How to become a good writer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best tool for better writing is a class where the student writes, the teacher marks it up, the student rewrites, and so forth until the work is as good as it can get. Repeat often.

You may have an additional challenge trying to do this at home (or perhaps not); in that event, a tutor might help.

This is 100% accurate.

But OP, lots of elementary school kids are "bad" writers. I was always a good writer but I didn't get really good until high school when I got lucky and had an amazing teacher who did just what PP said. It's okay if your child can't write all that well in elementary school. If you see during middle school or especially during freshman year that they aren't getting many writing assignments, that's when you should consider outside help, IMO.

RIght -- in elementary school, kids are more focused on the mechanics: sentence structure, topic sentences, etc. In 4th grade, they started working on things like transition words and other structural things, as well as proofreading and revising. In 5th grade, my kid is getting much more targeted writing instruction (learning to write a five-paragraph essay, how to write an intro, using evidence to support a statement, tone, more of a focus on spelling, etc.). So in elementary school, you want to be watching for those building blocks: vocabulary, spelling, basic grammar and punctuation, etc., so that they'll be ready to put those things together as they get older. In the meantime, read! Graphic novels are great, but they also need to read regular prose.

[Anonymous]

English is also not my first language and two of my kids are in elementary school. Both of them read a lot and are good writers (teachers say). They have a smaller vocabulary than their classmates because we don’t speak English at home. My own vocabulary is smaller than the average American (and I have a PhD).

My third grader is focusing on writing mechanics right now and she is not making mistakes anymore (or only a few).

What I missing in my opinion is the logic of beginning middle and end BEFORE they start writing. My DD loves to write and she does a pretty good job, but unless she is listing “reasons”, her essays “don’t end”. At some point she is tired and just ends without ending the story really. This happens for open ended creative essays where she is writing a story/fairytale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:English is also not my first language and two of my kids are in elementary school. Both of them read a lot and are good writers (teachers say). They have a smaller vocabulary than their classmates because we don’t speak English at home. My own vocabulary is smaller than the average American (and I have a PhD).

My third grader is focusing on writing mechanics right now and she is not making mistakes anymore (or only a few).

What I missing in my opinion is the logic of beginning middle and end BEFORE they start writing. My DD loves to write and she does a pretty good job, but unless she is listing “reasons”, her essays “don’t end”. At some point she is tired and just ends without ending the story really. This happens for open ended creative essays where she is writing a story/fairytale.

They'll get there. In third grade, I feel like they were more focused on just getting the kids to write and worried more about having sentences with capitals and punctuations, etc. By 4th and definitely 5th grade, the teacher is looking for the intro, body, conclusion structure, and for stories to have a beginning, middle, and end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best tool for better writing is a class where the student writes, the teacher marks it up, the student rewrites, and so forth until the work is as good as it can get. Repeat often.

You may have an additional challenge trying to do this at home (or perhaps not); in that event, a tutor might help.

Yes--with clear cut directions on the form.

IMO reading helps with comprehension , intelligence and verbal skills but for me personally it did not help with writing as it does not teach form.