On the blog this week, I have been diving into some practical homeschool writing tips that I discovered by trial-and-error this year. You can read more about the context for this in a recent blogging series I started, called “Our Homeschool Writing Experiment.”

I feel passionate about writing, and teaching writing well. Last year though, my kids were not feeling it, so I tried a completely new approach. In this new blog series, I am documenting the complete 180 our family experienced this year. We finally struck gold in a writing process that we all enjoy!

{Well, ok, I probably enjoy it slightly more as the mom…;)}

Truly though, I have seen my kids’ writing transform this year. If you have ever felt stuck, overwhelmed or even completely paralyzed at the thought of teaching writing, have no fear. Maybe some of my trial and error will be of use for you!

Whenever I try something new for my own homeschool, I have to keep it simple. This helps me achieve smaller goals and move forward incrementally without getting burnt out. In today’s post, I put together three simple steps I took, and implemented consistently, for each new writing genre I covered this year with my kids. They are not profound or original, just tried-and-true teaching methods that give kids a sense of direction, confidence, and success.

Sometimes, we all need a reminder to get back to basics!

First, brainstorm

My kids and I usually brainstorm together on a large whiteboard, or on a giant Post-it pad (these turn into easy posters we use for reference around our school room!) This particular brainstorm was just me and my two oldest (4th and 2nd grade), but my preschooler often gets into the mix!

Here is an example of our chart-posters in action! We brainstormed a list of alternatives for “said” for a recent writing project (green ink). My son added some additional words he thought of that evening, in black. We love the Sharpie chart markers.

When we brainstorm, we are sharing ideas and getting their brains flowing. Sometimes I use a KWL Chart for this. You can grab one for free, here. Brainstorming together can also set the tone for the type of writing we are going to do.

One of the most common brainstorming activities we did this year was a Five Senses Brainstorm. I would draw an eye, ear, mouth, hand and nose on the white board, to represent all five senses. (Pro Tip: if you have a preschooler in the mix, like I do, they can help in this process as well! I love Aliki’s book The Five Senses to set the scene for them, but there are lots of cute sense-related books). I snagged some free Five Senses graphic organizers here and here on Teachers Pay Teachers, and printed several for each kid. We used Five Senses brainstorming for our Summer Memory Essay, our Grandparent Interview Essay, and our Christmas Essay.

Here are a few samples of my second grade daughter’s Five Senses brainstorming, as well as portion of the final result: her Summer Memory Essay! Some great detail!

Next, model

Next, I model the desired outcome. One of the genres we did this year was a Tutorial, or How-To Essay. You can customize this however you want! I personally love this viral video of a kindergarten teacher doing this lesson. She had her students write a tutorial on how to make a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. Then, to demonstrate how literal a tutorial must be, she acts out their instructions–which turn out to be hilariously inadequate! (Check out the video–it’s so fun!)

I did something similar with my kids, but our modeling topic was “How To Wash Your Hands.” I had them write up some instructions, then I followed them to see if they were sufficient! (They weren’t–not quite ;)) This was an effective, good-natured way to show them the importance of including specific details in their writing, especially for a tutorial!

Once we had established how many details were missing, we rewrote the tutorial for handwashing, together, on the whiteboard. This is a good way to model what you want your kids to do–give them an example, first! Then, they will be more confident and feel more ready to try it on their own.

Lastly, try a rubric

Once I was sure my kids understood the expectation, ideas were flowing and they had a model or sample to refer back to, I let them loose! A third practice I use to keep writing collaborative is to use a rubric. Sometimes I type up my own simple rubric, depending on the writing genre. You can also find free rubrics on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Sometimes I have the kids complete their own rubrics, and then have another copy for myself when I edit their work. Other times, we used a Peer Review Rubric! {They actually loved this, and it caught me by surprise.}

To cater to my kids’ varying grade levels, I do edit the rubrics and often make my own. I tailor it to their individual abilities, and writing goals. Rubrics are an excellent tool to teach kids structure, make expectations clear, and introduce the concept of self-editing. They’re also nice for the teacher! 🙂

I hope these simple tips were helpful for you! I found, that using these three as a baseline for each new writing genre this year really helped cement in a routine for us. My kids knew what to expect, knew I would work alongside them, and also gained confidence to become more and more independent, once they understood the process.

If you’d like to read up on a few more general tips for writing, and homeschooling in general, this post lays out a bit more of the philosophical priorities I try to live out {specifically, the second half of the post!}

How about you–what are your best practices, that make writing flow in your home? I would love to hear! Stay tuned for specific posts covering each of the 20 writing genres we covered this year.

Cait