Self-Directed Learning

Posts Tagged ‘Self-Directed Learning’

New Book: How to Teach Writing

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

The new book I have been working on is almost finished. It is taking a bit longer because I decided to add a poetry section. It is a genre that children love once they get into it, and is a nice addition. The book discusses the real reasons children hate writing, and why teachers do not like to teach writing. It addresses ways to make teaching writing much easier for parents and teachers, and it provides ideas to make writing fun and challenging for children. We are hoping to get it to the printers soon and have it available by fall.

A fellow teacher and dear friend came for a visit, and read the book in its entirety. She remarked that the book is so needed because it really addresses the problem of teaching writing for everyone involved. She agreed that the poetry unit would be a great addition, and helped me gather materials and write it. It is certainly nice to have a fellow master teacher give feedback and lend a hand.

Tags: Motivating Writers, Poetry, Reluctant Writers, Self-Directed Learning, Teaching Writing, Writing Curriculum
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New book, new schedule, and a new writing activity

Friday, February 12th, 2010

I am sorry that there haven’t been any new posts on the blog, but I am writing a new book on how to teach writing and I am about three fourths of the way through. I hope to have it ready by fall, so suffice it to say, it is consuming me. I am also setting up my 2010 schedule of home school conferences and workshops. It looks like I am going to have a pretty busy season from April through the first of September. If you are interested in where I will be this year, including a great cruise the end of July that you could go on, check out my schedule on the home page.

I have had wonderful feedback from the parents and teachers that I met and talked to in 2009. They are making good use of our products because they are student directed and find their students and children like being independent learners and writers.

A good writing assignment for students as we head into spring is to ask your students or children to go back over some of the papers that they have written throughout the year or even from previous years, and pick one to totally rewrite. It doesn’t matter which one they pick, let them decide. The objective is that they write. Encourage them to improve on every aspect of the paper including adding new and interesting details to the content and correcting any format and convention errors. Almost always it is surprising how much better the new paper will be.

Tags: Homeschool Writing, Homeschool Writing Workshops, Self-Directed Learning, Traveling and Talking
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Beginning Of The Year Writing Idea

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Introduce writing on the first day of school, whether it is in a home school classroom or in the public classroom. Students need to know from the onset that they will be expected to write every day. A good beginning of the year writing assignment would be for students to write something about themselves. To make the assignment much easier for parents and teachers, I have attached a pdf. The pdf includes the brainstorming sheet and the paragraph organizer

Give the brainstorm sheet to the student and ask them to fill it out.

Next give the student the paragraph organizer to fill out.

Once the students have filled out the paragraph organizer have them write a rough draft and have a peer or parent edit it.

Next have them write their final paper.

If you are teaching a group or class of children, instruct them to not put their name anywhere on the story. Once each student has completed their final paper, ask them to draw a picture of themselves in the situation they described. They could also including some clues about themselves and things they are interested in, in the picture. Example: Draw a picture of yourself with a soccer ball or baseball glove and bat, or draw yourself in a mall shopping, or with your favorite musical instrument. Once everyone has turned in their papers with pictures of themselves, hang them up around the room and instruct parents to find their child’s paper from the story they wrote and the picture they drew.

Even if you are teaching one child, ask them to draw a picture of themselves to go with the story including things they are interested in, and then see if family members can remember the event.

Good luck and let me know if the pdf helped. I know this was a favorite assignment with students and parents alike.

Tags: Back-to-school, Beginning Of The Year Writing Idea, Fun Writing Topics, Graphic Organizer, Homeschool Writing, Self-Directed Learning, Teaching Writing, Writing Curriculum
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I am winding down from a whirlwind of summer home school conferences. Parents from across the country have expressed their frustrations about teaching the reluctant child writing. One way of motivating reluctant writers is to empower them by giving them freedom to write when and how they want, as long as the assignments are turned in on time. This can be done by giving the student or students their assignments on Monday with due dates for each assignment. Also on Monday, teach any new skills that will be used in assignments during the week, then allow the students to work when and however they choose, as long as they turn the work in when designated. An example week’s worth of assignments might look like this:

Assignments and due dates for week of September 7 – 11

Daily Dazzle: Week #1 – due Friday
Creative Writing: Lesson #1 – Brain storm and break into paragraphs – due Tuesday; Edited rough draft – due Wednesday; Final paper with grade on scoring guide and rough drafts attached – due Friday
Vocabulary: Lesson #1 – Worksheets – due Wednesday; Study for test; Test – Friday
Expository Writing: Reading Friendly letter – Log your reading and write a letter describing what you are reading using the elements of fiction – Due Friday
Expository Writing: Research Paper – Form critical question and brainstorm topics – due Wednesday; Begin research and have at least one source with notes – due Friday

This is an example of what a week’s worth of language arts assignments might look like. Of course this is just an example, so there may not be as many assignments as I have shown due to age, ability, or skill level of students. Just remember that if you set the expectations and bar high, students will meet it. If your students are already motivated and want to be independent then just give them the assignments on Monday and say it is all due by Friday.

Tags: Homeschool Writing, Motivating Writers, Reluctant Writers, Self-Directed Learning, Teaching Writing
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Writing Environment Is Important

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Students will respond more positively to writing if the atmosphere/surroundings/environment is conducive to writing. How can you set up an area that makes the young writer feel like thinking and writing?

Have quiet music playing that goes along with the theme of the writing assignment. Use music with a faster beat for exciting adventure stories. Use soft classical if the story is poignant or sad. Funny stories work well with upbeat fun songs such as “Yellow Submarine”.
Make sure there is plenty of lighting and have as much natural light as possible.
Have a comfortable area for thinking. The student should be able to pre-write in this space. A bean bag or soft cushion by a window or the fireplace in the winter and even outside when it is warm enough.
Once the pre-writing is completed the student either sits at a computer, desk, or table to do the actual writing. Make sure they have all the materials needed for the job. Paper, pencils, pens, eraser, markers, crayons, etc.
If there are several students or a classroom, encourage quiet discussion and peer editing. Feedback is a very good thing.
Young brains need nourishment and a healthy snack, readily available, keeps the neurons snapping.

The more comfortable, inviting, and conducive to writing the environment is, the more successful the young writer will be.

Tags: Homeschool Writing, Motivating Writers, Self-Directed Learning, Teaching Writing
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Writing Tip #1 – Picking a topic to write about.

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Picking a topic that is within a child or student’s bank of knowledge is key in motivating them to write. If there is not a bank of knowledge, then the parent or teacher ends up doing all the thinking for the student and that is not the goal. This is especially crucial when working with elementary students or a reticent writer, so you must try to think of topics that the child knows something about and is interested in. This alleviates the “I don’t know what to write, or I can’t think of anything,” response when the student is asked to write. If you are having trouble coming up with topics or prompts and don’t know quite how to proceed once you have the prompt, it might be worth your time to take a look at our creative writing book. It is designed to make writing an independent and fun experience that does not require parental guidance, because the entire writing process is explained to the student in such a way that it is easy to understand and do.

Tags: Motivating Writers, Self-Directed Learning, Teaching Writing
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Judith Darling's
Teacher and Homeschool Writing Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Self-Directed Learning’

New Book: How to Teach Writing

New book, new schedule, and a new writing activity

Beginning Of The Year Writing Idea