If You're Trying to Teach Kids How to Write. . .You've Gotta Have This Book!

Shameless advertising is probably the surest path to selling anything. You can tout the virtues of a cleaning product based on its pH balance all you want, but airing some ridiculous commercial about how one squirt is able to sterilize the entire outside of the Louvre will have bottles of Ernie's All-Purpose Cleaner selling at any price you care to charge, at least for awhile.

Marjorie Frank seems to understand this principle. Why else would she call her book about teaching kids to writeIf You're Trying to Teach Kids How to Write......you've gotta have this book!? Of course, if you really have something great you might as well promote it to the best of your ability. The imperative in Frank's title is a bit of an overreach, but the book is very helpful.

Throughout the pages she includes a total of 29 personal biases concerning writing and how to teach it. These are often aimed at dismantling popular ideas about writing education, but many are simply beliefs she's come to hold throughout her career as a teacher. Bias #1 will shock many, but it provides the basis for the book: "Your job isn't to teach writing."

The answer is elusive until you hear it, at which point you'll wonder why you didn't come up with it. What Frank means, of course, is that you aren't teaching writing, you're teachingkids. Her entire book, therefore, is designed to help you develop this perspective and to let it shape the way you approach instruction.

If for no other reason, this book is notable for its extreme energy. Frank ranges from topic to topic with near-ADHD speed, using different fonts, box inserts, clip art, and endless lists to give teachers and parents what they need to guide students toward self-expression and a love of words.

These are the two most formidable weapons in her educational arsenal. Frank uses everything from word games to observational outings to (sometimes bizarre) activities to motivate kids to want to write. As for love of words, Frank clearly has one herself, and she provides all kinds of ideas for growing one yourself and instilling it in young learners.

If You're Trying to Teach Kids How to Write isn't a curriculum. There are no writing lessons, no scope and sequence, no grading rubrics, no milestone markers. But the content of students's writing, the need for them to see and chart their own progress, how to move from prewriting to rough draft to final product, and much more are all addressed.

One of the more suprising points Frank makes is that writing isn't primarily about language arts or the tools of writing that often stifle creativity. For instance, if you emphasize the importance of spelling in students's writing, they'll begin to use only words they know how to spell, and their writing vocabulary will suffer.

Of course kidsdo need to know how to spell and where to put commas, but her point is well taken—writing is about conveying ideas, observations, and feelings, and cultivating good thinking, creativity, and experimentation are generally more conducive to drawing out self-expression.

Among other things, chapters address the writing process, tools and techniques, response and revision, presentation, portfolios, assessment (which Frank says should happen throughout the writing process, not primarily at the end), problems, and helping students reach writing independence. Throughout these chapters are ideas for stoking creativity and love of writing.

Basically, Frank shows that teaching kids to write is more fun than most people would ever think possible, and less threatening than a teddy bear in a baby's crib. It all depends on how you approach it. If you look at writing instruction as a list of rules and skills to be mastered, neither you nor you child will enjoy it. But if it's a romance to be adventured through, chances are the attitudes and the results will be much different.

That being said, Frank should spend more time reminding readers that good writing and good creativity are always supported by a strong knowledge of the basic language arts. Can a student who doesn't know grammar write something interesting? Yes, but it would doubtless be more interesting if she knew how to construct her sentences.

In a similar vein, the frenetic pace and often visually confusing pages ofIf You're Trying to Teach Kids How to Writeare often difficult to navigate. It would be an improvement to cut down the clutter and present the information in a more organized manner; limiting the number of fonts used and getting rid of the ubiquitous elipses would be particularly helpful.

Still, this is a fun book, often a helpful book, and, for those ready to settle for a bland writing curriculum or to scrap writing instruction altogether, it's a necessary book. Frank's insistence that writing doesn't have to be long or formal to be good is a fine reminder for all of us, and her book models that personal bias. Behind the bravado of the title are some very good ideas, some pretty bad ones, and an attitude toward writing as exploration more parents ought to adopt.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.