What are some tips to help my son improve his written narrations?
We’re in Unit 12 of Heart of Dakota’s (HOD’s) Resurrection to Reformation (RTR) this week. My son is 13 and not a writer, but he’s trying. However, he doesn’t “get” it. Today for his written narration he was writing conversations and all kinds of things that were in the chapter. Some of it I think he was copying. I’m going to go through and read it myself and write my own the way *I* would do it. My daughters tend to do so much better with writing pretty naturally. I need to figure out how to tell my son to be “concise” and narrow it all down. He keeps saying how many sentences he’s supposed to write. It seems like he just doesn’t know how to get enough sentences. He is new to written narrations. What tips do you have to help my son with his written narrations?
Sincerely,
“Ms. Please Help My Son Improve His Written Narrations”
Dear “Ms. Please Help My Son Improve His Written Narrations,”
Thanks for sharing about your son! In written narrations, conversations should not be copied word for word. However, it is just fine for children to include some dialogue in their narrations. Narration is a personal thing and is meant to be a reflection of what the child drew out from the reading. So, while you may be wanting a summary of the reading (unless it is specifically assigned as a summary narration), there are many different types of narrations and all are acceptable.
They do not need to be done a certain way.
One thing that you do not want to do is to give your son the impression that a written narration must be done a certain way. It will leave him even more uncertain and keep him trying to write the way you perceive that a narration should be done. This is no different than writing responses to please the teacher in the classroom and is something we definitely want to get away from doing in the home setting (especially when doing written narrations)!
So, my first caution to you is to not make your son feel like he is doing it wrong! Accept his written responses. Be sure to go over the Written Narration Tips (Teacher’s List) in the Appendix. Then, go over his list right behind that. These really help in doing written narrations and will give him that sense of purpose you feel he is missing. Make sure to also read “A Few Notes on the Transition to Written Narrations” in the Appendix as well.
They may vary from week to week.
Next, understand that his written narrations may vary quite a bit from week to week. For example, one week he may summarize more, the next week he may go into detail relating just one event that really struck him from the reading, the next week he may give you a detailed description of a person from the reading including dialogue, the next week he may interject some opinion within the narration. All of these are acceptable!
You can help him a bit by telling him to think about narrating as telling back a movie that he has seen to someone who has never seen it. Think how he would go about doing that and then apply that same strategy to narrating. Honestly, the more he orally narrates, the more shape his written narrations will take. It isn’t unusual when being new to written narrations to “try on” various styles and ways of doing it. This is what writers do, and it is how they eventually find their own style.
Begin with your son trying to write a paragraph, as he is new to written narrations.
For now, since your son is new to written narrations, don’t worry about hitting the exact number of sentences. Just try to have him write a paragraph at first. Explain to your son that he needs to retell in his own words as much as possible what he remembered from the story. It’s alright if the sentences seem a bit disjointed for now, as far as how they go together.
To demonstrate the process, you could have him tell you what he remembered right after reading and write the sentences as he says them (so he can see them appearing on paper coming right from his mind). This will help him see that it is truly just a retelling of what he is thinking… except on paper. Try not to have him look back so much at the text after reading as that may jumble up what he recalls in his mind. Just go with what he can remember right away, so he doesn’t get bogged down including all of the facts and details.
Later, he can move toward looking back over the text and including important things. This is a later narration stage. Just have him refer to the text for names and places or spellings for now. It’s good to know that we all go through this stage as we try to figure out what written narration looks like! You are not alone!
Use the Written Narration Tips in the Appendix of the guide.
Finally, I would encourage you one more time to read over the Written Narration Tips (Teacher’s List) and the lists that follow in the RTR Appendix. This will help give you some guidance. Then, share the movie retelling example and let him write. Withhold judgment as to the narration’s content, but do follow the Written Narration Skills list in the Appendix to help him edit the narration.
As time passes, you will see improvement. But, if you make this a teacher-pleaser assignment with one right way you are seeking, he will not come into his own as a narrator because you will have changed the assignment’s original intention. So, head to the Appendix right away for much needed help! It is there to encourage you in this endeavor!
Blessings,
Carrie
