Gotta Start Somewhere

Teaching children to write can feel incredibly overwhelming at times. We painstakingly explore ways to generate workable ideas, create characters, craft a clever lead, and a satisfying conclusion, inject natural-sounding dialogue, and follow a sensible plot line. Sometimes students' views of the process and mine don't quite match.

Today a student brought me her story:

ONCE THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL AND HER DAD THAT LIVED IN A HOUSE BUT THE LITTLE GIRLS MOM DIED SO THEN THE LITTLE GIRL AND HER DAD WERE SAD TO LIVE IN THE HOUSE WHERE THE LITTLE GIRLS MOM AND THE DADS WIFE HAD DIED.

"Ok," I replied after she read it aloud. "You've got a good idea to start with there. Why don't we--" I started to consider how best to guide her.

"Oh, don't worry," she replied. "I'm only half done!"