Writing - an update

I am undecided whether teaching 1st graders to write is a safe idea or not. I'm leaning toward the "not".

We do this great thing once a week called Super Sentences. What you do is this: make a big chart. Start the sentence with "A" or "The" in the first column. In the next column have the kids give a describing word, accepting several responses. Then provide the subject, such as a pig or, as in the case of this week, a turkey. The next column is "did what?" - basically your verb or verb group - again, ask children to provide responses. Then is your "where?" column - more student responses. The final column is "when?" - as with the others, ask for responses. So what you should end up with is something like this:

The evil turkey fired a cannon at the table during Thanksgiving dinner last night.

The kids have such fun with this, I can't even tell you. I like to use different colored markers to denote the different parts of speech. It is so invigorating to see them come alive with ideas, most of them hilarious. I rarely censor the responses I write down for them, because I want them to have as much fun composing their sentences as possible. Although I did have to veto the verb "farted" today. And yes, I descended into a giggle fest right along with the kids when my friend, J. came up with that one. I couldn't help it, it would have made a fun sentence.

Next up we will add the "because" after the "when" column. Finally I hope to add correct grammar language such as switching the "did what?" to "verb" and "describing word" to adjective.

Try it sometime in the car with your kids. Or have them practice writing this way. It is a ton of fun.

Oh, why not?

The plump turkey farted at the disco on Christmas Eve.