Just Thinking and Talking on Bits of Paper

Isaac was waiting at the front door for me. For weeks he had been asking his mum when Judith would be coming because he had something special for her. So when I finally pulled up outside the house he was there…waiting. This was the first time I had visited the family in their new house and so a guided tour was called for and Isaac took control. But the tour had to start in the best room of all…the Rainbow Room, or conservatory to those less imaginative! This was part of what he wanted to show me. “Look over there” and he pointed to the wall where three rainbows could be seen clearly.

I tried to grasp one of them but they would not be held onto and Isaac laughed telling me that the diamond shapes in the windows made the rainbows when the sun shone through. And then he presented me with his precious gift for me. “Close your eyes,” he announced as he carefully placed a piece of paper in my hands. Each word was carefully written in a different colour: “There are lots of culers in a rainbow. God put them in the scky to maik us hapee.” Isaac 4

And there was a picture of a rainbow with God standing next to it looking very pleased with himself. “So how do you think God made the rainbow? Do you think he has got great big paintbrushes? Or is it like a giant interactive whiteboard and he draws the colours with his fingers?” I asked, hoping to enter into some sustained shared thinking. “I don’t know,” Isaac declared, but with a face that assured me he would be thinking about it.

His mum then pulled out sheets of paper containing more of his writing from the last couple of days. His teacher had said that his target was to write independently as he seemed reluctant to do this at school. This sounds like many other 4 year old boys who, to be honest, have far more important things to do like save the world from dragons and baddies or create a car ramp that makes the cars whoosh high into the air.

But what had made reluctant writer, Isaac, want to write so eagerly about rainbows and wild animals, dragons and his mummy and baby brother? His mum asked him what would help him to write more and he simply said, “Put a sticker on my writing.” It was as simple as that and now each piece of paper is adorned with a shiny smiley face sticker. Mum had encouraged him to articulate how he could achieve his target and the sticker was his solution.

But I suspect that there was more to it than a sticker. He had a reason to write

– he wanted to tell an interested adult something he thought was important

– he knew that this interested adult would value what he had written

– he had something interesting to write about, mainly reflecting his recent experiences

After reading everything I told him that one day he could become a famous writer and that his writing about a dragon could be a great story starter. He had written, “The dragon was in a caig. The cing let him out. The prisess was scerd.”

Motivation is key; not the external motivation of a sticker but the intrinsic motivation that comes from knowing that someone values what you have written and that you have something worthwhile to say. We may set up a well resourced writing table, but that won’t really be enough to persuade someone to write. Maybe we can find some creative ways to give our boys a reason to write…write instructions for someone else to make the model you have made; make a list of things we might need for the new role play area; be a tidy up monitor with a checklist… And maybe we could be that interested adult who takes delight in their stories and accounts. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were waiting eagerly for us clasping precious pieces of paper covered in their words every day?

I have just received an email from Isaac’s mum:

“He said they have talk partners at school and asked if people have writing partners. I said I was sure people could if they wanted. He said I could be his ‘at home writing partner’ and you could be his ‘special grown up friend writing partner’. He thinks you would be great to have as a writing partner because if he is going to write like Mick Inkpen then he might need some help with his first book and sometimes books have two authors so that would be ok. But apparently you might both need to find an illustrator! He also thinks the first book might have to be about dragons because you were very excited about that and you can probably write really fast because you talk fast! He then said, ‘Writing is just thinking and talking on bits of paper’ “

I must admit I can’t add any further comment…