Many 3rd graders are reluctant to begin writing, they do not want to revise their work, and they are hesitant to share anything publicly. Below are some tips to support these struggling writers:
According to Dr. Mel Levine’s book Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders, some of the milestones of developing writers during late second to fourth grade are:
- Incorporate standards of capitalization, punctuation, syntax, and grammar
- Seldom plan what they are going to write before they write it
- Use writing to relate experiences rather than to solve problems or develop ideas
- Begin writing in cursive
- Begin revising their work
Based on that, following are some tips for third-grade students who are struggling writers:
- Start with little and familiar things such as daily events or personal experiences. Ask them to take photos and then write captions.
- Ask them to tell about their favorite books/ stories. Anything about the book, even a short quote or a simple summary of the storyline
- Let the students dictate while you write.
- Record the student’s ideas, details, sentences. Reluctant writers are often great speakers. They can talk through their paragraph details, recording the story as well as practice pronunciation, working with an adult to transcribe, edit and finalize.
- Brainstorm ideas/details on a dry erase board or on brightly colored index cards and arrange around the topic card on a wall, a table or the floor. This will also allow the students to write the details in sentence form on the card and then arrange or rearrange the sequence without having to write and rewrite.
- Allow the students to choose and write with interesting/colorful pens/pencils and paper.
- Computer word processing allows your student to change the format. Let them experiment with fonts, font sizes and color and page background to customize their writing.
- Write along side your child. Do the same assignment. Students may resist writing if it is perceived as too difficult or as busy work. Modeling is an invaluable tool. You can describe your thought processes, word and sentence choices as you work together.
- Adding humor can reduce the stress or severity of an assignment with a reluctant writer. Wear silly hats or dress up. Act out ideas before writing. Allow the students to assume the role of the director while you act out his or her story idea. This may generate more details and some laughs as well!
- Author’s chair: encourage them to share their stories/writing with other, first with their classmates, then with outside audience
Provide positive feedback as negative comments will make them more hesitant
According to Dr. Mel Levine’s book Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders, some of the milestones of developing writers during late second to fourth grade are:
- Incorporate standards of capitalization, punctuation, syntax, and grammar
- Seldom plan what they are going to write before they write it
- Use writing to relate experiences rather than to solve problems or develop ideas
- Begin writing in cursive
- Begin revising their work
Based on that, following are some tips for third-grade students who are struggling writers:
- Start with little and familiar things such as daily events or personal experiences. Ask them to take photos and then write captions.
- Ask them to tell about their favorite books/ stories. Anything about the book, even a short quote or a simple summary of the storyline
- Let the students dictate while you write.
- Record the student’s ideas, details, sentences. Reluctant writers are often great speakers. They can talk through their paragraph details, recording the story as well as practice pronunciation, working with an adult to transcribe, edit and finalize.
- Brainstorm ideas/details on a dry erase board or on brightly colored index cards and arrange around the topic card on a wall, a table or the floor. This will also allow the students to write the details in sentence form on the card and then arrange or rearrange the sequence without having to write and rewrite.
- Allow the students to choose and write with interesting/colorful pens/pencils and paper.
- Computer word processing allows your student to change the format. Let them experiment with fonts, font sizes and color and page background to customize their writing.
- Write along side your child. Do the same assignment. Students may resist writing if it is perceived as too difficult or as busy work. Modeling is an invaluable tool. You can describe your thought processes, word and sentence choices as you work together.
- Adding humor can reduce the stress or severity of an assignment with a reluctant writer. Wear silly hats or dress up. Act out ideas before writing. Allow the students to assume the role of the director while you act out his or her story idea. This may generate more details and some laughs as well!
- Author’s chair: encourage them to share their stories/writing with other, first with their classmates, then with outside audience
Provide positive feedback as negative comments will make them more hesitant
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