Have you ever tried writing about a topic you know nothing about? I climb on the struggle bus pretty quickly if I'm assigned a topic that I care very little about or if my knowledge is slim. For example, if someone asked me to sit down and write about baseball, I'd draw a blank because I know very little about the sport. BUT if someone asked me to write about Jackie Robinson, I'd be super excited to share how I find that man's life inspirational. I am not alone. I'm sure you're with me and I know students lack the motivation to write when they lack knowledge. When they lack knowledge, they lack confidence. When they lack confidence, they lack desire.
The key to writing is knowledge.
The more a student knows the more they want to share - the more they have to share.
The solution to unmotivated writers begins with knowledge.
While that sounds like a super easy problem to solve, it isn't. Teaching students without motivation is the #1 question I receive from parents and teachers. We all struggle with those students who simply do not want to write. So what do you do?
Begin with the "how-to" knowledge. How to write a complete sentence. How to write creatively. How to generate ideas. How to write a paragraph. How to transition between paragraphs. How to stick to your main idea. How to find the right word to use. Teaching them the "how-to" gives them confidence. Especially when you're teaching a beginning writer. Beginning writers want to know if they're "doing it right" or if they're "doing a good job." That's why it's incredibly important to teach them proper sentence and paragraph structure, word choice, voice, conventions, elements of style, etc. because it gives them confidence.
Tap into what they know. What they know leads to questions. Questions lead to searches. Searches lead to knowing more. Knowing more leads to questions. Questions force learners to dive deeper. See the cycle? When they continue learning more about what they are already passionate about - they are typically pretty excited about finding a way to share it.
On July 31st I'm hosting a FREE writing workshop LIVE on my Facebook page at 11 AM CST where I'll give you more tips on writing motivation. All-day on July 31st I'm hosting a "FriYAY PartAY" to celebrate one year online! It was one year ago this summer that I put my tutoring business online and added the educational consultant services. To celebrate this I will be on my Facebook page all day with:
Giveaways
Games
Shopping Extravaganza
Live Writing Motivation Workshop (where you will receive even more tips!)
And MORE!
Visit my Facebook event page for more information: FriYAY PartAY!