or add words. Let this be your child’s writing, not yours.

If your students are older and can edit for spelling/punctuation, let them do this on Day 3.

DAY 3

On the final day your child will copy his completed paragraph making any of your changes for spelling and punctuation. Of course, there are places you will see that need improving, but you can teach those concepts in a later lesson. This is an activity to help your students see they can write something on their own. They doesn’t have to worry about “what” to write any more because you will give him a source text from which to start.

You can repeat this simple activity until your students are able to outline and re-write paragraphs on their own. You can use paragraphs from a variety of content areas such as knights & castles, animals, solar system, fairy tales or any subject you are studying with your students.

Isn’t that easy??? And you thought writing was difficult to teach!

———————————–
© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms by using predictable books in writing. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

In my last article I described a unique approach to teaching writing. It follows the guidelines set out by Andrew Pudewa in IEW’s Teaching Writing: Structure & Style. This program spends most of it’s time teaching students “how to write” instead of brainstorming “what to write about”.

Using that model, let me share free writing lessons online that you can use with your own children this week (or the first week of school). If your older children struggle with writing, this is a great place to start. Begin by choosing a story they enjoy. This is one way of using predictable books to teach writing.

DAY 1
In order to help your children with “what” to write, you should copy a simple, one-page story, perhaps Aesop’s Fables. Read the story aloud with your child. After reading the story, write an outline/structure so you can do a key word outline with your child. The structure should look something like this.

I.

1.

2.

3.

4.

If you are an outline perfectionist, you might have a heart attack since there are no letters on my outline. The only person that will have a hard time with no letters is you. Children have no problem using an outline that has just numbers. In fact, they will find it easier to work with. There should a number for each sentence in the story.

Re-read the first sentence and have your child offer three key words from that sentence that will help him remember what is written. Underline or circle those words in the copy of the story as he tells them to you. Once he has chosen three words, write them in order on I.

Then, move to the second sentence and underline three key words for that sentence. Write them on 1. Continue until you have three words for each sentence. You may have less than three words, but not more. This forces your child to learn how to make a decision. Besides, he does not need to remember every detail in each sentence to learn how to re-write this story in his own words.

After you have your outline completed, put away the original source. Have your child use the outline and tell back to you the paragraph. Children have a much easier time verbalizing what they have read rather than writing it down. You just finished half of the writing lesson.

With older students, be sure to have them re-tell the paragraph to you. This may seem childish to you, but it is imperative to help with older kids’ thought pattern as he writes tomorrow.

In my next article, I will share the rest of these free writing lessons online. You will learn how to use this simple outline to teach your children to write in their own words.

———————————–
© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms with free writing lessons online. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

When I first started homeschooling, I decided not to buy a Writing Curriculum! Why? Because all the programs I reviewed were activities I could do on my own. I taught fifth grade for six years and most homeschool writing programs were like my public school writing curriculum, teaching students “what to write”.

Well, that was until I discovered Andrew Pudewa’s Institute For Excellence In Writing (IEW). IEW had a flagship product, Teaching Writing: Structure And Style, that intrigued me. Mr. Pudewa did not spend a lot of time brainstorming ideas for students to write. Instead he spent the bulk of his curriculum on “how to write”. This was a new concept to me because the biggest problem my students had, like all other students, was what to write about.

Andrew’s approach to writing solves the “what to write about” problem by simply telling the students what to write about. His program spends more time teaching “structures” or outlines for a variety of writings, offering lesson plans for writing process. Depending on the type of writing and your purpose for writing, you can use different outlines to organize your thoughts.

In addition to teaching structures, Teaching Writing also shows students how to improve their writing “style”. Thus, the name of the program is Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. Students learn a variety of ways to vary their writing style. Mr. Pudewa shows students how to dress up their sentences with strong verbs and quality adjectives. Other dress-ups include adverbs and clauses. After mastering the dress ups, students learn how to open their sentences in a variety of methods.

In my next article (part 2), I will share a simple activity you can use with your own children this week (or the first week of school). If your older students struggle with writing, this is a great place to start.

———————————–
© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
———————————–

Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms about lesson plans for writing process. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

We arrived at our home around midnight, but couldn’t get in the back door.  Ashley left the key in a lockbox for us, but I couldn’t get the door open.  Steve tried all the windows with no success.  We put our dog in the backyard and headed to a hotel.  Every hotel we tried was booked…absolutely no rooms available.  Finally, Hampton Inn gave me a list of 5 hotels that still had rooms, so we finally got one.  What a way to start back in Bryan.

Steve is in heaven here.  We visited 3 of the Buffalo Bill museums.  Of course, the first one was the fire arms exhibits.  It’s the largest collection of fire arms, probably in the world.  We saw 1500 guns and the last sign said there were 1200 on the lower level.  Even Steve said he had seen enough…whew!

Buffalo Bill was an interesting character.  I wish Ashley had been here because she read a few biographies of Annie Oakley as a young girl.  There was an entire exhibit of her.

We finished our visit in the art museum.  My favorite were the Russell exhibits.  Some of the coolest parts were the letters he wrote to friends.  Each of them had a mini-painting or drawing on them.  I would love to receive a letter like that.  You can see an example on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Russell-Word-Painter-1887-1926/dp/0810937646

After the museum, we visited the Irma Hotel where a C&W band was playing on the front porch.  We spent a couple of hours listening to them.  It was relaxing and fun!  We even danced a bit.

Finally, we ended our day with a thick, juicy steak at Cassies, a building with lots of history.

On the road to Texas

I was surprised how fast Chipman Movers loaded the truck.  They were finished by 1:45pm.  By 2:30 we had signed all our papers and we were ready to go.  Well, almost!  We had to say good-bye to our next-door neighbors and get one last hug from their 3-year old son.

By 3:00 we were on the road, headed for Montana.  Tomorrow, we plan to stop in Cody, Wyoming.  Did you know they have the largest gun collection in the states?  Steve’s excited to see that collection.  I’m excited to see the original Remingtons & Russells.  I like any & all art.  (Well, except for modern, “look” art)

I’ll try and post some pics later.

One last note…if you ever need to hire movers in the northwest, be sure to call Chipman United Moving.  We’ve had the best experience with their company, from the sales person and office assistant to the packers/loaders and the truck driver.  They are extremely professional, courteous and clean.

Steve and I are sitting on the back deck enjoying the cool crisp morning.  Actually, I’m wearing a sweatshirt because it’s fairly cold this morning.

As I type this post, Chipman United Moving is loading the truck with all our belongings.  On Wednesday & Thursday, a crew packed our entire house into boxes…pretty amazing since we have a 4 bedroom, 2 office home.  But they finished it by 3 pm on the second day.

Our kids flew home this morning.  Grandpa will pick them up at the airport and take them home.  Steve & I are driving the car (& dog) down to Texas.  What’s wrong with this picture???

We are sooo excited to move back home.  The only thing I’ll really miss is the cool weather for my morning walks.  Other than that, I’m ready for Texas.