The Middle School Maze V: Learn to Write Early

expository writing

The middle school years are an exciting turning point during which students start to develop tangible academic skills.

Middle school patterns set the stage for long-term academic interests and intellectual passion. Between 11-15, the imagination is ripe, unfiltered, curious…It's prime time to start writing with gusto and abandon. 

Alongside mathematics and the social sciences, middle schools will introduce writing in a more structured way. Students are exposed to grammar, structure, syntax and new vocabulary. But notably, writing in middle school should be fun, fanciful and non-formulaic. Down the line, students will benefit from the opportunity to free write, draft short stories, and make their imaginations come to life on paper. If you equip your middle school student with strong writing skills now, he or she won't be looking for a writing tutor when college papers start piling up. 

With a few building blocks, a middle-school student’s writing can be transformed from odd scribbles into something exciting, something that truly reflects the scope of a 6th graders of imagination.

Want to give your middle school child a leg up in his or her writing skills? And keep it fun all the while? Encourage your child to start summer writing journal:

- The journal serves as a diary that records all of the sights, sounds, feelings that your middle school child experiences.

- Understand the difference between true “narration” and idle “commentary”. Introduce your child to metaphors, similes, and personification. These important literary devices will change writing from commentary to narration.

- The writing journal a great way to keep any middle schooler busy in transit, at the beach, on a rainy day. 

But wait a second…What do you mean by “narration” versus “commentary”?

Narration consists of abstract expression in writing  - either through descriptive prose or poetry that does more than just report literal events. By using metaphors and similes, writing comes to life.

Your child has probably been using metaphor, simile, and personification for a while now, they just don't know it. Let’s review these common literary devices before going any further:

  • Metaphor: comparing two dissimilar things as though one is actually the other, as in “Your eyes are emeralds.” Does your child have bright green eyes that look like jewels? Maybe not quite, but by linking the two, you send a clear message: your eyes look beautiful and bright.
  • Simile: comparing two dissimilar things using “like” or “as.” For instance, “He’s as tired as a sloth”.
  • Personification: giving human qualities to a non-human. In the English Nursery Rhyme,  the spoon, fiddle, cat and cow become actors. They take on the roles that a human being normally enacts:

Hey diddle diddle,
The Cat and the fiddle,
The Cow jumped over the moon,
The little Dog laughed to see such sport,
And the Dish ran away with the Spoon.  

Now give it a go! It’s only July…by the end of August, your child maybe a bonafide writer and you’ll come away with a compelling chronicle of the hot summer months.

 

 

Sophie holds an MPA in Public Administration from NYU and a BA in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College. Outside of teaching, Sophie has spent her career working at the intersection of the public, private and nonprofit sectors to promote access to healthcare, education and employment.

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