WRITING KNOW-HOW’S, GRADES 4-8 Writing is a skill that finds its way into every aspect of life. For children at this age, it is important to have a firm grasp on the thinking process—pre-writing, drafting, revising and presenting—that goes beyond writing. It helps writers gather their thoughts and transform them into effective communication. “When a child has a process they can follow, it eliminates much of this stress that comes with writing,” says Richard E. Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center. “The process is a great way to help a child think about what he is going to write about and how he will communicate it effectively.” During the pre-writing stage your child will gather ideas, choose a purpose and an audience, and put his ideas in order. Some pre-writing activities include: brainstorming, mapping and webbing (drawing thought webs or graphic representations of the topic), listing, using visualization and guided imagery, and asking questions (Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?). These activities will help your child come up with a topic. Or, if he already has a topic, it will help him develop supporting details for the topic. At this time he also should determine his purpose, audience and form. A purpose can be anything from explaining to stating an opinion to experimenting. The audience might be a specific person, a group or a general audience, such as the community. There is a wide range of writing forms. Your child can improve his writing through experimenting with different forms, such as short stories, research reports, essays, journal entries and reviews. After he has finished pre-writing, have your child write a draft. He should focus on developing the meaning and flow of the piece. Mechanics should come after meaning, as additional drafts can be done to clean up the piece. Have your child discuss his drafts with you or someone else to adjust the direction of his writing. Getting their thoughts down on paper is challenging for some children. However, there are some strategies to help writers move their ideas from their head to the paper. If your child is struggling with this, have him write his ideas as a personal letter first or make a map of additional ideas and ways to order them in the piece. Finally, sit down with your child and help him edit the piece. Have him read it aloud to help catch grammatical mistakes. He also should ask himself if the writing is clear and coherent. Do my ideas and form fit the needs of my audience? Once the final draft is completed, have your child present it to another family member or a teacher. By following the writing process your child will gain more control over his work and see improvements throughout the process. [WORKSHEET] Use the excerpt below from www.encyclopedia.com about basketball superstar Michael Jordan to make an outline or thought-web for a possible essay. 1963-, American basketball player, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. As a freshman at the Univ. of North Carolina, he made the shot that won the 1982 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament final over Georgetown. Joining the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1984, he was the 1985 Rookie of the Year and developed into the outstanding guard of the late 1980s and the 1990s. From 1991 to 1993, Jordan led the Bulls to three NBA championships. In 1993 he announced his retirement, saying he had achieved all his goals in basketball, and began a second career as a baseball player. After two unspectacular years in the minor-league system of the Chicago White Sox, however, he returned to the NBA early in 1995, and in 1996-98 he led the Bulls to three more championships. In 1999 he retired again. The following year he became a part owner of the NBA's Washington Wizards, but in 2001 sold his share of the team and signed with the Wizards and played for two seasons. Noted especially for his leaping ability, the 6 ft 6 in. (198 cm) Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player ever. The NBA career leader in scoring average, he was the league's leading scorer each year from 1986 to 1993 and 1996 to 1998, for a record ten titles, and is third on the all-time points list. Jordan also starred for the 1984, 1992, and 1996 U.S. Olympic teams. Known as “Air Jordan” or “His Airness,” he is a global celebrity, and his commercial endorsements and investments have made him the world's wealthiest athlete.