Writing

 Five Basic Writing Skills Students Should Learn Early On

1. Proper Spelling and Punctuation

      One of the first challenges young students face when learning how to write is understanding how to use proper spelling and punctuation.

       This should come as no surprise—written language is very different than spoken language and has its own unique rules. Furthermore, the English language is notorious for its challenging quirks and many inconsistencies. However, proper spelling and punctuation are the foundation for all effective written communication and it’s imperative for kids to learn them (even in the age of spellcheck and autocorrect!).

2. Good Reading Comprehension

       Before kids can write, they need to be able to read—which is why good reading comprehension is such an important skill to have. Reading comprehension entails many things, but at its root, it is the ability to read a piece of writing and effectively glean its meaning.

For young students, that means they need to be able to:

Read and know the meaning of many of the words in the text

Sound out or somehow look up the meaning of words they don’t know

Understand how the words in a sentence, paragraph, or full piece of work relate to one another—and what they mean when taken as a whole entity

Once kids have begun to grasp the concept of reading at a base level, they should also begin learning how to think critically about the work and infer meaning from what is or isn’t said as a part of good reading comprehension.

3. Sentence and Paragraph Structure

        In order to further develop their basic writing skills, students must also learn about the structure of writing—namely, how to construct a proper sentence and paragraph.

     This skill is aided substantially through reading practice, but it’s especially important to focus on it deliberately because it is an area of writing many children struggle with. As kids learn to write, they often have a tough time with things like proper tense, placing modifiers and verbs in the correct places, or writing incomplete and run-on sentences.

In order to help develop this skill, be sure to teach your students about the various parts of speech and the role that different types of sentences (declarative, descriptive, inquisitive, etc.) play in writing.

4. Knowledge of Different Types of Writing

      Once students have a firmer grasp on composing clear sentences and paragraphs, they can begin learning about different types and genres of writing. To communicate effectively, students should be able to write in different styles and tailor their messages to an appropriate audience.

       For example, if a student is writing a short story, the work should include aspects like a setting, plot, dialogue, character descriptions, and a resolution or ending. A research essay should include a thesis statement, facts, supporting arguments, and citations—while a persuasive essay should also include appeals to logic or emotion that would be out of place in a more academic piece of writing.

    Ultimately, learning when and how to use various elements in a given piece of work is an important basic writing skill that all young students should learn.

5. Editing and Rewriting

      Experienced writers will tell you that above all else, writing is rewriting—which means that the first draft of anything is very rarely what should make it out into the world. Truly quality writing is born in the revision process, and thus, the ability to edit and rewrite is perhaps the most important basic writing skill of all that kids should learn.

   The need to edit and rewrite a piece of writing might sound like extra work to kids, but it can actually make the overall process of writing much easier. Knowing that you will go back later to edit a piece can be freeing, as it removes a lot of the pressure to make it perfect from the beginning.

Reference: https://www.journalbuddies.com/writing-2/basic-writing-skills/