Younger Writing Group by Ann Webb (Tutor)

A person might wonder why we don't do much actual pen-to-paper writing in the Younger Writing Group. The oral language activities practice the organization and decision making which are integral parts of writing--or even conversing. Throughout the summer we are building toward writing a letter, which the children are doing now, as a present to their tutors. Letter writing is a perfect opportunity for creating a short paragraph with a purpose, although it is becoming a lost art. Written expression is the highest neurological function our brains do because it draws from so many parts of the brain. Written expression needs to be done gradually to allow children to learn the parts of speech and the parts of a sentence. I am always gratified to hear our students using the "language about language" as they edit their work on their own or with me. Written expression is one of the fine arts for a reason: it takes planning, it takes revision, and it brings to light feelings and ideas that are important.