Thursday, January 16, 2025

Throwback Thursday: How to Teach Writing, plus a Poem by a Little Guy

When our kids were growing up we home schooled for a several years. Susie did the yeoman's work. I created weekly quizzes, which kept me in the loop regarding our kids' progress. I also taught writing, which led to my writing a short book called Writing Exercises: How to Teach Writing and Prepare Your Favorite Students for College, Life and Everything Else. The book's real value stems from the approach that I developed and was encouraged to share.

It's a book for English teachers of all stripes, but especially homeschoolers, about how to teach writing. Here's one suggestion from the book: if you can figure out ways get you children and students to start writing, then you will have something to edit. If they enjoy the exercises they are more likely to produce copy (words on paper) that you can then use to praise while also correcting.

One assignment I gave my kids was for them to describe a room in our house, but from the point of view of being one inch tall. The whimsical Shel Silvertsein poem below might have been his solution to such an assignment.

One Inch Tall
If you were only one inch tall, you'd ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
And last you seven days at least,
A flea would be a frightening beast
If you were one inch tall.

If you were only one inch tall, you'd walk beneath the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
You'd swing upon a spider's thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.

You'd surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldn't hug your mama, you'd just have to hug her thumb.
You'd run from people's feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen years to write--
'Cause I'm just one inch tall).

Shel Silverstein

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