Writing With Kids

I’m between kid shifts this morning (the middle school kid off, the younger two about to get up), and I had a plan for a post. That shifted as I got an email from a teacher who heard me present at a librarian conference.

She said…

I attended your morning session. Thank you for presenting and sharing your ideas for writing. I have a question I hope you can answer. There is no correct answer.  I have heart the “spark” metaphor several times.  It takes two things to write (or maybe just create). What do you think those two essential things are?

Ideas/Inspiration and __________________ – my assumption is Tools (conventional skills)

Does this apply to ELL students as well as English language learners? I am sharing this with my staff and appreciate your time and wisdom.

Here’s my reply to her…
What a fun question! I’m taking it on as my early-morning challenge — well, the real early-morning challenge may be getting my two younger kids off to school (one is already on his way to middle school) — or maybe I’m procrastinating from tackling my list, but I love this, and love that we got you thinking about it.

During our talk, we discussed how writing needs to be more than one thing. There’s the story, and the story behind the story, there’s the plot and the theme, there’s the creative flow of language and the conventions that support it, and there’s the writer and the audience.

My most popular books are the ones where I intentionally wove two concepts together — Dinosailors, All Aboard the Dinotrain, Monsters on Machines. If I had written those books from just one of those ideas, editors would have used one of their favorite current terms to describe the stories — “slight.” Instead, they printed four times more copies than their usual first run — they’re not huge best-sellers, but they’ve had a great run.

So, to create (to fill in your blank), I’d say that if there was a pair to be matched with Ideas & Inspiration, it would be the What and How those ideas were conveyed. Content is one thing, but Creativity comes with the ability to see a new connection, a new format, a new way of piecing together this amazing language. Tools are tools, but without them, our Creativity wouldn’t find its way in the world. Where we get into trouble with teaching is when we pull these aspects of writing (creating) apart from each other, using the factory-line approach to education. The guy who slaps on the hub cap doesn’t experience how each part of the engine works together.

Spark signals the presence of fire. Of passion. Passion comes from being aligned with our deepest dreams, with what we love. It’s universal, and not dependent on anyone’s developmental level, language acquisition level, or level of experience. That’s why we let students have as much choice as possible. We give them the tools, support them, and kindle that spark into a flame. Because the pairing of knowledge and passion creates life-long learners. And that’s what we want — isn’t it?

Now I’m off to Kid Round Two. How would you fill in the blank?