Humanising Language Teaching
Year 3; Issue 1; January 2001
WRITING FROM THE HEART -WRITING FOR THE SOUL
Encouraging children to wake up the writer within
Encouraging children to wake up the writer within
by Veronica de Andres
A project for the children of the world
"Children want to write. They want to write the first day they
attend school. This is no accident. Before they went to school
they marked up walls, pavements, newspapers with crayons,
chalk, pens or pencils… anything that makes a mark. The child's
marks say, I am."
Donald Graves. Writing: Teachers and Children at Work
Indeed children want to write, yet in how many schools does the teaching of writing destroy that desire? Needless to say this is also the case of many approaches in the language learning context. EFL teachers are often trained to find mistakes and therefore, unknowingly, they can kill the desire to write and the writer within. As Graves says "we ignore the child's urge to show what he knows. We underestimate that urge because of our lack of understanding of the writing process and what children do to control it… we place unnecessary road blocks in the way of their intentions. Then we say "How can we motivate them?"
I want to share with you a project that can motivate your students to become writers! It is an extension of a project I have started to implement with great success with students who are studying English as a foreign language. As such, I would like to share it with many more colleagues both from Argentina and from other countries in the world.
In Argentina the project has been launched not only at school level but also at one of our most prestigious Colleges of Education, J.V.Gonzalez, with Mercedes Moore, lecturer of Methodology in ELT. Spain has shown great interest in participating in this project too, through the enthusiastic encouragement of Dr Jane Arnold, from the University of Seville, who shared this idea with teachers in Italy at the LEND Portonovo 2000 Conference: Humanism and Language Teaching. I would like to invite any readers who would be interested in participating in this experience to send me stories written by their students in the way I outline below. I will make a selection of these stories to send to Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, who has already expressed an interest in the project. I know your students will benefit from this project enormously. Not only will you help them to learn English, but also, and even more importantly, you will contribute to awakening the writer in them, and to developing their self-esteem. All you need to participate is to experience the techniques described below, and above all, to work with an open heart, having confidence in yourself and in your students. The books that I have used for this experience are Chicken Soup for the Soul stories, basically because Jack Canfield's books combine three key elements: the stories are short, they have a wonderful message based on values and they are authentic (not written for language learners, not basic readers, real books for real people). Of course there are many other elements. Chicken Soup for the Soul is an anthology in itself: different styles, different authors, different subjects are presented.
On reading these stories your students will gain many insights: variety, celebration of differences, extraordinary vocabulary and all this within a frame of stories that teach important concepts such as: love, friendship, parenting, courage, to name but a few… After the input phase (being "marinated" in the stories) the teacher together with the students can select some stories or poems to be used as a model for the students to re-create, incorporating some changes: e.g. the beginning, the ending, the characters, setting, conflict, attempts to solve the conflict, how it was solved, some words, some ideas.
The steps I have designed to follow are:
1) Pre-teach critical vocabulary (key words that would hinder comprehension) by means of games.
2) Read the piece of writing in different ways
3) Start the following class with the writing process, following these steps
a. pre-writing (brainstorming ideas, being marinated in very good examples of
writing, discussing different possibilities),
b. Drafting: preparation of the initial text) Revising: checking clarity and style,
discussing with peers and teacher
c. Editing: checking the draft for spelling, grammar and punctuation and finally
d. Publishing: or the sharing of the written work with others.
As a pilot experience, I guided a teacher from a 5th grade class (children aged 10) to conduct this experiment and … it worked wonders. Absolute wonders! She chose a story From Chicken Soup for the Soul (book 1) "All I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten" by Fulgham. The children in her class were a mixture of beginners, elementary and a few of lower intermediate level. The children completed the process in a month, working on their "writing project", for an hour twice a week. And they just loved it! According to the teacher they were very enthused about the idea of going back to their drafts and "polishing" what they had written. When I read the final copies I was in awe.
At the moment I am monitoring this process with many other teachers in Argentina who are working on other stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul. The project is becoming more exciting and meaningful as more teachers are putting it into practice. Right now we have a sampling of writings from EFL students that range from 6 to 52 years old. We are witnessing "miracles" with this project, absolutely unexpected outcomes that are far beyond our wildest dreams, like the poem written by Sofia, aged 7.
Like the case of Santiago, a seven year old boy in first grade who could not read or write in his mother tongue (was considered illiterate) but who started to "read" the poem "On Love" from Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul and then wrote his first own poem on Love and in English!
Like the girl diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder who would never do any intellectual task that demanded her concentration but who after working with "My Declaration of Self-Esteem" from Chicken Soup for the Soul (book 1) could write in English the first lines of very touching story.
Like the brilliant boy from 6th grade who, though doing very well academically, was reluctant to show his feelings and emotions but who wrote a most moving piece also based on "My Declaration of Self-Esteem"; like the case of Nestor, aged 52, a business man at elementary level who was in awe when he re-read what he had written in English and who told his teacher that he felt as if he could write a whole book; like Camila, age 6, who not only wrote some lines about Love in English but a whole story…
We believe that the project is interesting because it combines three major points:
- Self-esteem: the children are reading stories that help build and strengthen their self-esteem. They are writing as writers not as students doing an assignment for a teacher; of course this helps build their self-esteem too. They can recognise and appreciate their achievement, and bringing learners to real achievement is the best way to develop self-esteem in the classroom.
- Whole Language Approach: which means reading real books not basic readers and following the steps of the natural writing process, and last but not least…
- Language learning: it is amazing to see how the students "borrow" words and style from outstanding authors and therefore learn language at great speed!
After some months of implementing this project in different schools with several teachers I have come to the conclusion that the TEACHERS are the decisive element in the success of this project. The teachers' attitude more than their knowledge, their flexibility more than their accuracy, their open hearts more than a perfect step by step plan made the project work so well.
They are the ones who have the "why-not attitude" when others say "why". They are the ones that can produce the totally unexpected outcomes that we have seen. When reading the final copies of their students' work there seemed to be no beginners. It was as if the seemingly clear cut boundaries that separate an elementary, an intermediate or an advanced student faded away. As if the age difference lost is importance…
Perhaps it is too early to conclude that such barriers can be totally broken down. Yet I am sure that what has allowed these teachers to reach so far was not only the technique outlined above, but their loving attitude when implementing it. That is why I invite you to join me in this experiment remembering that step number one, is to focus on your heart.
An open heart produces an open mind. An open heart is ready to wait, to listen, to discover, to cope with frustration and uncertainty. An open heart conveys a "why-not" attitude when facing the unknown and a "what if " attitude when things go wrong. Not all students will be enthused with the project at once, some may show resistance or indifference. Like the case of Juani, aged 10, who was at first totally reluctant to write a line when working on his own declaration for self-esteem (based on Virginia Satir's text). With the loving attitude of his teacher, who guided him to find his own voice, on his second draft Juani wrote the following:
"I am me.
My arm, my leg, my head.
If it weren't for me,
they would only be an arm, a leg, a head.
I join them and I unite them.
People force me to do things that I don't want to do
And they force me to improve my handwriting.
They force my head, my arm and my leg"
As an additional bonus, if you would like to add another element of joy to your work, before conducting the experiment you could ask your students to write about a subject of their choice following the traditional product approach to writing. Keep that sample. Then, with an open heart, ask them to write according to the guidelines stated above: marinate them in the finest stories you can find in Chicken Soup for the Soul and have them write following the steps of the writing process. Compare the two samples and rejoice.
This is what happens when children write from their hearts and for their souls!
Effectively-Affectively yours
Veronica de Andres
Executive Board Member of the International Council for Self-Esteem
Chair of SEAL-Argentina
Co-Director of WINGS Educational Consultancy
Arcos 1559, CP: 1426
Buenos Aires, Argentina
E-mail: veronicawings@fibertel.com.ar
http://www.newrenaissance.ibs.ee/veronica/
http://www.newrenaissance.ibs.ee/SEAL-Argentina
SOME MORE SAMPLES
Based on "All I ever need to know I learnt in Kindergarten", Stefi age 12, on her FIRST DRAFT she wrote
"In childhood people learn life´s most important lessons. I learnt how to share everything, to play fair, to be respectful, and thankful of what I have; to apologise, to be happy, to have a good and healthy life and to love. I learnt that everyday we need to draw, paint, sing, dance, play, work and to feel free to have that good and healthy life most of us deserve. I learnt that everything, beautiful or not ends. I also learnt that a better world can be possible and everything people need is to fly. I´m sure it wouldn´t be the same without that.People should have a policy with basic lessons that we learn from life, just to remember and practice them. In that way, we would have a better place."
And this was Martín´s (age 11) second draft based on Virginia Satir´s text "My declaration of Self-Esteem" also from Chicken Soup for the Soul.
" I can courageously and hopefully look for the solutions to the puzzles, but I just know that I don´t know anything. Sometimes I feel that I´m just a thought that travels through the roads of the mind, or a grain of sand in the beach of the world. A grain of sand into a society that always is forcing it to imporve. Usually, I feel like a little and insignificant drop of water, but if a lot of drops of water work together, we can make a gigantic wave.
I can become acquainted with me, the society, the nature and all the things that are around me. I am me and I am okay."
And finally, a sample from Néstor, age 52 who is an EFL student at Elementary Level. Based on "My Declaration of Self-Esteem" this is what he wrote on his second draft:
"I am the starting point.My experience is conditioned by the knowledge of me.Then I can use all my senses to grasp the world around me. The experience is important. Never we swim twice in the same river. In our life sometimes we think a thing and we do another thing. Experience can change our thoughts. I can use all my senses to grasp the world around meI can hear and feel the music of my actions. I should have my own music in life"
The stories that I recommend from Chicken Soup for the Soul (Book 1) because I find they are easy to use as models.
- One at a time by Jack Candield and Mark V. Hansen
- My declaration of self-esteem by Virginia Satir
- Response/ability by Bernard Gunther
- The Rules for Being Human by Cherie Carter-Scott
- Children Learn What They Live by Dorothy L. Nolte
- A Mom´s Life by Delia Ephron
- On Parenting by Kahlil Gibran
- On Learning by Richard Bach
- You are a marvel by Pablo Casals
- All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
- We Learn by Doing, b John Holt
- Risking by Patty Hansen
- Don´t be afraid to fail, United Technologies Corporation
- For me to be more creative I´m waiting for..David Campbell
- A creed for those who have suffered by Roy Campanella
- If I had to my life to live over by Nadine Satir
From Chicken Soup for the Kid´s Soul
- On Friendship by Harmony Davis (age 14)
- Dreams of the children, Jody Suzanne Waitzman (age 13)
- Overcoming Obstacles by Jereme Durkin
- On Choices by Kendra Batch, age 12 (this one could be re-created by a true beginner)
- Achieving Dreams by Jennifer Genereux Davis
- Believe in Yourself by Jillian K. Hunt
- To be enormously gorgeous by Carla O´Brien (this one is SUPER!)
- On Love by Stephanie Lee, age 11
