Writing help available for Polson, Ronan students
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
News from +Writing & Reading
LAKE COUNTY — Does your child struggle with writing? According to the Nation’s Report Card, more than 70 percent of students tested in grades 8 and 12 scored below proficiency in writing. +Writing & Reading Specialists offers free tutoring to eligible K-12 students in Ronan and Polson through the Supplemental Educational Services program of Title I.
Carol Quiroga, the director of +Writing & Reading, is the creator of Incite to Write, an innovative writing program that emphasizes critical and creative thinking skills (www.InciteToWrite.com). She believes the main reason for students’ low writing scores has more to do with thinking skills than with writing.
“When a student writes a sentence, stares at the ceiling and says, ‘I can’t think of anything to write,’ that’s a thinking problem, not a writing problem,” Quiroga said. “The mechanics of writing are easy to master, just like the multiplication tables, but it’s the thinking component of writing that makes it so difficult.”
Quiroga suggests using questions to develop thinking skills.
“Not just answering questions, but coming up with them. In fact, coming up with the question is more important than the answer,” she said. “Take any sentence, like, ‘My favorite dessert is chocolate cake,’ and see if your kids can come up with 30 questions to ask about that sentence. They’ll need to get curious.”
Quiroga encourages students to come up with open-ended questions, questions that begin with who, where, why, what, when. Open-ended questions are the opposite of questions that are answered by a yes or no.
“When we answer a yes or no question, our mind narrows down to the two options available,” Quiroga said. “Open-ended questions, on the other hand, open the mind. Open-ended questions make the mind work harder, encouraging deeper contemplation, curiosity, and imagination. These are thinking skills that we want to strengthen.”
Practicing thinking skills can be a fun family activity.
“In the example above, see if your family can come up with 10 ‘who’ questions about the chocolate cake, 10 ‘where’ questions, 10 ‘why’ questions, 10 ‘what’ questions, and 10 ‘when’ questions. That’s 50 questions. You’ll be thinking as hard as your kids. It’s challenging and fun, and you’ll get ideas from each other.”
In the +Writing & Reading tutoring program, open-ended questions are one of the strategies used to help students develop ideas and become good writers.
Enrollment in the SES program in Ronan ends Sept. 18. Ask your school principal for an enrollment form, or call Christina Barbachano, director of Curriculum and Federal Programs, Ronan Public School District, at (406) 676-3390, ext. 7206.
In Polson, contact Bill Appleton, curriculum, at (406) 249-2571 to find out about enrollment dates and to determine if your child is eligible. For questions about +Writing & Reading Specialists, contact Carol Quiroga at (505) 216-0750.
