Writing Project Ideas

Just a quick idea for you today. When we do a writing project in our homeschool, we usually take several weeks so the kids can mull over the information and decide what they want to say. (See the post "No Writing Required" for more on this.)

Choose one of the following project ideas to work on as a family, and let me know how it goes. At our house if we try to go to fast, we get bunched up inside and the words won't flow; but if we stretch it out too much, we lose momentum. So I suggest about a month for the projects, but stay in tune with your kids so you'll know if they want to move faster or if they need more time. You'll know.

*Come up with an advertising campaign for a real or fictitious product. Write commercials (and record them on video if you want), make billboards on poster board, come up with a scheme like giving free samples, write a jingle, write a newspaper or magazine ad.

*Interview someone about their job or something they've done or been through. Make an audio or video recording of the interview. Make a list of questions, but also be ready to think of questions as the interview progresses. Make a news story out of it, and present it on video or to an audience (including the subject of the interview).

*Create a real estate ad for your house. Write a description of the house and each room in it. Take pictures and use the descriptions as captions. Make a video tour which includes the descriptions. Don't forget the yard and even the neighborhood.

These ideas can be adapted for any age. You can do one project as a group or each person can do their own version of it. Either way, working together increases creativity.


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No Writing Required

In William Zinsser's book, On Writing Well, he tells about an adult writing class he taught "in which no writing was required." (page 255) He told his students to think of a place they wanted to write about and come prepared to talk bout how and why they could do it. They would discuss it as a group and help each other figure out what might work. They never actually had to do the writing. He was setting them free from the pressure and letting the process happen. Many students wanted to go on and do the writing, and some did. Even several years later.

Your students need time, like all writers, to find out what they want to say and how to say it. They need to research or read at a comfortable pace instead of rushing to paraphrase some piece of information they haven't digested or don't even care about. The phrase "having something to say" implies ownership. They need to actually know a thing before writing about it. That is, if you want to be interested in reading it.

At least two of my kids have always wanted to change the topic of their papers after they started to research. I used to let it bother me; but I figured out that when they said they couldn't find any information on a topic, that just meant they hadn't found anything interesting enough to want to know.

I don't have the answer to the "topic change" sickness, but I do know it's hard to write what anyone wants to read if you don't own what you're trying to say.

So your job is to give your students time to take in and digest what they want to write about. Let it become part of them like last night's dinner. Trust me, when kids know something, they want to tell you about it. Usually in a lively and engaging way.

Then you can let us check it over for you at MyWritingCheck.com

Voice is Something You Hear

The dictionary lists several definitions for the word voice One of them says, "anything regarded as like vocal utterance in communicating to the mind." I love that definition! When I think of my writing voice, I can hear it. When I read someone else's writing, I can hear their voice. Can't you?

Imagine a world where there is only one writing voice allowed. One voice for everyone. We all have to use correct grammar, correct punctuation, correct spelling, and correct structure at all times. We can't tell who wrote what, because we all sound alike. I might stop reading. I would definitely stop writing!

So why do we sometimes try to fit our children's writing into a perfect structure with perfect grammar, punctuation and spelling? Of course, we want them to know how to do those things; but that takes years. In the meantime, we need to encourage them to say what they want to say, with their own voice. To communicate to our minds. When they feel free to use their voice, their writing will be interesting enough to make it worth cleaning up the technicalities later.

So your job is to hear your child's voice instead of hushing it. Care about what he says (writes), love the way he says (writes) it, and teach "correctness" by using other people's writing as models. I promise that when your child learns some rule of writing, he will be excited to use it. Especially if he knows you're going to love what he's saying. He'll probably use it too much. Then you'll have a different lesson to teach!


Let us help you encourage your child's writing voice at MyWritingCheck.com

Showering is the Hardest Writing

I love old Dick Van Dyke Show episodes. He plays Rob Petrie, a television comedy writer. On one episode he was explaining to his wife Laura, played by Mary Tyler Moore, what writing is.

He said, "Pacing is writing. Looking out the window is writing, brushing your teeth is writing, anything is writing. The hardest writing is showering."

When I'm showering, I have the best ideas. I should take bath tub crayons in there and make notes!

I want you to recognize that your children don't have to be writing to be writing. For example, my son makes Lego stop action videos. Is that writing? He makes up story lines. Occasionally he even takes notes instead of relying on his memory. What about when he tells me all about the statistics he read in the encyclopedia? That's usually quite an explanation, full of words.

And my kids are always making up games and stories to pretend. Yes, they're teenagers, but they crack each other up acting out things they come up with. Complete with disguises! Do you think I ever say to them, "Hey, you need to sit down and write that up so I can go over it and make sure your spelling and punctuation are right."? That would kill it for sure. I'm not about to kill that!

Don't worry, they do write for real. My 17 year old just wrote a book--90 pages. She likes family history and she's dying for a DNA test. So she wrote a story about a young woman that has a DNA test and finds out that she's royalty. Her sister is helping her edit it right now, but after that I'm going to go over it for a "professional" edit. I'm not going to assign a grade at the end. You don't have to always assign a grade. In fact, I rarely give grades for specific projects. I love the freedom not to give a grade. I think you'll love it too as you recognize all the ways your children are writing, and shouldn't be graded for.

So your job is to think about all the ways your kids are thinking of things--they're writing! Then be their loyal reader. Be a fan. You don't grade everything you read from your favorite author; you just read it and love it.

Let us evaluate your child's writing at MyWritingCheck.com