Other Resources
The websites below offer a variety of suggestions on how to support children's writing. Included are websites that explain how children acquire writing skills, what good writing looks like at different grade levels, where children can publish their writing, and how parents can create enjoyable activities to help their children.
ACT: Introducing the ACT Assessment Writing Test
This webpage offers information about the ACT Assessment's optional writing test, including a listing of colleges that require or recommend the exam and a "what students need to know" section.
ASCD: A Lexicon of Learning
Have you ever wondered what educators mean when they refer to accountability, achievement gap, or charter schools? This online dictionary from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) provides definitions for hundreds of educational terms.
College Board: Information on the new SAT exam
A mandatory new writing section has been added to the SAT exam. This webpage provides information on the new SAT, including answers to frequently asked questions, a glossary of SAT terminology, and an SAT fact sheet.
College Board: Overview of New SAT Writing Section
This webpage offers information on the writing section that has been added to the SAT exam, including sample questions and an essay scoring guide.
¡Colorín Colorado!
Offered in English and Spanish, this website provides parents with information on how to help their children become more successful students. It includes tips on reading and writing, activities for children, and other resources.
Family Writing Projects
This website features four years of collaborative work between families and writing project sites in Las Vegas and other parts of the country.
Figment
Figment is a community where young writers share their writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors.
Merlyn's Pen
The Merlyn's Pen Foundation supports teen literacy by identifying, mentoring, and publishing teen writers. This website includes information on publishing student writing, tips for teen writers, contests, and more.
Merlyn's Pen: New Library of Young Adult Writing
With more than 1,000 searchable and reproducible pieces of writing, this is a comprehensive online library of outstanding teen fiction, poetry, and essays.
National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges
This website contains information on the College Board–sponsored National Commission on Writing, as well as links to the Commission's two reports: The Neglected "R": The Need for a Writing Revolution and Writing: A Ticket to Work . . . Or a Ticket Out. Of particular interest to parents is information on the status of writing in America and the importance the nation's top corporate employers place on writing.
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): Writing Initiative
NCTE is an association of more than 60,000 educators dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and language arts. This website offers parents an excellent set of primers on how children acquire writing skills.
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): Parents and Students
This page from the NCTE encourages parent and caregiver involvement in children's reading and writing.
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): Tips for Parents
This page from NCTE offers ten practical tips for parents who want to help their teenagers become better writers.
Northwest Education Magazine: Focus on Writing
The winter 2002 issue of the Northwest Regional Educational Library (NREL) magazine is devoted entirely to writing. The "Permanent Ink" article may be of particular interest to parents.
The Parent Institute: Tips Parents Can Use to Help Their Children
The mission of The Parent Institute is to encourage parent involvement in the education of their children. This page contains a comprehensive list of tips for parents to help their children communicate, develop good habits, excel in school, and assume responsibility over their lives. Several tips involve writing.
The Parent's Journal with Bobbi Conner: Improving Your Child's Writing Skills
NWP Executive Director Richard Sterling offers suggestions to help children improve their writing in this interview with The Parent's Journal.
Parent Project Resources
These books and videotapes from Milwaukee Writing Project Director James Vopat provide information about parental involvement in children's education, family-school collaborations, community-building activities, and strategies to strengthen the home-school connection. This article from Dr. Vopat, "Parental Involvement: A Resource to Support the School Planning Process" (York Region District School Board), may be of interest.
Parenthood.com: Information Pertaining to Writing
This is a list of articles for parents on how to help children write well and enjoy writing.
PBS Parents: Helping Kids with Writing: Q&A with Joyce Elliott
This question-and-answer page features Joyce Elliott, a high school teacher and member of the National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges. Joyce answers questions about encouraging young children to be enthusiastic writers, fostering creativity in writing, and providing support and encouragement to children throughout the writing process.
PBS Parents: Writing Development
This website for parents includes information on writing milestones from infancy to third grade, suggested activities, and tips to encourage children to read and write.
ReadWriteThink: Web Resources Gallery
This is a comprehensive listing of resources related to writing and reading. ReadWriteThink is a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the MarcoPolo Education Foundation.
ReadWriteThink: Family Message Journals
This is a lesson plan for teachers that parents also might find of interest. Children are asked to write in journals about books, school activities, and other experiences and then share their writing with family members who in turn respond.
Reading Is Fundamental
The Reading Is Fundamental website offers educators and parents a variety of resources to promote literacy, including tips on motivating children to read.
Stone Soup
Stone Soup is a literary magazine written by children ages 8 to 13. This website provides young people with ideas about writing, book reviews, and student recordings. Children can read sample issues, link to other young writers' websites, and submit stories for review.
U.S. Department of Education: Tools for Student Success
This website provides links to several publications for parents who want to help their children succeed in school, including a parent's guide to the No Child Left Behind Act.
WritingFix
Sponsored by the Northern Nevada Writing Project, this website features interactive writing activities, games, punctuation and grammar lessons, and online publishing contests.
