Third grade is a magical time. Students are just learning to write and are already practicing with cursive writing, spelling, and grammar. They may even have a few short stories to share with their classmates. There are a few parts of writing that third graders learn, but these skills will serve them well for the rest of their lives. Let’s take a closer look.
Know What To Write
The most basic part of writing is knowing what to write. You can’t expect to produce highly-readable text if you don’t know how to write in the first place. It’s essential to learn how to write a letter, essay, or memoir. Knowing what to write ensures you’ll have something to write about, and that your writing will be on topic, relevant, and interesting. Start by asking yourself questions about the topic you’re writing about. For example, if you’re writing about a book you’ve read, ask yourself questions about the character, setting, and plot. This way you’ll make sure you write something that’s actually worth reading. Even more importantly, your teachers and classmates will appreciate your efforts and enjoy your company because of your engaging writing.
Be Clear And Concise
When you write, you need to write concisely but clearly. Conciseness promotes brevity, and readers appreciate that. They may not have the time to read an in-depth novel, but they’ll certainly appreciate the effort you put in to make your writing easy to understand. Conciseness allows for more effective communication between parties because it prevents unnecessary repetition. For example, if you’re writing a letter to a friend, you don’t want to go over your explanation of a joke you told her last week. Conciseness also allows for increased creativity and imagination because it forces you to be precise and limits your options. When you have a preconceived idea of what you should write, it forces you to consider only those options and prevents you from deviating from the norm. In the same way, if you have a limited vocabulary, you’re forced to be concise and specific because you don’t have the words to adequately describe your ideas. Conciseness promotes quality control because it encourages you to evaluate and improve your work. When you’re writing you’ll inevitably make mistakes. That’s why it’s important to be concise and direct so you can correct your mistakes quickly and effectively. The faster you can get your work done, the less time you have to spend on correcting it. This means you’ll have more time for new writing!
Express Yourself
As mentioned above, conciseness helps you to be direct and to the point. This trait is a byproduct of being concise – you don’t want to fill the page with words because then you won’t be able to demonstrate your creativity and uniqueness. However, uniqueness is essential in this stage of development because it provides your readers with something new. One of the best things about writing is that it allows you to demonstrate your creative side. Even more importantly, you can present yourself as an expert on a certain topic simply by citing your sources and providing proof of different facts and figures. There are many cases where a student’s unique perspective made a significant difference in an essay or memoir. This is one of the great things about writing. There are no examples of identical twins separated at birth that both grew up to be lawyers, for example.
Use Correct English
You may not be fluent in English as a second language, but that doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to using slang and incorrect grammar. Instead, you can use a variety of English with confidence because you’ll be demonstrating your knowledge of the language. Using correct English will increase the chance of your work being understood by those that aren’t necessarily familiar with the language you’re using. This will, in turn, make your work accessible to an audience that might not normally read your chosen genre. Even more importantly, using correct English can prove how much you know about the topic you’re writing about. Many times, students try to impress their teachers with clever turns of phrases and incorrect grammar. While your creativity is important, your teachers are more interested in your knowledge than your creativity at this point. This type of behavior might earn you extra credit on your midterm grades, but it won’t benefit you in the long run.
With practice, anyone can write – even if you don’t think you have what it takes. If you believe in yourself and are determined to make writing a part of your identity, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to master these basic writing concepts. Once you can write a simple letter, you can continue practicing with short essays and memoirs. Before you know it, you’ll be able to write entire books, winning yourself a handsome literary prize along the way!