Here's What To Do
Have your child gather 2-3 things that belong to them, like toys or things they take to school everyday.
Explain to your child that you're going to practice informational writing, which is when you write facts about something.
Ask your child to tell them facts about each object. Write down everything that they say.
Read your child's 'writing' back to them. Pick one word from their description and have your child practice writing it.
Put PEER Into Action
Pause:
- Find a quiet place with a child-friendly surface for writing to prepare for this activity together.
Engage:
- "I'm going to write down all the facts you tell me about Teddy Bear. Pretend you're telling a friend who has never met Teddy Bear what he looks like."
- "Let's pick a word from your description that you can write down. Maybe, soft, fuzzy, or brown?"
Encourage:
- If your child isn't sure how to describe facts about an object, prompt them to talk about its size, shape, color, or texture. If they tell you an opinion, (like: "Teddy is the best bear in the whole world.") see if you can help them understand the difference between a fact and an opinion.
- Help your child spell the word they're writing down. Sound out each letter as you go. Like: "sss... what letter makes the sss sound? S, right!"
Reflect:
- Talk about how they just practiced informational writing, and how that's different from writing a story (narrative writing) or telling their opinion (what they think about something).
Not quite ready?
Have your child communicate their ideas about the object through a combination of drawing and sharing thoughts aloud.
Ready for more?
Pick one object and practice 'writing' (telling an adult to write for them) fiction about it, information about it, and an opinion about it.
As your child masters this skill...
They will understand how to 'write' informational text (that an adult writes down for them).