Family games for better writing - includes related articles

Instructor, Nov-Dec, 1994 by Dorothy Rich

These fun activities start with thinking and talking

Like riding a bike or driving a car, writing takes a lot of practice--and most of our students and their parents before them in school have not gotten enough practice at writing. That much is clear from the most recent "Writing Report Card" from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which showed that fewer than 20 percent of American students can write a well-developed and detailed essay in response to a short assignment.

The activities on the Parent Send-Home reproducible are designed to increase writing practice through fun family interaction. The activities--which we've tested extensively at the Home and School Institute--involve plenty of talking and thinking, in addition to putting words on paper. As a teacher, you know how important talking and thinking are for writing, but parents may not be so aware of their importance--so you may want to explain in advance how games like these help build writing skills.

HELPING FAMILIES READ TOGETHER

What makes the biggest difference in a child's success with reading? Being read aloud to by a caring adult, according to the all the latest research. Here's a new way for K-3 teachers to help their students and their families build reading success all year long.

"Reading Together: Make It a Family is a major nationwide program sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation and created by Scholastic Inc. in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. This fall, K-3 teachers in every public, private, and parochial school in the country will receive the first of three free eight-page family guides to send home with their students; they'll also get a free teacher's guide to support the take-home materials. Their principals will receive a giant-size hall poster announcing the program and suggesting classroom- and family-reading activities. New issues of the family and teacher's guides will arrive in classrooms in January and April, full of tips. activities, and book suggestions for helping families make reading together a part of their routine.

To cap off the program, National Family Reading Week has been declared for May 1-5, 1995. This celebration will include a national family reading pledge, a parent survey, and celebrity reading activities.

If you teach grades K-3, watch your mailbox for your free "Reading Together" materials all year!

ONCE UPON A TIME

Story Starters (Grades K-3)

1. Together, make up fascinating first lines of stories, such as "Once upon a time there was a pirate who lived in a bathtub..." Write down these first lines, cut them apart, and store them in a special place.

2. Have your child pull out a first line and make up a story together. Take turns telling parts of the story until you both decide to end it.

3. You can write down your story as you go along, or better yet, wait until the story is finished and then put it on paper.

4. Have your child illustrate each story and share it with the rest of the family.

Connections Game (Grades 4-6)

1. This game is great for mealtimes, car trips, whenever your family is together.

2. Everyone playing the game should jot down a word--a name of a thing or an idea, such as toys, trip, sunny, and teachers.

3. Each player then tries to write a sentence that connects the words together; for example, "On sunny days, teachers send toys off on a trip." This could get pretty silly! Compare sentences, then play again.

4. For a change of pace, have each player write down four words and pass them to the next person to write a sentence.

DOROTHY RICH, Ed.D., is founder and president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute (HSI). She is the author of the best-selling book MegaSkills: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Child (Houghton Mifflin, 1992) and the designer of the Institute's MegaSkills [R] training program. For information, contact HSI MegaSkills Center. 1500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20005.