My Children Won't Write!

[Guest]

HI

 

Am starting to pull my hair out with my class and their writing. I just don't know what to do to encourage more child-initiated writing. I stock my writing table drawers with white and coloured paper and they draw, cut stick, make allsorts of things. But writing...There are whiteboards and pens - nope! There are pictures related to our current 'topic' - nope! I've made pirate pictures with speech bubbles - nope! I've made various list formats - nope! I've used various different formats in different role-play area, including sand trays but still they don't want to write.

 

They can do some great writing when in an adult-directed group but how do you get yours writing independently??

 

Help!

[Guest]

I've got the typical boys and writing problem - scores are low. However this term our topic has been transport and they have loved it. We got a bike in and they had to write labels to stick on the actual bike. Last week they had to design a sports car for a superhero and label the special parts of it. This week we are doing pirates. The pirate has kidnapped our class toy. The pirate has written a letter to the children each day so the children have been writing back to him and writing messages to the toy to check he is ok. I modelled wanted posters on Tuesday and have now put formats in the writing zone and the boys are writing! I really think that with my boys they need a purpose for writing which is common sense I suppose but it's finding something that inspires them.

Have you tried shysealing (stickyback plastic) the speech bubbles for example to the table and leaving whiteboard pens next to them? My kids love it because they think they are writing on the table! I always tell them to write their name next to it and then they can take a picture of it. What about covering a pringles tube in themed wrapping paper, threading a piece of string through it like a handbag and then rolling the paper up and putting it inside with some pens/pencils? We call them their power packs and they can take them anywhere in the classroom or outside to write.

I'm sure you've tried all those things but I didn't want to read and run because I know how frustrating it is when you know they can do it!

Becs

[nickylear]

This week we wrote on cardboard boxes, we turned one into a big volcano, the boys loved writing all over it, messages in a bottle have been popular this week....they were in response to a mystery letter washed up in all the rain from pirate JO!!

 

Good lick x

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Could you introduce opportunities for really big writing? Playground and chalks, secret messages in water painting on walls, etc?

[Guest]

This is always a battle-getting those to write who would rather choose elsewhere and I wouldn't say that I have it licked but I do have a busy writing area and would say I have a large percentage of my class who use it at some point of the week, I do have a writing area but also have writing stuff in every area of the classroom as well. I plan with my children on a Thursday what they would like for the next week and do use their suggestions (glittery pens, Ben 10 pencils, teacher pens etc) this week they wanted HUGE paper and teacher flip chart markers so I gave them just that and they have loved making large storymaps which are part writing/pictures. Things which have worked well this year have been our superhero theme where all children had a letter from spiderman needing some new superheroes and to be that they had to make their identity card,badge,cape and mask and then when they had that they could play in the superhero gym/school outside the classroom to train to be a superhero (the whole class wanted to be in the writing area that week!) My writing area was a school for a while earlier in the year with reproductions of my things register etc and again most of the children found their way there and loved making registers and date boards etc. We have wow vouchers that we send home for parents to write what the children have done well at home and one week I put a stack of them in the writing area and the children wrote them about each other and posted them in the box with the others. I make such a song and dance whenever any child chooses writing in their CI time (stickers/housepoints sending them to the head teacher for a gold award) that others quickly follow suit. I have quite a few girly girls who love writing and will need very little inspiration before writing stories etc but its the boys, they need a reason to write that is meaningful to them and their interests.

Deb

[blondie]

could you arrange a party for jubilee - they need to write lists of people to invite - write invitations - shopping lists - place names - jubilee cards to the queen etc

[Guest]

lots of good ideas above. Tell the children they have to make a pass /ticket to get into an area of the classroom. Last week in the jungle the childrne had to write I want to see a ..... and choose an animal they wanted to see. They were only allowed in the area when they made thier pass. Thsi got he boys writing!

[emz321]

my class are obsessed with signs they make them for all over the classroom. Some signs are about rules, others are notes about what they have made. It all started when i suggested to a child they make a sign for their model (made of blocks) so the cleaner would know to leave it alone and not tidy it away as they wanted to leave it out until tomorrow. This has developed and now children leave notes if they want a model left out/ not tidied away or knocked down, they also leave notes on the whiteboard saying do not rub out!

 

Another way i get boys to write is if they are role playing when you are invited in give them sticky labels and ask them to give themselves name labels so you can remember who is who. They love it when you call them by that name all day!

 

My boys too love labeling the bikes so you know if they are a bin truck or pizza delivery man. Also some of my boys like to make signs to advertise their play e.g. spooky house beware.

 

what has worked best for me is doing the writing skills in phonics and then finding what inspires them and making writing part of their play rather than a separate adult directed activity. I find if they think its part of their game they are more likely to write e.g. last week they made a bridge around the classroom, they asked me to try it out and i got all confused and nearly crashed into someone else so they decided to add a start and finish sign and directional arrows

 

I also did the pirates kidnapped our travelling bears and the boys freely wrote ransom notes and plans for their pirate traps. I still have a few though who don't do much writing, if any just need to find something that will get them writing in their play!

[lulubelle]

I had a similar problam in that despite a well stocked writing area, opps in all areas of indoors and out most of my 17 boys still would not write! I found that starting a daily adult led activity to motivate worked well. We now have 2 small writing teams. One is Team Ten who need to use phonics in writing, Ben Ten wrote to them to ask if they can teach him to write as he has been so busy fighting Aliens. He sends a 5-10 minute challenge every morning, this has really boosted childrens confidence in writing and I put same resources from group into classroom for them to access. It is also a secret group so no one else at school knows about it, they love getting their team ten badges and sneaking out the classroom to much intrigue from friends!! The other group is to challenge able writers who don't write in child initiated time. From minibeast interst they are now private investigators (secret groups work well to motivate mine!!) who need to report to a scared headmistress about what they find in different areas of the school by writing reports, this will later lead to data handling. They love it and commando crawl around the classroom to carry out their secret mission!! Hope this helps

[Guest]

Hi,

I have had the same problem, especially with a group of boys in my class. I targeted a particular group and thought about their likes. I then googled images of these things and printed them out, sticking them all over a shoe box. I put lots of 'special' writing equipment in the box (chubby pens etc), using more of the pictures stuck on to tie in the theme and make them different to the other pens, books etc in the room. I made paper with the images around the edge and laminated a few of these to make whiteboards.

I then introduced this to the targeted boys and explained that it was just for them and very special etc etc. I made another box for the rest of the class but only introduced it about a week later so that the boys truly felt it was special! It is still going strong!

Just an idea!