Ah, the joy of teaching teens to write!
Last time, in Teaching Teens to Write, we talked about playing with words, talking, reading examples of the writing they will do, and crafting an excellent sentence. Today, we will move on to paragraphs and reports. As we move forward, don't forget to keep talking to your teens about the subjects you expect them to write about, to prepare them to write.
Paragraphs
An excellent paragraph is filled with excellent sentences, so remind your teens to check each sentence in a paragraph to make sure that it is well-crafted. A paragraph is a collection of sentences that flow together about the same subject. The topic sentence tells you what the paragraph is about, often the first sentence in the paragraph.
Last time, in Teaching Teens to Write, we talked about playing with words, talking, reading examples of the writing they will do, and crafting an excellent sentence. Today, we will move on to paragraphs and reports. As we move forward, don't forget to keep talking to your teens about the subjects you expect them to write about, to prepare them to write.
Paragraphs
An excellent paragraph is filled with excellent sentences, so remind your teens to check each sentence in a paragraph to make sure that it is well-crafted. A paragraph is a collection of sentences that flow together about the same subject. The topic sentence tells you what the paragraph is about, often the first sentence in the paragraph.
Pull out some old papers your child has written and examine their paragraphs together. Talk about what is good, bad, and funny. Then pull out some well-crafted paragraphs from a book, essay, letter, or blog. Read the paragraphs together and discuss what makes them readable. Point out the sentences that make up the paragraph. Grammar and word usage makes the difference between bad, good, and excellent. Now, go back and look at your teen's paragraphs to discuss them again. How can they be improved? Have your teen rewrite several paragraphs.
Talk next about flowing from sentence to sentence inside a paragraph. It is easiest to start paragraphs at the beginning with a topic sentence. Make a list of five topic sentences. Now, have your teen turn each topic sentence into a paragraph, using the topic sentences as a guide for the other sentences that will follow in the paragraph. If your teen feels lost, then work together on this. Do this every day until your teen can turn a topic sentence into a paragraph on his own. Make sure that each paragraph is made up of complete sentences--no fragments or run-ons! Don't forget that your teen should always be writing for an audience. Always make her choose an audience for every writing project, even paragraphs.
The final step of teaching paragraphs is to pull out all the paragraphs that your teen has written from the topic sentences and craft them. Pull out a thesaurus and substitute words that are more concrete. Delete any repetitious sentences. Adjust the order of the sentences if necessary so that the sentences flow together naturally and the paragraph has a feeling of beginning and ending. Read the paragraph aloud and make sure that it is clear, concise, understandable, and gracious. Make any adjustments that are needed.
Talk next about flowing from sentence to sentence inside a paragraph. It is easiest to start paragraphs at the beginning with a topic sentence. Make a list of five topic sentences. Now, have your teen turn each topic sentence into a paragraph, using the topic sentences as a guide for the other sentences that will follow in the paragraph. If your teen feels lost, then work together on this. Do this every day until your teen can turn a topic sentence into a paragraph on his own. Make sure that each paragraph is made up of complete sentences--no fragments or run-ons! Don't forget that your teen should always be writing for an audience. Always make her choose an audience for every writing project, even paragraphs.
The final step of teaching paragraphs is to pull out all the paragraphs that your teen has written from the topic sentences and craft them. Pull out a thesaurus and substitute words that are more concrete. Delete any repetitious sentences. Adjust the order of the sentences if necessary so that the sentences flow together naturally and the paragraph has a feeling of beginning and ending. Read the paragraph aloud and make sure that it is clear, concise, understandable, and gracious. Make any adjustments that are needed.
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Here are some great high school English courses I taught my own children that teach different kinds of writing. American Literature and Research teaches teens to work with primary sources, paraphrase, summarize, write thesis statement, and write a research paper step-by-step. Foundations of Western Literature teaches teens to write about literature, including literature analysis. Communication 101: Essays & Speeches teaches teens to write a wide variety of essays and give a wide variety of speeches. Who Dun It: Murder Mystery Literature & Writing guides teens in writing a murder mystery including creating characters, red herrings, clues, and believable plots. British Literature & Writing has a variety of assignments based on the excellent British literature they read. Three of my children went on to major in English, Creative Writing, and Communications. Two worked as copy editors. One taught freshman English at UCF. (The other two went into business and engineering). All of my children write and blog to inspire and encourage others. Some of the were reluctant writers, but eventually all five became excellent writers. Don't give up! Keep your teens writing!
Happy Writing!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
Happy Writing!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
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