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mom61
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Posted: Thu Jun 29th, 2006 05:48 pm |
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I am realistic that my son is going to struggle with writing at any college he attends. His idea of majoring in an area that requires little writing isn't realistic.
He is going to be a senior. I feel that I would be doing him a disservice if I don't take some steps in the next year to help him become a better writer.
Any ideas? One I am going to inquire about- our local community college has classes in english skills for their students who don't pass the english placement test for college level english. I don't know if they allow high school students to enroll or if the class will be mainly english learners.
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lingsquared
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Posted: Fri Jun 30th, 2006 01:22 am |
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From a kid POV, what *really* taught me how to write was a small (less than 10) setting class where we sat around and critiqued each others' essays/read good essays and deconstructed them to see what made them good. I don't know much about community colleges (don't live in the US), but if classes there would provide that kind of structure, that sounds like a fabulous idea. If not, would you/yr son be ammenable to the idea of a writing tutor? Somebody to assign an essay every week or two, then sit down with him and go through it and show him what works and what doesn't. Sounds kind of like a far-fetched idea, but it might work? Hope this helped!
Ling
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binx
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Posted: Fri Jun 30th, 2006 08:07 am |
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mom61 - I saw your S's writing score on your other post, and wonder if you pulled up his essay online and read it? Was his low score due to the multiple choice portion, the actual essay, or both? Did you see problems with spelling? With sentence construction? With grammar? With ideas? With length?
Looking hard at his essay will help you know what he needs work on. For instance, if it's vocabulary, then give him a new word every day, and ask him to try to use it appropriately in conversation at least 3 times that day. If he has a sense of humor, this can be really fun -- trying to work some ridiculous words into use. But this would help the word stick. If he has siblings, make it a family thing.
If it's ideas, then games like sequential story telling - each person adds a sentence to the story. If it's spelling, try crosswords.
Reading helps, too, and I'm betting he doesn't like to read! But reading can be anything -- comic books, newspapers, sports magazines. My middle child didn't like to read until he discovered biographies.
Above all, don't try to fix everything at once. Try not to make it seem like punishment, and help him see the long-term purpose of writing well.
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WestrnMom
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| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
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Posted: Fri Jun 30th, 2006 04:26 pm |
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My S is looking for the same major. Let me know if you find one. If he's learning disabled, I would suggest finding an educational therapist who specializes in writing improvement. Does he write better on the computer than by hand? I talked to a woman whose son wrote very poorly, and they finally discovered years later he was dysgraphic. In any case, using a computer often helps ideas flow more quickly. Or try dictating to either a typist (you, someone else) or into a tape recorder and then typing from that.
Another idea is to have him read his writing aloud so he can hear how it sounds. Tell him to write the same way in which he speaks. Have him practicing varying sentence structure. Tell him not to use the same descriptive word more than once in an essay unless he's using it to make a point. Have him practice rewriting the same sentence 3 different ways using different words to get across the same idea.
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mom61
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Posted: Fri Jun 30th, 2006 06:14 pm |
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Thanks for the ideas. He has up till this year worked with a learning specialist. This past year he just didn't want to do it anymore. So he tried to do it on his own with a few bad results. So I took over the job for certain classes. He then worked with a tutor for a specific subject. We live in a small city and it is hard to find someone good whose time slots work with yours. And I do feel for him he has had private tutoring with LD specialists from grades 2 to 10. I think he knows what he needs to do but it is another thing to put it into action.
binx- Your guess is right. He hates reading. He does the absolute min. to get by for school. His SAT scores came in late so his essay is not yet up to view. He scored a 7. He said he did not finish. On the multiple choice he had 24 right and 25 wrong and did not skip any.
I was wondering if books on tape would at least help with his vocabulary.
He is away till late July and unreachable. I don't know what his take on his scores will be. His counselor is thrilled with his score. It is above the school average and way above the average for the level of courses he is in. She would probably be thrilled to not have him take the SAT again since it is such a pain in the neck for her to arrange.
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Wstrdg
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Posted: Sat Jul 1st, 2006 12:04 am |
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mom61-
what does your son read for fun? the more he reads, and the greater the variety of reading materials, the better writer he will be.
Some quick and easy but thought-provoking reading material: comic anthologies (Calvin & Hobbes), magazines (Popular Mechanics/Science, USN&WR), the morning paper, sci fi (Asimov, Bradbury, Ender's Game), pulp mysteries (John Grisham).
If you can get him to read twice a day for half an hour, from two different types of material, it can make a huge difference in his writing abilities.
Daily writing, say one page in a journal, is another great exercise. The journal entry can be about anything: sports, weather, breakfast. The idea is just to fill a page quickly with words. And it will be even better if he can do it in longhand, and not on the computer. Less temptation to delete!
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Wstrdg
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Posted: Sat Jul 1st, 2006 12:22 am |
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Writing prompts are another tool:
Here's one link: http://www.writersdigest.com/writingprompts.asp
The Observation Deck, by Naomi Epel is an inexpensive deck of cards, each with a short quirky idea or prompt to break writer's block.
There are many of these types of books. But the key to success is a following whatever prompt you chance to draw, no matter how silly or distasteful. Convince your son that six weeks of daily reading and writing will make a huge difference in reducing the tension that a blank piece of paper can inspire.
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mom61
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Posted: Sat Jul 1st, 2006 12:44 am |
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| wstrdg- great link. I am going to give it a try. As for what does he like to read. Not much. Trade express, car magazines- he is obsessed with getting a car. Bike magazines, the sports page.
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Wstrdg
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Posted: Sat Jul 1st, 2006 05:39 pm |
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| Then expand his subject matter with Popular Mechanics -- he'll love it. The idea is to get used to different printed formats. Try the public library for technical repair manuals on favorite models. And go for short sessions (no more than half an hour) with frequent repititions, at least twice a day.
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DesperateDad
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Posted: Sat Jul 1st, 2006 06:19 pm |
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Reading definitely helps. Try the Op-ed sections of major newpapers, such as NYTimes, LATimes and Wall Street Journal; major newspapers since they are written at a HS level, as opposed to a magazine like People which is written at the 8th grade level. Every column written is nothing more than a persuasive essay.
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