Excerpt

from Literary Ideas and Scripts for Young Playwrights

Introduction
Educators have known for years that teaching grammar alone does not improve writing skills (Vandeweghe). Rather, writing improves with practice. The best writers begin writing in early grade school and hone their skills through high school.

Most writing curriculum revolves around evaluating reading assignments. The trouble is, students have such a wide range of interests and aptitudes in reading, that it is difficult to find reading material that grabs their attention.

Some may gravitate towards non-fiction, such as sports biographies or dinosaur discoveries, while others prefer fiction that is scary, or silly, or a mystery, adventure or fantasy. Early grade school students are not ready to tackle classic literature together. However, they often enjoy a common familiarity with fairy tales. 

Ann Martin (Martin) states that, "the sources of writing have to be activated first, before we can impose standards of form."  Children's imaginations must be fired up before they are taught grammar and writing style.

Students who are given creative writing prompts and exercises are given permission to think, to explore their own ideas, to make personal decisions and to express themselves. 

By tapping the knowledge students already have of fairy tales, poetry, history and cultural mythology, teachers stimulate the imaginations of their students.

Vandeweghe, Rick. Chairman, Department of English at the University of Colorado at Denver. Interview. 30 October 2002

Martin, Ann, "Allowing the Unconventional," Educating the Imagination, Essays and Ideas for Teachers and Writers, ed. Christopher Edgar and Ron Padgett, Vol. 2.  New York:  Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1994

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Happy trails...happy writing.