I often hear kids ask, “What should I write about?” It’s a classic situation. Kids write a few lines, after that… go blank. I’ve seen kids scratching their heads – searching for ideas – feeling anxious, frustrated, and disappointed. And, I have seen kids give up on writing too. I have tried motivating my kids – it works – however, to become successful writers; they always needed more.

5 Ways to Improve Your Kids’ Creative Writing Skills

Creative writing is best developed from childhood. That way by high school he won’t have a problem with writing and can get a part-time job in custom essay writing. Simply put, it is imperative that you help your kids develop their writing skills. Here is a list of tips to help you transform your kids into great writers.

5 Ways to improve your kids’ creative writing skills

Help your kids pick a topic to write about.

The beginning defines it all. If you see a kid looking clueless – help him.

Have Anchor charts that list all the genres. Introduce kids to these charts. You also need to create visual cues in your classroom. Every time, you find kids struggling for ideas, guide them to these charts. Here are a few topics that I encourage my kids to write about:

Personal experiences
Narrative stories
Letters
Completed projects
Book reviews, and
Topics from their curriculum

Teach how to organize a write-up.

Next is the write-up structure. Make sure that they totally understand the value of write-up structure. Whenever a new kid joins in, or a kid selects a genre for the first time, I provide him with a write-up structure. Furthermore, I make it a point to instruct them about how to use paragraphs to convey their message. Here are some instructional suggestions.

Teach them sequential structure using words like, “First,” “Next,” “Then,” and “Finally”.
Instruct them to divide the write-up into paragraphs with a strong meaningful topic sentence.
Stress that they should use Kipling’s W5H strategy “Who? What? Where? When? Why?”
Teach your kids how to use bullet points for technical write-ups.
Share the value of short phrases, simple sentences, small paragraphs, and so on.

Teach how to use the grammar and vocabulary.

You must avoid any activities that require kids to cram vocabulary words. Learning vocabulary is a lifelong activity, and if kids begin despising it early, they would loathe it forever.

Criticizing punctuation and grammatical errors isn’t easy either. Every time you point a finger, kids would hate you for doing it. Here are few suggestions to help you out.

Every time you give a new topic. Hand them a list of top-priority words. Encourage them to use as many words from the list as they can.
Conduct regular practice-sessions in which kids break spellings into syllables and spell them.
Use anchor charts to highlight frequently used prepositions and conjunctions.
Use anchor charts to highlight the punctuation rules.

Teach how to make an outline.

Arranging ideas into a fluent write-up is a difficult task. It helps them organize their thoughts, and it helps them concentrate over details like grammar, punctuations, and fluency. Here are few suggestions that you can easily implement.

Tell your kids to jot down all their ideas.
Keep a stack of graphic organizers handy for your kids.
Encourage them to create mind maps.

The point is, once kids can see their ideas; it becomes easier for them to make connections and pay attention to details; and it helps improve their concentration.

Your remarks should become a part of the learning process.

Whenever you check a write-up, instead of grading it, mark their errors with a suggestion. Direct them to explore the concept, and learn from it. Remember, you don’t want to correct their error; you want them to embrace the concept.

In a nutshell, encourage your kids; motivate them; help them explore; give them second chances, but never-ever-spoon-feed-your-kids.

Most importantly: Create a positive classroom atmosphere

Kids learn only when they feel safe, and they share only when they feel comfortable. Aim at creating a calm, caring, and nourishing atmosphere. Well-timed, open-ended classroom discussions can work wonders. All you need to do is- facilitate.

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