ShortCuts in This Guide

• Boost My Kid's Writing Skills
  Whether your kid is in middle school or high school, writing is important in almost all classes. Help improve kids’ writing skills using the following activities:
  

  • Write often. As with any skill, writing gets better the more we do it. Let your kids see you write often and encourage them to write often, too. At-home writing might include emails, instant messaging, thank-you notes, scrapbook descriptions, diaries, and what’s-for-dinner notes.
  • Find different audiences. We write differently for each audience. Encourage kids to expand their range and abilities by writing for many different audiences. They could try a letter to the editor or to a legislator, a silly story for a younger sibling, or a “list of ten” to cheer up a sick friend.
  • Have fun. Language play and writing can be fun. Have fun with language yourself and share that sense of play with your teenager. Point out new words and phrases you come across in the newspaper or on the radio; share favorite song lyrics; get creative in naming a new pet or writing humorous gift tags or cards.
  • Support your budding writer. If your child chooses to share some writing with you, point out specifically what you like best about the piece. Rejoice in effort, delight in ideas, and resist the temptation to be critical. Maybe you’ll want to ask them to read the piece aloud. Feel free to ask questions about parts that aren’t clear, but leave the answering of those questions to your child. Make it clear that you are always interested in reading any writings that he wants to share with you.
  • Read. While it’s true we learn to write by writing, we also learn to write by reading. Offer your kids a wide variety of opportunities to read, both educational and entertaining, and pass on your own favorite authors, novels, and magazines to show them you’re a reader, too. Talk about those things you’ve read.
  • Explore. The funny thing about writing is that it actually helps the writer think. Encourage your child to use writing to think more deeply about life—questions, problems, difficult assignments, hobbies, and topics she wants to learn more about.
  • Breaking Writer’s Block. We all have trouble getting started once in a while. If this happens to your young writer suggest he try brainstorming, jotting lists of ideas, or talking through his thoughts with you or a friend. Sometimes just spending 15 minutes writing anything and everything (including “I don’t know what to write.”) loosens up the very ideas needed for the piece.
  • Take ownership. Good writers know how to make any topic their own. They do that in the way they organize their ideas, in the examples they choose, and in the angle, as well as by drawing from their own experiences. Encourage your teen to find ways to make the assigned topic his own.
  • Edit and revise. Writing is a process of developing and drafting ideas, then revising, and, finally, editing for correct grammar and spelling. Help your kid see the value of clarifying ideas, drafting, and revising before tweaking the mechanics like spelling and punctuation.
  • Keep a notebook. Provide a special writing folder or notebook for your kid and encourage him to save writings in it. Nothing can replace the good feeling of reading something we wrote months ago and rediscovering how good it is.

  
  
  Source: National Council of Teachers of English Guideline, used with permission from the NCTE.
  

• Boost My Kid's Writing Skills

  Whether your kid is in middle school or high school, writing is important in almost all classes. Help improve kids’ writing skills using the following activities:
  

  • Write often. As with any skill, writing gets better the more we do it. Let your kids see you write often and encourage them to write often, too. At-home writing might include emails, instant messaging, thank-you notes, scrapbook descriptions, diaries, and what’s-for-dinner notes.
  • Find different audiences. We write differently for each audience. Encourage kids to expand their range and abilities by writing for many different audiences. They could try a letter to the editor or to a legislator, a silly story for a younger sibling, or a “list of ten” to cheer up a sick friend.
  • Have fun. Language play and writing can be fun. Have fun with language yourself and share that sense of play with your teenager. Point out new words and phrases you come across in the newspaper or on the radio; share favorite song lyrics; get creative in naming a new pet or writing humorous gift tags or cards.
  • Support your budding writer. If your child chooses to share some writing with you, point out specifically what you like best about the piece. Rejoice in effort, delight in ideas, and resist the temptation to be critical. Maybe you’ll want to ask them to read the piece aloud. Feel free to ask questions about parts that aren’t clear, but leave the answering of those questions to your child. Make it clear that you are always interested in reading any writings that he wants to share with you.
  • Read. While it’s true we learn to write by writing, we also learn to write by reading. Offer your kids a wide variety of opportunities to read, both educational and entertaining, and pass on your own favorite authors, novels, and magazines to show them you’re a reader, too. Talk about those things you’ve read.
  • Explore. The funny thing about writing is that it actually helps the writer think. Encourage your child to use writing to think more deeply about life—questions, problems, difficult assignments, hobbies, and topics she wants to learn more about.
  • Breaking Writer’s Block. We all have trouble getting started once in a while. If this happens to your young writer suggest he try brainstorming, jotting lists of ideas, or talking through his thoughts with you or a friend. Sometimes just spending 15 minutes writing anything and everything (including “I don’t know what to write.”) loosens up the very ideas needed for the piece.
  • Take ownership. Good writers know how to make any topic their own. They do that in the way they organize their ideas, in the examples they choose, and in the angle, as well as by drawing from their own experiences. Encourage your teen to find ways to make the assigned topic his own.
  • Edit and revise. Writing is a process of developing and drafting ideas, then revising, and, finally, editing for correct grammar and spelling. Help your kid see the value of clarifying ideas, drafting, and revising before tweaking the mechanics like spelling and punctuation.
  • Keep a notebook. Provide a special writing folder or notebook for your kid and encourage him to save writings in it. Nothing can replace the good feeling of reading something we wrote months ago and rediscovering how good it is.

  
  
  Source: National Council of Teachers of English Guideline, used with permission from the NCTE.
  
• Help Find Topic Ideas for My Teen's Writing Assignments
  Sometimes the most difficult part of a teen’s writing assignment is figuring out what to write about. If your teen needs essay writing help, you can point them in the right direction with some of these topic idea generators.
  

  Use Graphic Organizer Writing Tools

  Most graphic organizers are based on mind mapping. Mind maps are diagrams that are used to pull ideas out of a central key word. They can be used for teaching creative thinking skills, for brainstorming ideas, to help classify ideas, and to generate detail for writing.
  
  While there are many types of mind maps and graphic organizer writing tools, try this one for starters: Have your teen write a word at the top of a paper. The word should be related to the general subject that he is supposed to be writing about (for example: American colonial history, chemical reactions, literary heroines in the 15th century). Then have her draw four lines down from it and write four smaller topics (for example: Boston Tea Party, Minutemen, Native American relations, trapping and trade). Then have them choose the one topic that interests them the most and draw three more lines out that breaks the subject down further. Have them continue this until they have a topic that is focused and specific. A common problem is choosing topics that are too broad for a typical school writing assignment.
  

  Use Brainstorming Techniques

  There are several brainstorming techniques that can be used to help a teen generate topics for a writing assignment. Three useful ones include:
  
  

  • Listing. Select an idea or key term related to the writing assignment. As quickly as possible, list as many items or words that relate to that topic. Then go back and pick items that might be useful as a topic idea.
  • Freewriting. Using an egg timer or a cell phone alarm, set a short time limit such as 10 or 15 minutes. Have your student write whatever comes to mind on the topic at hand. Have her put the writing away for a little while and then come back to it to pick out ideas that could be used as a topic.
  • Reference Books. Ask your teen to write key ideas or terms from the writing assignment. Then have her use dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, or any handy reference work related to the topic to randomly look for entries that trigger useful ideas. This can also work with an Internet search engine by typing in key related terms.

  Pack a Time Capsule for Teen Writing Topics

  Ask your teen what she would put in a time capsule that would be opened 20 years from now that would show the future what life is like now. Then have her look at the list of items and write a short paragraph about why that item would be included. Suggest that she expand upon one of those paragraphs for a full-length writing assignment that explores why something is important.
  

  Turn to Photo Albums for Teens with a Visual Learning Style

  Pull out a photo album or a coffee table art book. Or have your student type a word relating to the subject into Google and choose the “images” results. Encourage him to look through the images and write two or three words per image. Tell him to see whether he can develop topic ideas from the pictures. For example, a photo of someone playing the saxophone might inspire them to think of such topics as the history of jazz, how music has helped New Orleans recover from Katrina, music therapy techniques, or the latest advances in acoustics technology.
  

  Turn on the iPod for a Teen with an Auditory Learning Style

  Have your teen turn on her music player and listen to two or three of her favorite songs. Do the lyrics inspire any topic that interests her enough to write about? Does it remind her of an event or a place?
  

  Play “What If?” for High School Writing Assignments

  Engage in a back-and-forth game of “what if?” with your teen. Ask your teen a question that asks what he would do, where she would go, or who he would want to be. Be as creative and outlandish as you want. Then let your teen ask you a question that starts the same way. Try to ask topics that are associated with the general subject about which the student has to write. So, for example, if your student is supposed to write a paper on Shakespeare, you could ask questions like, “What would you do if you could rewrite any of Shakespeare’s plays?” “Which of Shakespeare’s villains would you want to go to an amusement park with? Why?” “What modern-day celebrity reminds you most of Portia?” After going back and forth a couple times, ask your teen which of the questions most sparked his interest. Can she think of a writing topic that could be developed from it?
  

  Get Your Teen Writing About Important Causes

  What does your teen care about? Are there political, social, or humanitarian causes that he is passionate about? Does she have a hobby that has long been a major part of her life? Encourage your teen to pick a topic that is related to a cause that is important to him.
  

  Get Essay Writing Help From Websites

  There are several Websites designed to help students come up with topic ideas. A few that you might find helpful include:
  
  

  • Enchanted Learning: Essays for Early Writers
  • About.com: 400 Writing Topics
    
  • Creative Writing Prompts
  • Write Source
    
  • Research Paper and Argument Topic Ideas
  • Animal Rights Activism: Ideas for Writing Assignments

• Help Find Topic Ideas for My Teen's Writing Assignments

  Sometimes the most difficult part of a teen’s writing assignment is figuring out what to write about. If your teen needs essay writing help, you can point them in the right direction with some of these topic idea generators.
  

  Use Graphic Organizer Writing Tools

  Most graphic organizers are based on mind mapping. Mind maps are diagrams that are used to pull ideas out of a central key word. They can be used for teaching creative thinking skills, for brainstorming ideas, to help classify ideas, and to generate detail for writing.
  
  While there are many types of mind maps and graphic organizer writing tools, try this one for starters: Have your teen write a word at the top of a paper. The word should be related to the general subject that he is supposed to be writing about (for example: American colonial history, chemical reactions, literary heroines in the 15th century). Then have her draw four lines down from it and write four smaller topics (for example: Boston Tea Party, Minutemen, Native American relations, trapping and trade). Then have them choose the one topic that interests them the most and draw three more lines out that breaks the subject down further. Have them continue this until they have a topic that is focused and specific. A common problem is choosing topics that are too broad for a typical school writing assignment.
  

  Use Brainstorming Techniques

  There are several brainstorming techniques that can be used to help a teen generate topics for a writing assignment. Three useful ones include:
  
  

  • Listing. Select an idea or key term related to the writing assignment. As quickly as possible, list as many items or words that relate to that topic. Then go back and pick items that might be useful as a topic idea.
  • Freewriting. Using an egg timer or a cell phone alarm, set a short time limit such as 10 or 15 minutes. Have your student write whatever comes to mind on the topic at hand. Have her put the writing away for a little while and then come back to it to pick out ideas that could be used as a topic.
  • Reference Books. Ask your teen to write key ideas or terms from the writing assignment. Then have her use dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, or any handy reference work related to the topic to randomly look for entries that trigger useful ideas. This can also work with an Internet search engine by typing in key related terms.

  Pack a Time Capsule for Teen Writing Topics

  Ask your teen what she would put in a time capsule that would be opened 20 years from now that would show the future what life is like now. Then have her look at the list of items and write a short paragraph about why that item would be included. Suggest that she expand upon one of those paragraphs for a full-length writing assignment that explores why something is important.
  

  Turn to Photo Albums for Teens with a Visual Learning Style

  Pull out a photo album or a coffee table art book. Or have your student type a word relating to the subject into Google and choose the “images” results. Encourage him to look through the images and write two or three words per image. Tell him to see whether he can develop topic ideas from the pictures. For example, a photo of someone playing the saxophone might inspire them to think of such topics as the history of jazz, how music has helped New Orleans recover from Katrina, music therapy techniques, or the latest advances in acoustics technology.
  

  Turn on the iPod for a Teen with an Auditory Learning Style

  Have your teen turn on her music player and listen to two or three of her favorite songs. Do the lyrics inspire any topic that interests her enough to write about? Does it remind her of an event or a place?
  

  Play “What If?” for High School Writing Assignments

  Engage in a back-and-forth game of “what if?” with your teen. Ask your teen a question that asks what he would do, where she would go, or who he would want to be. Be as creative and outlandish as you want. Then let your teen ask you a question that starts the same way. Try to ask topics that are associated with the general subject about which the student has to write. So, for example, if your student is supposed to write a paper on Shakespeare, you could ask questions like, “What would you do if you could rewrite any of Shakespeare’s plays?” “Which of Shakespeare’s villains would you want to go to an amusement park with? Why?” “What modern-day celebrity reminds you most of Portia?” After going back and forth a couple times, ask your teen which of the questions most sparked his interest. Can she think of a writing topic that could be developed from it?
  

  Get Your Teen Writing About Important Causes

  What does your teen care about? Are there political, social, or humanitarian causes that he is passionate about? Does she have a hobby that has long been a major part of her life? Encourage your teen to pick a topic that is related to a cause that is important to him.
  

  Get Essay Writing Help From Websites

  There are several Websites designed to help students come up with topic ideas. A few that you might find helpful include:
  
  

  • Enchanted Learning: Essays for Early Writers
  • About.com: 400 Writing Topics
    
  • Creative Writing Prompts
  • Write Source
    
  • Research Paper and Argument Topic Ideas
  • Animal Rights Activism: Ideas for Writing Assignments
• Improve Writing Skills with Fun Family Activities
  Writing doesn’t have to be a chore or dreaded homework when you are able to turn it into creative, fun family activities. Encourage a life-long love of writing by trying some of these family ideas in your home:
  

  The Family that Writes Together...Improves Writing Skills Together

  • Mutual Story Telling. Pick up a lined notebook or a notebook that has half a page of lines and half blank. Pick who will start and then give each person a day to write one page of a story. Then pass the notebook to the next family member who also gets a day to write a page that extends the story. Continue until the notebook is filled up. Younger children can be encouraged to write a few sentences and then draw a picture to illustrate the story. Everyone should try to use what others in the family have written to keep the story going.
  • Props Bag. Create a bag with various household props in it. These might include a ball, a wooden spoon, a candle, a wooden block, a paintbrush, a hat, or anything else that you can find. Give everyone a notebook. Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Then pull an object out of the bag and have everyone write a one-page story that incorporates that object. When the timer rings, have everyone read what they’ve written.
  • Parent Trap. What would happen if you and your child switched bodies for a day? What would each of you do? Pretend that you’ve done so and have each of you write about what happens during that day as you go through life as the other person.
  • Family Blog. Start a family blog to share information with relatives and friends. Give everyone access to it and try to have each family member write a blog entry once a week.

  Family Home Activities and Games Can Make Writing Fun

  • Scavenger Hunts. For rainy day fun, create a scavenger hunt that uses written clues. The clues can be straightforward, rhymed, or written as poems or riddles. You could even try a Haiku Hunt. Get everyone involved by having each family member write at least three clues.
  • Family Game Night. Add word games to your game closet and make a habit of playing them as a family night. Some examples include Boggle, Scrabble, Upwords, Sentence Champs, and Spelldown.
  • Scrapbooking. Create a photo album with one photo per page and take turns writing a paragraph about the photo.
  • The Play’s the Thing. Take a picture book that your child enjoys. Together, rewrite it as a play. You can then perform the play using puppets or the entire family.

  Writing with a Purpose Can Promote Creative Critical Thinking Skills

  • e-Writing. Get everyone used to traveling the information highway by sending each other emails and text messages. Model good writing by using complete sentences and good writing habits when emailing.
  • Praise Writing. When you’ve had a good customer service experience, write a joint thank-you letter praising the service with each family member contributing a paragraph.
  • Pretty Please. Next time your child wants you to buy her something, have her write a persuasive letter. The letter should state what she wants, the reasons why she wants it, and why you should buy it for her.
  • Family Reporter. Create a weekly family newspaper with family events being written as news stories. Talk about how to write stories that answer “who, what, where, when, why, and how.” Encourage each family member to write in the inverted pyramid style (most important/shocking fact first) and to have at least one quote per story.
  • Menu Planning. Have your child create a menu for a meal that you’re preparing. Have him describe each item in appetizing terms and include details about the cooking methods and ingredients.
  • Goal Writing. As a family, write individual goals. Work at making them SMART: Simple, measurable, achievable, repeatable, and trackable. Then write two or three steps that can be taken to reach that goal. Keep a written record of accomplishments that take each of you closer to your goals.

  Hide Writing Lessons in Short, Fun Activities

  • Metaphor Madness. Start a running game with daily metaphors. Start a sentence such as “I love you more than…” and have each person add a new ending to the sentence each day, such as “…a Goth teen loves black.” Encourage responses that are silly, unique, and creative.
  • Love Notes. Make a habit of writing each other little love notes that are hidden in various places in the house or in backpacks, lunchboxes, purses, etc. The notes can be short and encouraging. It’s writing that is sure to make family members smile.
  • You Write the Songs. Pick a favorite song together and write new lyrics for it. You can each pick a different song or work together by trading off verses. Sing the song together.

  Improve Writing Skills by Encouraging Story Writing

  • Story Starter. Create a box of story starters. Have your child randomly draw one of the story starters from the box and write an ending to the story. The level of detail can change with the age and ability of the child. An example might be: “On a high hill in the middle of a lonely village, there lived an old woman with fifty singing turtles. Every time a rainbow appeared in the southern sky, she and her turtles would trudge down the hill to put on a concert for the villagers. After one of these musical performances, a small boy came up to her and asked…”
  • Song Journal. Encourage your child to keep a song journal or diary. Instead of the usual diary in which the writer records the events of the day, start with a song and the lyrics that she heard that day. She can then write what that song reminds her of or makes her feel. How does the song inspire her?
  • Screenwriters R Us. Watch a television show together and then write your own episode together. Or create a new character to introduce to the show and have your child write the character’s backstory or a short biography of the character.
  • Video Game Review. Have your child write a review of a video game that he enjoys playing. The review should include a description of the game and the good points and bad points of it. For an older child, have her design a new video game and then write a description of it that would teach others how to play it.

• Improve Writing Skills with Fun Family Activities

  Writing doesn’t have to be a chore or dreaded homework when you are able to turn it into creative, fun family activities. Encourage a life-long love of writing by trying some of these family ideas in your home:
  

  The Family that Writes Together...Improves Writing Skills Together

  • Mutual Story Telling. Pick up a lined notebook or a notebook that has half a page of lines and half blank. Pick who will start and then give each person a day to write one page of a story. Then pass the notebook to the next family member who also gets a day to write a page that extends the story. Continue until the notebook is filled up. Younger children can be encouraged to write a few sentences and then draw a picture to illustrate the story. Everyone should try to use what others in the family have written to keep the story going.
  • Props Bag. Create a bag with various household props in it. These might include a ball, a wooden spoon, a candle, a wooden block, a paintbrush, a hat, or anything else that you can find. Give everyone a notebook. Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Then pull an object out of the bag and have everyone write a one-page story that incorporates that object. When the timer rings, have everyone read what they’ve written.
  • Parent Trap. What would happen if you and your child switched bodies for a day? What would each of you do? Pretend that you’ve done so and have each of you write about what happens during that day as you go through life as the other person.
  • Family Blog. Start a family blog to share information with relatives and friends. Give everyone access to it and try to have each family member write a blog entry once a week.

  Family Home Activities and Games Can Make Writing Fun

  • Scavenger Hunts. For rainy day fun, create a scavenger hunt that uses written clues. The clues can be straightforward, rhymed, or written as poems or riddles. You could even try a Haiku Hunt. Get everyone involved by having each family member write at least three clues.
  • Family Game Night. Add word games to your game closet and make a habit of playing them as a family night. Some examples include Boggle, Scrabble, Upwords, Sentence Champs, and Spelldown.
  • Scrapbooking. Create a photo album with one photo per page and take turns writing a paragraph about the photo.
  • The Play’s the Thing. Take a picture book that your child enjoys. Together, rewrite it as a play. You can then perform the play using puppets or the entire family.

  Writing with a Purpose Can Promote Creative Critical Thinking Skills

  • e-Writing. Get everyone used to traveling the information highway by sending each other emails and text messages. Model good writing by using complete sentences and good writing habits when emailing.
  • Praise Writing. When you’ve had a good customer service experience, write a joint thank-you letter praising the service with each family member contributing a paragraph.
  • Pretty Please. Next time your child wants you to buy her something, have her write a persuasive letter. The letter should state what she wants, the reasons why she wants it, and why you should buy it for her.
  • Family Reporter. Create a weekly family newspaper with family events being written as news stories. Talk about how to write stories that answer “who, what, where, when, why, and how.” Encourage each family member to write in the inverted pyramid style (most important/shocking fact first) and to have at least one quote per story.
  • Menu Planning. Have your child create a menu for a meal that you’re preparing. Have him describe each item in appetizing terms and include details about the cooking methods and ingredients.
  • Goal Writing. As a family, write individual goals. Work at making them SMART: Simple, measurable, achievable, repeatable, and trackable. Then write two or three steps that can be taken to reach that goal. Keep a written record of accomplishments that take each of you closer to your goals.

  Hide Writing Lessons in Short, Fun Activities

  • Metaphor Madness. Start a running game with daily metaphors. Start a sentence such as “I love you more than…” and have each person add a new ending to the sentence each day, such as “…a Goth teen loves black.” Encourage responses that are silly, unique, and creative.
  • Love Notes. Make a habit of writing each other little love notes that are hidden in various places in the house or in backpacks, lunchboxes, purses, etc. The notes can be short and encouraging. It’s writing that is sure to make family members smile.
  • You Write the Songs. Pick a favorite song together and write new lyrics for it. You can each pick a different song or work together by trading off verses. Sing the song together.

  Improve Writing Skills by Encouraging Story Writing

  • Story Starter. Create a box of story starters. Have your child randomly draw one of the story starters from the box and write an ending to the story. The level of detail can change with the age and ability of the child. An example might be: “On a high hill in the middle of a lonely village, there lived an old woman with fifty singing turtles. Every time a rainbow appeared in the southern sky, she and her turtles would trudge down the hill to put on a concert for the villagers. After one of these musical performances, a small boy came up to her and asked…”
  • Song Journal. Encourage your child to keep a song journal or diary. Instead of the usual diary in which the writer records the events of the day, start with a song and the lyrics that she heard that day. She can then write what that song reminds her of or makes her feel. How does the song inspire her?
  • Screenwriters R Us. Watch a television show together and then write your own episode together. Or create a new character to introduce to the show and have your child write the character’s backstory or a short biography of the character.
  • Video Game Review. Have your child write a review of a video game that he enjoys playing. The review should include a description of the game and the good points and bad points of it. For an older child, have her design a new video game and then write a description of it that would teach others how to play it.
• Help My Teen Edit and Revise Writing Assignments
  Once your teen has written a first draft, you can go through these revision steps together, or complete them separately and compare your results as a way of boosting your teen’s writing skills. Remind your teen that a marked-up draft is a map that helps take a writing assignment from good to great!
  

  • Think about the needs of the audience. Before editing a piece of writing, ask yourself who will be reading it. Is it intended for the general public? If so, technical terms should be defined in plain English. If the audience is made up of scientists, you may not need to explain scientific terms as completely as you would for a general audience.
  • Read the draft aloud slowly and carefully. It’s the best way to catch mistakes and find problems. Word processing software can make even the worst writing look good. But you’ll know that the writing is good when it sounds good. If you stumble over a word or paragraph when you read it aloud, you probably need to rewrite it. Choose a simple, direct word over a multi-syllable “academic-sounding” word whenever you can. Changing word order can make sentences read more smoothly.
  • Pay attention to organization. Does information flow logically or do you lose the thread of the argument? Adding paragraph headings can help make the paper clearer, as can writing transition words and phrases (such as, therefore, in order to, as a result, to sum up, in conclusion).
  • Make sure all paragraphs are complete. Does each paragraph have a main idea, and do all the sentences in the paragraph support, or tell more about, that idea?
  • Look for places where you can add or subtract details. For example, an essay describing why your dog is your best friend probably doesn’t need a description of the town you live in. On the other hand, if you haven’t included a physical description of the dog, the reader might lose interest in your story.
  • Pay attention to the details. Replace clichés (fairy-tale ending, thinking outside the box, win-win situation), eliminate phrases that don’t say anything (with all due respect, it goes without saying), and edit out unnecessary words (blue in color should be blue; various ways and methods should be ways).
  • Fine tune the beginning and the conclusion. Does the beginning have a “hook”? A hook is something that makes you want to keep reading. A question, an interesting quote, a surprise, a bit of dialogue can all make good hooks. If your student needs ideas, check a few favorite books to see how they begin. Does the essay have a conclusion that sums up its main points?

• Help My Teen Edit and Revise Writing Assignments

  Once your teen has written a first draft, you can go through these revision steps together, or complete them separately and compare your results as a way of boosting your teen’s writing skills. Remind your teen that a marked-up draft is a map that helps take a writing assignment from good to great!
  

  • Think about the needs of the audience. Before editing a piece of writing, ask yourself who will be reading it. Is it intended for the general public? If so, technical terms should be defined in plain English. If the audience is made up of scientists, you may not need to explain scientific terms as completely as you would for a general audience.
  • Read the draft aloud slowly and carefully. It’s the best way to catch mistakes and find problems. Word processing software can make even the worst writing look good. But you’ll know that the writing is good when it sounds good. If you stumble over a word or paragraph when you read it aloud, you probably need to rewrite it. Choose a simple, direct word over a multi-syllable “academic-sounding” word whenever you can. Changing word order can make sentences read more smoothly.
  • Pay attention to organization. Does information flow logically or do you lose the thread of the argument? Adding paragraph headings can help make the paper clearer, as can writing transition words and phrases (such as, therefore, in order to, as a result, to sum up, in conclusion).
  • Make sure all paragraphs are complete. Does each paragraph have a main idea, and do all the sentences in the paragraph support, or tell more about, that idea?
  • Look for places where you can add or subtract details. For example, an essay describing why your dog is your best friend probably doesn’t need a description of the town you live in. On the other hand, if you haven’t included a physical description of the dog, the reader might lose interest in your story.
  • Pay attention to the details. Replace clichés (fairy-tale ending, thinking outside the box, win-win situation), eliminate phrases that don’t say anything (with all due respect, it goes without saying), and edit out unnecessary words (blue in color should be blue; various ways and methods should be ways).
  • Fine tune the beginning and the conclusion. Does the beginning have a “hook”? A hook is something that makes you want to keep reading. A question, an interesting quote, a surprise, a bit of dialogue can all make good hooks. If your student needs ideas, check a few favorite books to see how they begin. Does the essay have a conclusion that sums up its main points?
• Help My High School Senior Know How to Write a College Admissions Essay
  Use the following tips to help your teen learn how to write a college admissions essay. The essay doesn’t have to mention every high school success or extracurricular activity (the rest of the college application will do this). Instead, it should show admissions officials why your kid and their school are a great match.
  

  Choose a Topic

  If your teen is struggling to choose an essay topic, have him or her create a chart that lists one outstanding character trait, one interest, one ability, and one value. Next, have your teen write down a life experience that illustrated this trait/interest/ability/value. Finally, write a brief description of an outcome or a lesson learned. Here’s an example:
  
  

  Trait/Interest/ Ability/Value	Example from Life	Outcome/Lesson Learned
  Loyalty	I stuck by my best friend when she injured her knee	I learned that being a good friend comes at a cost: driving my friend to rehab meant I missed rehearsals and lost the lead in the senior play, but it was worth it to help a friend.

  
  Completing this chart should give your teen four good essay topics to choose from.

  Connect with the College

  In the essay, make sure your teen connects his or her talents and passions to a program or focus of the college (review the college brochure or Web site for ideas). If, for example, the college has a strong tradition of community outreach and your teen has just completed a service-learning project, work that information into the essay. Remember: the purpose of the college essay is to convince the admissions folks that your teen and their school are a perfect match.

  Draft the Essay

  • Match the essay’s structure to the topic. Traditional essay form—with an introduction, body, and conclusion—works well for an essay that defends a position (for example, “The U.S. should never negotiate with terrorists”). Story, or narrative, form is very effective in describing a personal experience (for instance, how a teacher changed your life).
  • “Show” rather than “tell,” by using specific examples and concrete language (words that describe things you can see, hear, touch, feel, and smell).
  • Use facts to prove an assertion or support an opinion.
  • Keep the writing focused. If the essay seems to drift into a different subject area, it may be that your teen would rather write on that topic instead.

  Revise and Proofread

  • Have your teen read the draft aloud to you. Can you name the main idea and point of view? Does the first sentence grab your attention? Is there a conclusion and does it summarize the important points?
  • Keep an eye out for unnecessary words. For example, replace “in the modern world of today,” with “today” and shorten “because of the fact that” to “because.” Edit out clichés like “in the blink of an eye” or “in the heat of the moment.”
  • After your teen has revised the draft, make sure he or she proofreads it for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Then proofread the revised draft yourself by reading it aloud. Take your time; some errors can be tough to spot.
  • Don’t expect a computer’s spelling and grammar check software to catch all the mistakes. It won’t.

  
  
  Sources: essayedge.com/college/essayadvice/course
  collegeboard.com/student/apply/essay-skills
  The College Application Essay by Sarah Myers McGinty

• Help My High School Senior Know How to Write a College Admissions Essay

  Use the following tips to help your teen learn how to write a college admissions essay. The essay doesn’t have to mention every high school success or extracurricular activity (the rest of the college application will do this). Instead, it should show admissions officials why your kid and their school are a great match.
  

  Choose a Topic

  If your teen is struggling to choose an essay topic, have him or her create a chart that lists one outstanding character trait, one interest, one ability, and one value. Next, have your teen write down a life experience that illustrated this trait/interest/ability/value. Finally, write a brief description of an outcome or a lesson learned. Here’s an example:
  
  

  Trait/Interest/ Ability/Value	Example from Life	Outcome/Lesson Learned
  Loyalty	I stuck by my best friend when she injured her knee	I learned that being a good friend comes at a cost: driving my friend to rehab meant I missed rehearsals and lost the lead in the senior play, but it was worth it to help a friend.

  
  Completing this chart should give your teen four good essay topics to choose from.

  Connect with the College

  In the essay, make sure your teen connects his or her talents and passions to a program or focus of the college (review the college brochure or Web site for ideas). If, for example, the college has a strong tradition of community outreach and your teen has just completed a service-learning project, work that information into the essay. Remember: the purpose of the college essay is to convince the admissions folks that your teen and their school are a perfect match.

  Draft the Essay

  • Match the essay’s structure to the topic. Traditional essay form—with an introduction, body, and conclusion—works well for an essay that defends a position (for example, “The U.S. should never negotiate with terrorists”). Story, or narrative, form is very effective in describing a personal experience (for instance, how a teacher changed your life).
  • “Show” rather than “tell,” by using specific examples and concrete language (words that describe things you can see, hear, touch, feel, and smell).
  • Use facts to prove an assertion or support an opinion.
  • Keep the writing focused. If the essay seems to drift into a different subject area, it may be that your teen would rather write on that topic instead.

  Revise and Proofread

  • Have your teen read the draft aloud to you. Can you name the main idea and point of view? Does the first sentence grab your attention? Is there a conclusion and does it summarize the important points?
  • Keep an eye out for unnecessary words. For example, replace “in the modern world of today,” with “today” and shorten “because of the fact that” to “because.” Edit out clichés like “in the blink of an eye” or “in the heat of the moment.”
  • After your teen has revised the draft, make sure he or she proofreads it for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Then proofread the revised draft yourself by reading it aloud. Take your time; some errors can be tough to spot.
  • Don’t expect a computer’s spelling and grammar check software to catch all the mistakes. It won’t.

  
  
  Sources: essayedge.com/college/essayadvice/course
  collegeboard.com/student/apply/essay-skills
  The College Application Essay by Sarah Myers McGinty