Realizing that one will receive no justice until he or she has clearly stated his case can bring out the best in a young writer. Every week my pockets and briefcase bulge with sincere little messages, correctly written, for they have all come to realize that I am best persuaded by good writing and that nagging and whining are simply a waste of time. At the end of the school year, sitting alone in my classroom sorting through the educational debris of paper, I enjoy reading through excellent discourses from students on why they should be given a different seat assignment. I have received delightful essays on why two students who have put in a week full of educational attainment and should therefore be permitted to begin a chess match half an hour earlier on Friday afternoon. The writing of young people shows the developing person that hides behind the unlined face of childhood.
Pictures are also a wonderful starting place for encouraging writing in a young child.
In my classroom I keep postcard reproductions of art from museums that I visit. They sit on a shelf in a red card file. With great ceremony I bring them to the lecture table and allow each student to pick one to describe. The students take the pictures to their desks and begin their descriptive paragraphs. When all are finished, we seperate the cards from the essays on the table.