Already a Writer at Six or Sixteen

By Theresa M. Sull

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• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468548532

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© 2012 Theresa M. Sull. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/20/2020

ISBN: 978-1-4685-4852-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-4853-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012901836

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

List of Billboards

Table of Appendices

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 Already a Writer at Six

CHAPTER 2 Reading Aloud Leads to Lifelong Learning

CHAPTER 3 In Primary School from Six to Nine

CHAPTER 4 In Middle School from Ten to Thirteen

CHAPTER 5 In High School and Beyond

CHAPTER 6 Maintaining Motivation

CHAPTER 7 Encouraging Interests

CHAPTER 8 Exercises to Build Young Writers

CHAPTER 9 One Writer’s Path

Billboards

BILLBOARD A: Circle Time Concepts to Cover

BILLBOARD B: Fine Motor Equipment and Materials

BILLBOARD C: Water Play Tools

BILLBOARD D: Clay and Play Dough Actions

BILLBOARD E: Ten Educational Ways to Use Books

BILLBOARD F: Seven Basic Concepts for Reading and Writing

BILLBOARD G: Ten Tips for Reading Aloud

BILLBOARD H: How to Enrich Reading Experience

BILLBOARD I: The ABC’s of Cooking

BILLBOARD J: Twelve Children’s Books That Feature Food

BILLBOARD K: Three Ways to Publish

BILLBOARD L: Five Reasons to Publish Children’s Writing

BILLBOARD M: Writing Station Tools

BILLBOARD N: Maintaining Student Motivation for Writing

BILLBOARD O: Three Reasons to Learn about Motivation

BILLBOARD P: Four Facts about Motivation

BILLBOARD Q: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

BILLBOARD R: What Children’s Interest Provides

BILLBOARD S: Four Reasons to Use Writing Exercises

Appendices

APPENDIX I Influential Theorists of Development and Early Education

APPENDIX II Thirty Popular Circle-Time Songs

APPENDIX III Selected Children’s Books to Read Aloud

APPENDIX IV Books for Older Children to Read

APPENDIX V Language Resources for Adults

APPENDIX VI Guides to Grammar and Editing for Writers

APPENDIX VII A Dozen Quotations to Copy, for Younger Writers

APPENDIX VIII A Dozen Quotations to Copy, for Older Writers

Dedication

This work is dedicated to my loving husband Gene,

and to my talented daughters Linnet and Julia.

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge, with deep gratitude, all the students I met in 30 years of teaching.

My students taught me much more than I ever taught them.

Introduction

YOU PROBABLY TWISTED A FEW paper chains when you were young, but right now try to think of paper chains as much more than a child’s handicraft. Think of paper chains as a metaphor for literacy.

Devising paper chains requires a small amount of precision, but each chain can be improved through individual creativity. The design of a paper chain calls for skills of sequencing and patterning, but the color, edges, size, and texture of the paper can vary. The basics are simple, but innovations are infinite!

Paper chains, like children’s language and literacy development, are flexible but fragile. Today you can buy pre-cut strips of colored paper with prepared sticky ends to be twisted into links, but when I was a child we cut our own strips of construction paper, and used homemade flour and water paste to form the links. We hung paper chains from the dining room chandelier as a party decoration, and we wore paper chains as crowns when we pretended to be royalty.

History demonstrates that paper and pen have been the most significant medium of human communication. Although writing on clay or stone tablets predates paper, and oral communication predates any writing, writing preserved on paper has most effectively carried human language across physical space and time.

Even now, when we can send writing electronically by fax or e-mail, many of us carefully save a paper copy. When we read a book we’re sometimes hearing voices from the past, even from the distant past, because good books have long-lasting strength, like steel implements forged over flame. Because literacy supports human connections across space and time like the links of a chain support a bridge, we can send messages to the future by writing down our poems, plays, songs, stories, and essays.

Those children who are well supported by paper chains as they learn to read and write will follow a typical path as they develop their literacy skills. Supportive adults can use my informative BILLBOARDS along the road to literacy, and they will applaud as their children achieve notable MILESTONES along the route.

The fragility of paper chains reminds us that in spite of the critical importance of literacy in our world, not all our children will become strong readers and writers. Unfortunately, paper chains are easily torn and broken! But just as anyone can design a paper chain, anyone can learn to support literacy, creating a valuable link in a lengthy chain.

CHAPTER 1

Already a Writer at Six

THE WORD WRITE IS DEFINED in more than fifteen ways, and these don’t include related expressions like write down, write in, write off, or write up. Writer, however, is defined simply as one who writes, especially as a profession. Author is a synonym for writer, traced to the Latin word for creator, a definition that hints at the power of writing!

To write is to create. A writer can create new personalities, intriguing relationships, or entirely new worlds. When we teach a six-year-old to write, we are offering a gift of creative self-empowerment. But what’s the best way to teach children to write? Are some teaching methods more effective than others? Can some methods actually inhibit a child’s progress? What if your child is not interested in writing? Some parents and other teachers wonder if their children’s writing skills are developing well enough, or fast enough. They can find reassuring answers in Already A Writer At Six or Sixteen.

MILESTONES ALONG A WRITER’S PATH

Although no child moves along the developmental path in exactly the same way as any other child, these typical milestones provide a general guide to children’s progress. You can learn more about children’s milestones of development from a trained teacher, a pediatrician, or a child psychologist. Psychologists use assessment instruments like the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development, the Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills, the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities, the Stanford-Binet IQ Test, the Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Ability, and other exams.

American children often start first grade as six-year-olds. Theorists of development have a lot to say about this age group, so I’ve summarized their ideas in Appendix I: Influential Theorists of Development and Early Education. For example, the psychosocial theory of Erik Erikson states that in children from the ages of three to six, initiative is often pitted against undesirable feelings of guilt. Children whose parents and other teachers expect too much self-discipline can encourage too much guilt, leading to low risk-taking in their children. Isn’t it better to appreciate the natural initiative of young children, which is necessary for the creativity that writers need?

Six-year-olds still use pretend play to explore future roles. That’s why children ambitiously and frequently try out new behaviors on their own initiative, but this tendency can annoy the adults around them! For example, one boy I taught when I was a student teacher in a public kindergarten pulled down his pants at Circle Time. While the whole class watched, Kenneth urinated on the carpet.

My supervising teacher was an exceptionally wise woman. Ruth didn’t look appalled or surprised, but simply asked the boy to get paper towels from the restroom so they could clean up the floor together. I think Kenneth was actually demonstrating his masculinity by marking his territory in a creative way. Wasn’t he asserting himself as mammals have done for thousands of years? Of course, eventually Kenneth would find a better way to express himself, through his writing instead of a shocking action.

The kindergarten year is the time for parents to start leaving simple notes on mirrors and in lunch boxes, and it’s a time to offer interesting art materials to children. These include paper of different textures, paste or glue, non-toxic paints, colorful markers, and dough and clay. To promote their children’s healthy development, parents and other teachers will gather equipment and materials like those listed in Billboard B.

Researchers have proposed that children’s first six years are a time of galloping development in all domains. A time when parents and other teachers need to carefully examine young children’s environments and activities, ensuring that they promote adequate language development. To help you assess your child’s world, the critical Components of a Language-Rich Environment are listed below.

COMPONENTS OF A LANGUAGE-RICH ENVIRONMENT

LISTENING AND TALKING

• Cradle children with language all day long: Speak warmly and make eye contact.

• Play rhyming games, word games, lotto and board games with children.

• Talk about visual displays like magazine pictures and photos of children.

• Label objects and areas, occasionally moving and changing the signs.

• Describe and explain your actions all day: (I’m going to mix up some paint now.)

• Talk about what will happen soon in school and at the playground.

• Use puppets and stuffed animals to ‘talk’ to children.

• Use tape recorders so children can hear themselves talk.

• Use books on tape that children can follow in print.

• Initiate conversations with children about families, their meals and other activities.

• Be an active and reflective listener for your children.

• Compliment children with specifics: (Great! You put on your shirt by yourself.)

• Encourage children