6 Smart Ways to Help a 3rd Grader With Writing

3rd Grader – The 3rd grade is the point where students start to organize their writing. Children are taught to organize their writing into beginning, middle and end. They also learn the basics of figurative language and literary devices.

If you want to help your 3rd grader improve their writing skills, you can follow a few simple yet effective tips.

1. Keep a Family Blog

Blogging is a very popular activity and chances are good that many 3rd graders will have heard the term. If you’re trying to help your child improve their writing, build a family blog and encourage participation from the entire family. This will fill your child with excitement and motivate them to practice their writing.

A family blog also takes the pressure away from having to perform well for school. The informal setting will help your child improve vocabulary while working on sentence structure and grammar.

2. Have Regular Storytime

Storytime allows your child to build on their writing skills through listening and reading along with you. Depending on the books you choose, you can work on reading comprehension which will translate to your child’s writing. Try to gradually increase the difficulty level as you progress so that their skills improve accordingly.

3. Encourage Creative Writing for 3rd Grader

Schoolwork for a 3rd-grader often involves straightforward descriptions that follow strict guidelines. While children may also write creatively for school, encouraging creative writing will broaden their horizons.

Get your child to take risks as a writer and give enough room for thinking outside the box. Help your child experiment with writing poems and using figurative language.

4. Ask Questions about 3rd Grader

Questions are the foundation of all writing. Ask your child questions that help stimulate their curiosity. They can be open-ended, rhetorical questions if you want to open a path and let your child set the course.

By asking questions, you will show your child that you care. This will cause them to care about their writing and will drive them to ask questions of their own.

5. Give Feedback

Teachers often only circle mistakes and write a short, one-word comment. This is understandable as teachers have tens or even hundreds of papers to correct. Taking the time to offer valuable feedback your child can learn from will supercharge their writing.

If you’re a teacher, try to spend some time with each student where you’ll explain your comments a little further. You can also do this with the entire class where you explain some common mistakes and how to improve them. Of course, you shouldn’t single out any student but rather address the class as a whole.

6. Try Using Worksheets

Worksheets are useful tools that can help you focus on specific skills. Depending on the subject at hand, a worksheet can help improve story writing, dialog creation and structure.

Boost Your 3rd Grader’s Writing

Helping improve a child’s writing is as simple as giving them the motivation to practice beyond their schoolwork. Adobe Education Exchange has experience in providing visually appealing educational tools. Try incorporating 3rd grade writing worksheets into your child’s learning process.