EASY AND FUN IDEAS TO IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS FOR CHILDREN

Azalia Ilene Marthania

ABSTRACT

In terms of teaching writing for language learners teacher should consider some aspects in teaching
writing. Every single lesson requires careful preparation and need to think about a variety of
techniques, activities and teaching aids to make the lesson appealing to the students. In many classes,
attention in writing is very limited because writing is only to be as a testing tool. It may be that makes
teaching and learning writing skill to be bored. To eliminate the boredom for teaching writing, the
researcher use journaling method. Children can improve their writing skills through journaling and
creative writing prompts instead of dread. Writing journals lets the children to feel in control of the
content they choose to write about and the length of their writing pieces.
Keywords: Writing, Children, Journaling, Improve writing.

INTRODUCTION
Writing is easy to do but if we don’t sharpen it since early age, it means nothing to
our lives. Frank to be said, writing is kind of complex activity but in the same place,
writing is an important part of our daily lives. However, by getting a head start with
some simple activities, we can help our children begin to develop their writing skills at
an early age. Writing is an important element of a student education. Whether students
are writing by hand or computer, many assignments and exams require students to write
short answers or long essays as a way of assessing what they have learned. As students
get older, they will be expected to show more sophisticated writing skills. It takes time to
develop strong writing skills and it can be difficult duty to accomplish.
The main reason for teaching writing is to help the children or students express their
thoughts into words. Writing process usually starts from : Copying → Doing Exercise →
Guided Writing → Free Writing. It’s important to recall that writing can be as difficult a
subject to teach and assess as it is to learn. Many students have trouble writing with
clarity, coherence, and organization, and this can discourage them from writing if they
feel frustrated. That’s when parent (especially teacher because teacher is children’s
parent in the school) should get involved, to make a big movement. Lots of reading,
frequent writing time in a special writing area and incorporating fun writing activities
and games will go a long way to giving writing skills a boost.
Language learning, becoming literate, is more than memorizing what is told or
shown. Young children use their knowledge of symbols and letters from adults to
construct their own knowledge of how print works (Fields, Groth, & Spangler, 2004).
The informal, everyday experiences with print seem to be a crucial part of the literacy
learning process for children. Pretending to read and write, reading labels on food, and
seeing their own names in print can all be part of these everyday experiences. Reading
aloud to young children can also be part of the daily activities. Reading to children, as
young as infancy, helps them to develop listening skills and eye focus. Reading also
stimulates their imagination, sensory awareness and language skills (Kupetz & Green,
1997) as well. Reading further lays the groundwork for increased enthusiasm,
appreciation, and comprehension of literature (Galeota-Wozny, 1995). Studies also show
how language has been enhanced when we read aloud to children (Freppon, 1995;
Percell, Gates, McIntyre, and Freppon, 1995). Preschool Authors The early childhood

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 years are crucial for the development of emerging writers. According to Calkins (1994),
it is essential that children are deeply involved in writing. She also highlights the
importance of having young children share their writings with others so that they will
perceive themselves as authors. 17 Preschool teachers need to engage young children in
activities that promote early reading and writing skills (Box, 2002). Journal writing is an
excellent way for young children to develop the courage and confidence as writers as
stated by Fields, Groth, & Spangler (2004). In preschool, literacy centers also seem to
invite actual writing (Hall & Robinson, 1995). When literacy resources (i.e. blank paper,
index cards, journals, crayons, and pencils) are made available to playing children, these
resources become a vital and critical part of learning about written language in the school
settings.
Another way to promote understanding of written language is through guided
writing (Tompkins, 2003). Guided writing is when the teacher plans a structured writing
activity and then supervises as the children do the writing. For example, when children
make a page for a class book, they are doing guided writing because the teacher has set
up the writing activity (Tompkins, 2003). Teachers can also guide children’s writing
when they are in writing groups. Tompkins (2003) also states that there are four reasons
for guided writing. The first reason is to support children’s writing in instructional-level
materials. While working with small groups of children, for example, the teacher can
focus on the children’s writing. The second is to teach literacy procedures, concepts,
skills, and strategies during minilessons. The third reason is to introduce different types
of writing activities. The final reason for guided writing is to teach children to use the
writing process. The sections of the writing process that are paid particular attention to
during guided writing are revising and editing (Tompkins, 2003).

RESEARCH METHOD
The first step in teaching children to write is to sit them down and have them trace.
While some children are absolutely ready for this, it’s because they already have a good
foundation. The first step to teaching children to write begins with large arm movements.
This let children strengthen their whole arms or even their core. Think about the motions
when writing on a piece of paper. We may even feel it in our abdomens as well.
Usually, children begin this process in two very common positions: either writing while
lying on the floor or writing on a vertical surface. One of most inviting ways to teach children
to write is with journals. Make journals with blank white paper is preferably, sometimes
children can get distracted by lines so using blank paper is perfect alternative. Simply put
together 3 to 5 pages of copy paper, fold them in half and staple them to make a journal. This
excellent practice as well as a good outlet for venting feelings. Encourage children to write
about things that happen at home and school, about people they like or dislike and why, and
about things they want to recall and do. If they share the journal with us, we should read the
entries and discuss along them together.
Things to remember before apply this method are:
1) Help the children spend time thinking about a writing project or exercise. Because
good writers often spend a lot of time thinking, preparing, and researching before
starting to write.
2) Respond to the ideas of children express verbally or in writing. Make it clear that we
are interested in what the writing conveys.
3) Take a positive approach and find good things to say about the children’s writing.
Avoid writing for the children as well.

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 4) Reading and writing support each other. Reading can also stimulate the children to
write about their own family or school life.
Writing well takes a lots of practice, so make sure the children don’t get discouraged
too easily. It’s not easy, give the children plenty of chances to practice so that they have the
chance to developing. Introduce journal writing through reading aloud an illustrated picture
book for younger students, or a chapter book for older students, that uses the journal or diary
format. Discuss the book using aesthetic reader response questions and prompts, and model
journal writing features: noting the date, using an interesting sentence starter for a journal
entry, and mini-lessons on writing conventions.
Journal writing can be done at a set time during a class period or day, or students can
write in journals sometime during the day. Monitor the latter through a checklist, noting
whether or not students are writing in them. Journals can also be part of writing conferences
with individuals or small groups. They can also be used to address writing conventions and
questions and needs students may have about spelling, punctuation, word usage, or grammar.
Students can choose to share what they have written, or they can share an idea from the
journal that they would like to explore further with another type of writing (e.g., poetry, story,
or letter). Journals can be used in conferences to discuss these other writing forms.
For example, students could write from the perspective of a personified character,
such as an animal or other nonhuman, to personify, research, and learn more about the
personified character, and they could write a fictionalized version of a diary. The same could
be done with a historical figure or a fantasy creature. Students could put themselves in the
place of the character they have learned about, personified, or imagined and write from their
point of view.
Students could form pairs and personify, pick, or create characters that would have
very different points of view. For example, two 5th grade students learning about the Civil
War could work as a team and read about the lives of soldiers from the North and the South.
They could discuss similarities and differences and each write a journal from the perspective
of one of the soldiers, either a Yankee or a Rebel.
Students could do the same in groups, each writing a journal from the perspective of
one person in a mutual context. For example, a 3rd grade class learning about world
communities could write a journal about a single issue (e.g., the environment, from the point
of view of a leader from one of several countries-the United States, China, India, a member
of the European Union, Egypt, etc.). Students in a 6th-grade class learning about the ancient
world could do the same from the perspective of an ancient Greek or Roman citizen. Do a
mini-lesson on point of view in writing and make a poster that students can refer to when
writing.

DISCUSSION
The journal can be self-directed. An additional benefit to journaling is that it
provides children with an example of meaningful writing. Children usually don’t see the
connection between their life and the assignments they write in school, thus the work has
less value for them. Nevertheless, when children are writing about their own feelings or
thoughts, they see writing as meaningful work.

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 Journaling can also be a way for children to head start into huge writing
assignments, where they can begin to work on structure, order, and sequencing. This type
of writing, called expressive or narrative writing, relies on the children’s interests and
ideas to organically branch out into more complex writing tasks. Children can improve
their writing skills through journaling and creative writing prompts and find joy, instead
of dread, when picking up their pens.
Introduce kindergarten or 1st-grade students to journaling by reading aloud a
picture book, such as An Island Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk on a Barrier Island (Wright-
Frierson, 1998), or an illustrated book in a journal format for 2nd-grade students, such
as Amelia's Notebook. (Moss, 1995), and lead a discussion using aesthetic reader
response questions and prompts: What was your favorite part of the journal? What would
you write in a journal? Record students' responses on chart paper to model the
journaling process. The chart could be titled "Our Class Journal" and the date added.
Continue modeling with the class journal and have students take the pen and add to the
entries using interactive writing until students are ready to begin their own journals.
Students who are just beginning to write can also go to a Journal Center, which
would include multiple copies of a blank frame for drawing and writing a journal entry
that could be kept in a file box. The day's date could be written on a sentence strip or a
small whiteboard in the center. Beginning writers can go to the center, copy the date,
draw a picture, write, or have someone else take dictation and write for them-perhaps an
aide, a classroom volunteer, a more capable peer, or an older student in another grade
who spends time assisting in the class. Each student who uses the Journal Center can
keep his or her journal entry in a manila file folder labeled with their name. They can
also choose to share journal entries during time for sharing with the class.

CONCLUSION
Journaling encourages the children to grow while discovering open-ended writing.
Instead of writing one assignment and being done, journal writing lets the children to write
daily diary. Not only can it be enjoyable and reflective, journaling also has multiple benefits
related to literacy and social growth. Journaling builds writing skills, the more we practice the
better we get. Spelling, sentence structure, vocabulary, and grammar can all be enhanced
through a regular writing habit.
Writing journals lets the children to feel in control of the content they choose to write
about and the length of their writing pieces. This control and choice make writing more
appealing. Journaling helps communicate ideas through writing. Sometimes children find it
easier to express themselves through writing versus oral communication. And developing
written communication skills will be an asset as the children move forward.
Since literacy develops at an early age, there is definitely a need for more research on
written language for preschoolers (Fields, Groth, & Spangler, 2004; Graves, 1983; Ruddell,
2002). Researchers have traditionally thought that children learned to talk, read, and then
write. Cambourne (1988), however, suggests that children learn written language in the same
way as oral language because it is language. Literacy first emerges in the home because of
the ways language is used to address children’s needs and to carry on social interactions in
the home environment (Rice, 1989).
One way to expand children’s knowledge of language is to read to them. The home
environment also needs to be supplied with appropriate literacy materials (i.e. books, paper,
pencils, and journals) so that children will experiment and play with written language.
Cambourne (1988) suggests that the parallels between learning to talk and learning to
read and write should guide our instruction within school settings. In order to replicate this

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natural way of learning, the school setting should provide opportunities for literacy to evolve
from children’s needs, interests, and social interactions. Classroom teachers, as well as
writing researchers, have discovered that even young children communicate through writing,
and that they begin writing as they are learning to write even before they read (Graves, 1983).
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One way to follow this natural way of learning is through literacy centers (writing
centers within the dramatic play area that include paper, notebooks, post-its, envelopes, and
pencils) in preschool settings. Through play and exploration with literacy materials and
resources children can extend their understanding of written language and its functions.
Through play, young children invent and reinvent the forms of written language, moving
from primitive forms to conventional forms of print. By modeling the use of print and
supporting young children when they pretend to read and write, educators can reinforce and
extend children’s knowledge of print. Also they can continue to expand children’s language
and understanding of written language by reading to them in the preschool setting daily.
Calkins (1994) reported that ninety percent of children come to school believing they
can write. Similarly, Beaty and Pratt (2003) emphasize that the earlier adults encourage and
support young children, the more successful they will become in their reading and writing
abilities in elementary school. Furthermore, the early years are the most important period for
literacy development.

REFERENCES
Sardar, A. 2018. Academic writing challenges at Universities in Saudi Arabia and solutions.
International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. Vol. IV Issue
X October, 291-298.
Wood, Melissa. 2004. The Importance of Writing with Young Children. Senior Honors
Theses. 107.
Trueit, T. S. (2005). Keeping a journal. Danbury, CT: Children's Press.