My 4th grader writes like I used to: the shortest sentence possible with the least amount of information possible but still answers the question. No elaboration. His teacher told us he needs to improve on this and suggested he do more writing at home. I suggested that instead of my son writing two sentences a night on the 15 minutes of reading he has to do, that he instead do a weekly book report. The teacher agreed, but didn't have any worksheets or templates, and told me to find some on the internet. I found some on the internet, but because I'm not reading my son's books too, it makes it hard for me to discuss the books and questions. I found a web site that has loads of writing worksheets that seem like they could be useful, but the site is $20/year. I don't mind paying this, but I'm wondering, especially from those who home school or teach or have been through this with your children, what is the best way to teach your child how to elaborate on what he or she writes? Is doing a worksheet where they read a passage and answer questions about what they read going to teach them to elaborate? How can I help my son learn to elaborate in his writing? And how much does your 4th grader write: 1/2 page, full page, a couple of pages? I have no idea what standard I should be shooting for - I'm not a teacher, and my son's teacher does the bear minimum - I'm really disappointed with his teaching methods, so he's not a good resource for me. If you have resources or suggestions in this area, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Another part of this, is how do you teach your child to write neatly?
Thank you for the great ideas! Tonight I told him that instead of doing a book report, I'd have him do a little writing in his composition book. He liked that idea and asked if he could write a story. Instead of making him follow my idea based on some of the suggestions here (which would have been a lot shorter!) I of course let him. He chose what to write about and wrote just over a page, and will continue each night and turn it in on Friday.
Momma11, thank you for your ideas. That's the kind of specific 'assignment' I need to help my son. I'm definitely involved, but don't know how to teach what he might not be getting at school (the hamburger method??? This is great! I'd never heard of it) or support what's being taught (I've asked, trust me, but I'm not getting what I've asked for). I will also use your list idea. I think that will really gel with my son. He's like me and needs specific instruction/pattern to follow :-).
I know for a lot of people all of this is probably a no brainer, as far as helping your kids learn a subject, but it's not for me, so I look things up to see what the best way to do it might be without confusing him. Math is the easiest because we're all math and science inclined, but language arts is challenging for all of us.
Also, that's a really good point to avoid worksheets since he's probably getting them at school. I didn't think of that and will stop using them.
My daughter is like that. I let her right it and then go back and ask those questions who was that and why etc.
At school, our kids "journal" daily.
The teacher gives a prompt, then the kids elaborate.
Not reading related--more life related.
Like: "what's more important--trying hard or winning? Or
"If you lived in the moon, what hobbies would you have?" Or "tell me about your pet or tell me what type of pet you'd like to have and why"
That kind of stuff.
Do you think your son would enjoy that?
Expository writing.
Just have him, write in a journal at home.
For FUN.
Expository writing is about being descriptive.
ie: "The dog ran." (boring right?)
So, another way to write it is: The young puppy, bounded down the pathway, his fur flying as an afterthought in the brisk wind, his tongue whipping in the air...
I just made that up. But it conjures up an image of what is going on.
Not just "the dog ran."
Just have your son, be more descriptive in his writing. Adjectives. Action verbs.
Explain to him, it is like painting, with words.
Create an image... of what he is writing about.
In 4th grade my daughter was told that too.
No biggie.
My daughter is now in 5th grade and is fine.
They are just learning... how to write with more flourish. More adjectives.
Also, have him read a Thesaurus.
For fun.
I did that when I was that age. I LOVED reading the Thesaurus.
It teaches, adjectives and such.
Great stuff.
Writing a weekly book report?
Hmmm...
how long?
How many paragraphs?
If he is not told how long it should be, most 4th grades will not look forward to it.
In 4th grade, a book report was like a summary.
Just have him read his book, for like 20 minutes, then write on it what it was about.
Nothing complicated about that.
IN school they will learn the components of writing reports/notes/summaries/outlines etc.
For your son, just to learn to write with more flourish... just have him WRITE FOR FUN and be DESCRIPTIVE. That is important and the "lesson" in it.
Don't spend money on this.
You don't need money for this.
Or get him a Tutor if you want to spend money on it, so that he is "taught" how to write.
YES in 4th grade, write a 1/2 page.
Or a full page.
Not longer than that. Or you will lose him to hating, writing.
This should be "fun" for him.
If anything, places like Barnes and Noble, has workbooks on writing, per grade level. You can buy those.
My son gets weekly spelling words. I quiz him on them and then make him write a sentence using the word. Lately though I've been having him use his spelling words to write a story. His problem is penmanship.
Can you find out what books she'll be reading ahead of time and read them yourself.
Think, who, what, when, where and how. Come up together with a list of adjectives. Start there. My son had to journal in 3rd grade. Hilarious story of his life as a rock. Try looking around his room or in his pocket or outside for a jumping off place. A few sentences every day added to that story would be fine. More than that and he may rebel. Any comparison to what girls have done does not apply. This could be a bonding thing also, if he likes it.
My son types well. He has an engineer's handwriting. :(
I'm a 4th grade teacher. Please, don't do a book report. You want him to enjoy writing.
Vocabulary is the base of all figurative writing. Provide lists of words - adjectives, transition words, nouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, words to be used in place of 'said' etc. Have him write a sentence (pick whatever subject you wish). Then have him replace/add words he used with words from the lists so he can see & hear the difference. Then have him write using the lists. Start writing small then have him write longer. A few sentences to a paragraph, to 3 paragraphs to a full page.
Make 2 copies of the lists. One for home and one for school. Let the teacher know he will be bringing them - he may actually want to make copies of the lists to hand out :)
By now he should be writing full page papers in class. He should have a method to his writing including: brainstorming, planning, rough draft, revising/editing, final draft.
Some teachers use the Hamburger Writing method:
Top bun - intro sentence - the 'grabber' sentence
Lettuce - supporting detail - juicy detail 1
Tomato - supporting detail - juicy detail 2
Meat - supporting detail - juicy detail 3
Bottom bun - conclusion - what holds it all together
Make it fun, whatever you do. Good luck!
First of all read the books he writes reports on. Have him read chapters aloud to you and then have him verbally discuss what he has read and his impressions. This will prepare him more for the writing process.
I would run from any worksheet at home, he likely gets too much of that already through school. Just research yourself a little on how his book report should be structured and then help him with the format, it should be very simple and not too long. Then when you read over point out where he could add detail (in between pointing out some good things he's done).
A great way to develop writing in a grade school age child is creative writing. Let him write a story and then push him a little to really develop the text. Use words that encourage description, talk about adjectives, painting a mental image with words.
His writing will become neater with practice but honestly at that age most writing past a couple of sentences will be on the computer soon. Word processing can be much easier for some kids. My youngest has ongoing stories she works on just for fun. All on the computer, she never writes them out.
I truly think the main key to becoming a good write is reading. The more he reads the more he will be exposed to different more elaborate writing styles and the bigger chance he'll get hooked on expressing himself through writing. Good luck!
you ought to be able to read his books pretty quickly . so that you would know what to ask.
Another idea is to cover, who the story is about, where it happens, what happens, If he says the book is about a boy, make him tell you the boys name, and guess an age and what his personality is like.
Just to clarify, is this a question of DS being lazy and not wanting to take the time, or is his spelling bad, or his penmenship, or does he not understand how to describe something? if you can pin point that then it would probably help.
I don't see why you need the internet or any premade worksheets, just some parental involvement.
Find some fun way to do it. Have him be a reporter. Have him write a report on something he did or saw that day and read it to you at the table. Maybe do up a whole desk thing or video him with your phone so it feels more real. Or maybe ask him to do a write up on a game he saw if he's into sports. Or ask him to write down instructions on how to do something (like make a sandwich) and then you read them and follow them exactly - even if it's totally wrong. My 5th grade teacher did that and we cracked up but learned what she meant. If you just wrote "put the jelly on the bread" she put the jar of jelly on the bread.
Or get him a composition book and you write some silly question of the day/week and he fills out the page (at least) responding to it. And if he does this for x times properly, then he can ask you something silly and YOU write your response.
As far as neat, my SS was so bad that by 8th grade they begged him to just type his homework. It's still awful. I would pick the most illegible thing each time and ask him to rewrite those things til they are clear. My SD used to complain that she COULD spell or do the math or whatever and when we looked, we realized the teacher marked her wrong because it was sloppy and unreadable. We told her to take more care and if we noticed it in other work, we'd say, "Remember that A that looked like a C and the teacher marked you wrong in last weeks' spelling test and you got upset? This looks like a C, too. Please erase it and rewrite it so the teacher knows what you really mean."
What if he wrote in a journal each evening instead? It's not just for girls and women. My nephew's teacher recommended this two years ago when he was in 4th grade, he still does it now that he's in 6th. In 5th grade his teacher actually had quiet time for them to journal after lunch, a one-paragraph minimum per day, weekends and days off included. My nephew likes to draw/illustrate, so often he writes a short story incorporating the things that happened in his day. He does it after his shower/before bed, it helps him to relax.
My oldest daughter loved to write, we wrote letters to each other from the time she was in 2nd grade. We both learned to elaborate over time.
My other daughter had a 5th grade teacher whose format for book reports was:
List the author
List the main characters
Rewrite the story in your own words so someone who hadn't read the book would know what it was about. No copying from the jacket or front and back covers :) This really helped her writing skills and her comprehension.
You can use a note book and make up a work sheet. Line on top for Name of Child, next line Teacher's name, next line Date.
Skip a line, book title and author. Skip a line and discription of book -- example: fantasy, autobiography, travel ect
Skip a line: Story synopisis. Concentrate on the who - what - where - why - and how of the story.
For instance: Bobby is a boy 9 yrs old. Bobby lost his dog. Bobby found his dog and was real happy.
Okay that tells the story but leave out many details.
Where did Bobby live, what kind of town or city? How did Bobby lose his dog? Did his leash break? Did he dig out under a fence? What did he do to find his dog? Did he make flyers? Did he call his grandma or friends? Where did he find his dog? Did someone find him, who and how? Did he walk to get his dog? Did his Mom drive him? What did he do when he got home with his dog?
Explain to him that his teacher and you have not read the book, so he has to tell the story in writing. You will have to help him get started by asking the questions who - what - where - why - and how. It basic creative writing or jouralism. Teach him how to explain it to you so you understand.
It's kinda like teaching your child how to do a household chore. Tell him to clean his room and he shoves everything under the bed or in the closet, well it looks clean but he can't find his socks. Better to teach him to fold his clean clothes and put each item on stacks for each drawer then open the drawer and put them in. Showing him the steps to get it done. A writing project is no different. It's a process, one step at a time.
As far a neat hand writing, it small muscle control and slowing down.
