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DS10 & DD8 could use improvement on their writing. They need to get more descriptive. Ex. The dog is fun. This is become a issue in DS10 math, LA and science, where more than short anwsers are needed.

Any advice for improving on this with the kids this summer? I would like to come up with a fun way to do this, non schoolish if possible.

Just have them practice adjectives and adverbs. For example if the dog playing in the yard. What could they say about the dog to expand that thought? Ask then to discribe it as if you were blind and needed to picture the scene perfectly in your mind.

Hi onthegomom,
I am in the same boat w/DS8. Teaching writing has been the hardest stuggle. This year I had him do a reading/writing class through CTY and will have him take another starting in April.
It is not a ton of writing but more of a critical analysis of the books. I am still searching for a real "writing" solution.

Any luck with
6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide (Grades 3 and Up) by Ruth Culham?

I found it very useful to read while trying to guide my DS. Up till that moment I thought that writing consisted of handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and making an outline. To me this gets to 'what is writing about, exactly, besides editing.'

Now I can specifically praise, in DS's work, or in a book or TV show. Great ideas, love your word choice, I really enjoyed your sentence fluency, great voice, killer organization! And DS knows what I'm talking about. Having a vocabulary to discuss what makes interesting writing interesting really helps. I think it helps DS to self-talk his way through projects as well. I don't know that he says to himself, "Hum, wonder if I can improve my word choice in this paper" but I imagine that he does.

Also good when you have to deliver the bad news: "I love your use of voice, but the custom is to use a different kind of voice in a Lab report, more robot-y right?"

I sure wish this had been around when I was in elementary school. I still remember the disappointment of pumping out my heart and soul and getting copy edits back.

Hey,Maybe we should do on online writing class right here...like my flylady thread?

Love and more Love,
Grinity

Glad I found this thread! Thanks, Grinity, I just ordered that book.

Traits of writing : the complete guide for middle school / Ruth Culham.

Thank you Grinity - Our library has the one above but not your title. I just ordered it.

I do think it would be fun to start a thread this summer about inspiring kids to write.

Maybe I need to try and write a book with my kids and they help with drawing and writing. That sounds like fun. Could anyone give me a jump start? My kids are 8&10.

Ohhh! That does sound like fun! G

I have DS7 and DD7, both in second grade, and their desire to outdo each other has encouraged more descriptive writing. For example, they are required to write sentences for their spelling words every week. They invariably dedicate at least half a dozen senteneces to each other, which tend to be very elaborate and highly ridiculous scenarios.

During the summer after Kindergarten, I started a summer journal tradition for them. Again, no pressure, just an outlet for their creative impulses. Of course, it worked better for DD7, who has more creative tendencies and is a more prolific writer.

As DD7 is forever writing and illustrating books, I finally agree to publish her next big creation. There are websites that will allow you to do that. That led DS7 to jump on board and beg to collaborate on the next book.

Anyhow, it helps to have two children as they feed off each other.

I'm still on the writing concern kick, but with a new twist. My DYS DS10 who is a very science interested and knowledgable kid totally bombed his science fair project. He had some perfectionism issues getting in the way of his learning. I'm thinking about a mentor situation for the summer where he can learn the basics for experiment/science fair writing.

I would really like him to redo his science fair project the correct way. Maybe that's not good because he usually does not like to redo something, but this would be less work than starting fresh. It might also feel like he has to face those bad feelings about the project again.

Maybe he should just pick something new and really fun. I'm thinking of just telling him he will be behind next year if he does not do this, so he doesn't have a choice. Every grade does the science fair. I thought he would enjoy a mentor who played ball with him to make it a treat.

Any suggestions on making this a good experience? Do you think a High School boy would be fine?

These might be helpful, too.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/670/1/
This is aimed specifically at students writing Psychology research reports, but the advice generalizes well to any science research paper.)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/727/01/ (Excellent information on effective technical writing techniques.)

http://www.flintsciencefair.org/write.php

http://science-project.com/howtowriteakillerreport.html