When students develop their voice, their writing takes a giant leap forward. When parents are helping their child with a writing assignment, they can also help their eighth grader with their writing voice. Here’s how.
Video transcript
“In 8th grade, I would hope a student is fluid enough in their writing so that they’re able to have a voice. This may not happen with all eight graders yet. But when we hear the voice, we can read a piece of literature that the student wrote and know, ‘Oh this is this student. I can hear their voice.’ A lot of it is vocabulary choice. A lot of it is style. And a lot of it is especially like a narrative, coming from the heart and from the experiences of the child. So we always want really to encourage that. Don’t pick at every little idea. Every little mistake. You freeze the child. You hear something that may be glaring, say, ‘Can you explain this a little bit to me? Can you show/tell me exactly what you mean by it?’ And listen to their words and then let them use their words. This is how you get voice. This is the beginning of voice. It’s freedom.”
