Teaching Writing That's Fun to Read

• Hook your audience. The reason movies or television shows open with an exciting or suspenseful scene is to get your attention and keep it. A good hook will draw your readers in so that they want to keep reading. A hook can consist of a number of things: a quotation, a question, an exclamation, reveal something startling, or provide a description. The goal is to get your reader into your second paragraph

• Use transitions. There are several words and phrases that your writer can use to get from paragraph to paragraph. However, I implore you to teach your child how to use these transitions correctly. I once made the mistake of simply giving a 6th grade class a handout containing transition words. I got pages and pages full of paragraphs that started with "In addition..." The transition word or phrase used should be relevant. I suggest keeping a handout or printout of transitional words and phrases as a permanent component of your child's writing folder. A quick Google search with the terms "writing transition" will give you plenty of options to choose from so that you can print out a list that is suitable for your child's age level.

• Proofread. There's nothing more distracting than trying to read something full of grammatical errors. I've had students write the most wonderful, creative stories, but the quality of the story is lost in the run-on sentences, the misspelled words, and the random capital letters. You'll probably find that your child is not overly receptive to your asking for these errors to be addressed, but it is an important part of the writing process. A technique I like to use is to give the child a familiar piece of work (a fairy tale, poem, etc.) and fill it full of errors. It is uncomfortable to read and the student often sees the value in writing with correct grammar. It doesn't make them any happier about having to correct the errors, but at least they know why they are doing it.

• Smiley-Face Tricks This is a set of writing tricks complied by a teacher from Texas (Mary Ellen Ledbetter). Using these tips in your writing adds life and depth to your writing. Some of these tips include using hyphenated modifiers (adjectives), using figurative language, and using parallel groups of words. (I just did that, did you catch it?) Again, you can do a Google search for "Smiley Face Tricks" to find many, many copies of Ms. Ledbetter's tips. Or you can just click here: (PDF file) http://learn.shorelineschools.org/kellogg/VDRYDEN/documents/smiley-face_tricks_packet.pdf