Crafting Writers, Chapters 1-6

I know I commented on titles in my last post, but I find titles to be crucial in reading and writing.  I particularly liked Elizabeth Hale's title, Crafting Writers (perhaps more than her actual writing), because of the play on words...yes, the craft of writing is critical, but we are also creating children to be good writers as we teach them; we literally play such a critical role in literally crafting the kind of writers and thinkers they become.  What a responsibility! I know that's a bit off topic, but I thought it was interesting.

Now on to the actual writing.  I found Hale's book to be a bit dense in parts.  I got frustrated at times when I felt that she repeated herself, however, I did pull out some useful information.  The first piece of Hale's writing that I liked was the excerpt about multiple ways to bring description into a child's writing.  Oftentimes, children are simply taught two ways to write descriptively, similes and metaphors.  I know I was only taught these two.  However, Hale states, "...when teaching, you want to give students many different and specific ways to bring description into their writing" (Hale 12).  You must not only give them a variety of ways to descriptive writing, but also be specific in modeling these ways.  Along the same lines, it is important that we do not just teach children to insert details when they feel necessary, but that these details and descriptions should be a welcomed part of their writing, embedded as they go, and not a quick afterthought.  Hale states, "...but squeezing in details is also a different skill from using details as you write" (Hale 11).

I also enjoyed Hale's section of writing on the five senses.  While she acknowledges that certain senses, such as sight, seem to play a larger role in writing and developing craft, that each sense can be used differently to assist the reader.  Hale writes, "I begin with just the basic ideas that adding sound can help make a memory or story come alive for the reader" (Hale 36).  I liked this idea because it is simple and can be explained to students at a young age.  It also gives the child a concrete way to see how writing using senses can really help their reader capture a memory, something to which the child can relate.