If all of the rehearsal techniques are in place early on, then the brain and the body are well prepared for a brilliant written performance! If the rehearsal is neglected, the performance is sure to suffer. Now that the student author has rehearsed, writing may begin! So the next time early primary teachers ask what they can do to help students learn how to write you can emphasize the extremely important role they play. For it is they who lay the foundation for all the years to come! If it is not strong, it will surely not endure the test of time. Thus, teachers down the road will be correcting a weak foundation instead of decorating the house with fancy curtains!
The Stage is Now Set for Teaching Writing…….
“Congratulations! YOU have just been chosen to be a part of a performance on a Broadway stage! The performance is tonight! Everybody will be here to see how talented you are. Sure, some people will be here to see other performers, but your work will be on display the whole time. So do your best. I know you can do it. Let’s get started…”
I would be scared beyond belief if these words had just been spoken to me. I have always been partial to rehearsing before performing in front of people. Especially if that performance is a story that I am writing that will be displayed in the hallway for Open House! Every time a student picks up a pencil and meets it to paper, that should be considered a performance. If we treat it as such, then the time for rehearsal will be deemed important, and therefore the performance will shine!
The written performance begins with letters, words, sentences, and personal pride. Foster the author’s emerging compositions by teaching in-depth idea development. Add all of that together, and a budding author is born! Salt it with emotional voice and amazing lexicon, and an incredible author is revealed in the debut written performance of a lifetime! Couple that performance with a few more successful performances, and talent is realized. When this writing talent is fostered, confidence grows. Thus the end result is not only a great score on the state writing test, but a passion for writing that no one can ever take away. This passion will then make that writing test a place to display talent, not a source of stress and fear! So let’s explore the rest of this amazing journey called written communication!