Writing Feedback That Gets Results

Writing is one of the most important skills a student can acquire; not only does good writing lead to good grades, but it is also imperative for communicating at the university level, in succeeding in the business world, in maintaining social relationships, and more. But despite its vital importance, writing can sometimes be a difficult subject to teach. If your child needs help with her writing, there are several steps that you can take to ensure the tutoring sessions are beneficial.

One of the best ways to teach writing is to discuss a paper that your child has recently written. This can be a first draft of a paper for school — something that is in a formative stage and has not yet been addressed by the classroom teacher. (This, of course, does not mean that you're doing the work for your child; rather, you're helping her understand the ways in which she can improve her writing in this paper and in future papers.)

First, read the paper. If you feel that it might make your child nervous or uncomfortable for you to read the paper in front of him, read through it in advance of your tutoring session. If you do not have a chance to read the paper in advance, be aware of the subtle cues you are giving as you read. Don't frown, or write too many notes in the margins. This will make your child feel as if he has done something "wrong" in his paper, and he may have a defeatist or defensive attitude toward the subsequent tutoring session. Instead, keep a pleasant look on your face as you read, and make both positive and constructive comments in the margins.

When you have finished reading the paper, address the big picture first. If your child mixed up "there" and "their," you'll want to discuss that eventually, but there's no need to dwell on small errors at the beginning of your conversation. Instead, tell your child what you liked about his paper, and tell him what you believe the main idea is. (If the paper is so unclear that you do not know the main idea, ask him to tell you the main idea, and then find sentences in the paper that help support that.)

After you've addressed the big picture — in other words, the main idea — move on to the paper's structure. Is it organized in a way that makes sense? Is there both an opening and concluding paragraph? If the paper is meant to be persuasive, does it touch on the opposing argument and explain its faults? When examining structure, it is often a good idea to collaborate with your student on a "post-writing" outline. In other words, create an outline that reflects the structure of the paper as it is. If there seem to be logical gaps and structure errors in this outline, they'll be easy to spot (and, subsequently, easier to identify in the paper itself).

Once you have talked about main idea and structure, you can move on to language-level issues. If your child consistently makes grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation errors, introduce activities that will help her practice (this is a lot more beneficial than just marking up the paper with a red pen!). Give her the opportunity to correct the paper's errors herself, and then provide feedback.

Teaching writing can be challenging — but it can also be rewarding. By becoming a better writer, your child will become a better student and communicator. If you would like to hire a tutor to help your child with her writing skills, consider one of the many experts here.