Archive for the ‘Young Writers’ Category

Book Review: The Animal Dialogues

Craig Childs’ book, The Animal Dialogues (Uncommon Encounters in the Wild), is an insightful look at how a naturalist spends his free time. Liam, who is our animal-nut around these parts, is lapping up the delightful (and, at times, downright scary) encounters between human and beast.

Childs divides the book into chapters that each contains a single animal. He then details the intersection between his curiosity and the animal’s natural instincts… often to the point where you wonder: What on earth were you thinking, Craig?

What makes this book such a delightful choice for you and your kids is… you guessed it: the writing. Childs is a natural story-teller. He grabs you by the shirt-collar and holds you against the wall until your pulse finally slackens as he demonstrates his improbable escapes.

Here’s a sample of his terrific writing:

“The grizzly bear is six to eight hundred pounds of smugness. It has no need to hide. If it were a person, it would laugh loudly in quiet restaurants, boastfully wear the wrong clothes for special occasions, and probably play hockey. It would also pursue secret solitude, disappearing for weeks on end while people were expecting it at upcoming meetings. At the moment, it was bold and aloof, making sure we knew we were being watched, but keeping its distance.”

The first section includes the following animals:

Bear
Coyote
Mountain Lion
Dog
Raccoon
Cat and Mouse (A hilarious chapter! We couldn’t stop laughing.)
Jaguar

He continues with birds (raptors!), moutain animals like elk and bighorn sheep, and then runs through the gamut of unusual fellows such as rattlesnakes, rainbow trout and even mosquitoes. His final ode is to the most complex beast of all: the human.

Childs is frequently a guest on NPR so you may have heard him share his bits of naturalistic advice and wisdom there. More than anything, I find this to be a perfect read-aloud. Each chapter has suspense and closure. You can read each one over a several month period, one per week, or read them all in a row (like we are).

Enjoy!

Posted in General, Living Literature, Young Writers | 5 Comments »

Thank you notes

Writing thank you notesImage by eren {sea+prairie}

Hi Julie,

I’ve only just started reading my Writer’s Jungle so perhaps this question is already addressed somewhere in there.

How do I help my 10yo son improve his vocabulary choices while writing? He is a voracious reader and can comprehend vocabulary words way above grade level. However, pulling descriptive words out of him during writing is another story.

Here is how a recent session writing thank you notes went:

(Proofreading) “The (gift) is fun. You are very nice.”

Me: Hmmm…I think you can select words that pack a more descriptive punch. Let’s think of another word other than “fun”.

Him: Uhhh…okay, how about “good”?

Me: Well, “good” is also a bland word. Let’s think of the (gift). What words can you use to describe it?

Him: Fun. Good. Nice.

Me: Let’s do this…get the Synonym Finder and we will look up a new word.

Him: (Big Sigh, rolling eyes) NOOOOO! I want to use the word “fun”!

Me: Okay, let’s move on. How about finding a replacement for the word “nice”. (In my mind, I am thinking of words like “generous”, “thoughtful”, “kind”, etc.)

Him: Uhhhh….I can’t think of anything.

Me: You can’t think of anything?

Him: Okay, how about “good”?

And so on…

Help! Do you have any tips for me?

Thanks,
Linda

—

Hi Linda!

Your request likely feels like a very big challenge to your son as he is not thinking in specifics but vague generalities.

The best thank you notes tell a little anecdote. So rather than asking him for a summary word, ask him about playing with the gift. What did he do the first time he played or did he have a big win or did he beat the computer or whatever?

Help him to remember the thing as it is used, not as it is described in terms of adjectives.

Fun is a great place to start. Now help him to show the fun he had (rather than summarizing it).

How about:

Thanks for the really fun gift! My brother and I played with it for four hours. I ________ until my brother tried to _________ and then right when I thought I would lose I __________ and whipped his butt.

Something like that.

The point is, don’t write about the gift in general. Try to put it in a specific context and the words will more likely come forth.

Also, words like generous, thoughtful, kind are parent words. Nice is a meaningless word. So perhaps you can help him to say what he really means:

I love that you knew to get me that gift because….

Or:

It’s so cool that you would buy me the thing I’ve been wanting forever…

That kind of thing rather than generalizations.

I hope that helps a bit!
Julie

—

Hi Julie,

Your tips helped!

Here is his latest thank you:

Thank you for the Key Card Door Alarm. I rigged it to my drawer. I put my favorite Christmas presents in the drawer. Now they are safe from sneaky monkeys!

I love you very much!

What I love about it is that it captures a bit of his personality, which is what Brave Writer is all about!

Thanks, again!
Linda

Posted in Activities, Brave Writer Philosophy, Email, Young Writers | 2 Comments »

How to Build a Snowman in Ten Easy Steps

At the beginning of September we reviewed some ideas together in The Writer’s Jungle. You will see which one inspired this piece… (There’s a writing sample in The Writer’s Jungle called “How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich” on which this piece is based.) The other day, Kimberly was in the bathroom. She rarely goes into the bathroom without a book or at least something to do. I think she thinks she can spend an undefined amount of time on the potty, well, because after all, she can’t help that she has to go! Well, this time she had gone in without a book and yelled to her sister, “Hey, Nicole! Bring me a piece of paper and a pencil and a book to write on!” I was only vaguely aware of what was going on.

It was only another trip to the bathroom for my bookworm, so I didn’t take much notice. I didn’t see the result of that trip until a couple of days later when she showed me what she had jotted down. I laughed. I enjoyed seeing my daughter on the paper. I was reading silently, but hearing her voice saying what I was reading. I was impressed that she would do this on her own and is finding ways to enjoy writing. She then typed it up and added all the flourishes to her work on the computer. She knows more about the computer than just about anyone in our home! She put together some PowerPoint presentations last year that were great, some academically inclined and some just for fun. She has produced some really great pieces of writing since KWB and since I have been able to learn so much through you and BW.

I was the one panicked at the beginning of the year about schedules and covering material. Since your responses in so many different ways, the blog, ScratchPad, personal responses from you and others and the One Thinging High School and the One Thing Copywork and Dictation course, things around here have changed SOOOO much for the better. My kids are much happier, they are learning more for learning’s sake and we are having fun doing it together.

Thanks so much for your inspiration and thoughtful teaching.

Sincerely,
Dona

How to Build a Snowman in
Ten Easy Steps
by Kimberly McGuire

1. Beg your mom to let you go outside when there is plenty of snow on the ground.

2. Put all your outdoor clothes on and then sulk and whine because your little brother has to come outside with you. (You know that he will want to help you build your snowman and that leads to…well…disaster.)

3. Go outside and start gathering lots of snow and form it into a big round ball. This will be the base of your masterpiece.

4. Throw snowballs at your brother to keep him from jumping on the base of your snowman. Also, threaten him that “I’ll tell Mom!”.

5. Gather more snow and form it into a slightly smaller ball than the base. (Do this while your little brother is tattling on you.)

6. Make the snowman’s head pretending to listen to your little brother telling you that Mom said to be nice and…blah…blah…blah…blah.

7. Be kind to your brother and let him help you. (Let him do all the scouting around for things-all the hard work.) Tell him he must find two pieces of coal, five round stones that are not big, two sticks, one large carrot and five more round stones.

8. Sit down and relax. Watch your brother, the slave, complete his mission.

9. Use the two pieces of coal for the snowman’s eyes, the five stones for his mouth, the two sticks for his arms, the carrot for his nose and the extra five stones for his buttons. Enjoy your snow sculpture (also known as a snowman)!

10. Never mind. Complain because your brother decided that your snowman looked ugly, and so he threw a fit and punched it until it toppled over!!!

Posted in Email, General, Young Writers | 5 Comments »