Writing is all in the details and when we’re focused on everything around us, and inside us than we are aware. Awareness is when we are focused on the present state using all your senses, not making one sense more important than the other. This can be an exercise in writing. In exercising this skill you can also teach your young writer the benefits of being present, and fully living each moment. How to be an Explorer of the World, written by Keri Smith, provided many ideas for this post. It’s a perfect companion to the previous post, Teaching Writing as an Art, and Student Lead Learning’s philosophy to teaching reading and writing.
Everything is interesting, look closer. As your child is living their days, eating their breakfast, suggest they focus on their chewing, the flavors, the fragrance of your morning coffee and the sounds of the pancake griddle. Keep a journal near them and suggest the write down every sensation as they are living. I wouldn’t expect this all day, every day, but for short bursts of time, give it a try and refer to it later for their stories or articles.
Write from someone else’s eyes. In that breakfast journal your child might have what that breakfast tastes like and looks like but suggest they write from another person’s point of view. What is their father seeing as he is flipping those pancakes? What might he be smelling, thinking or tasting? Does he taste samples of his first warm pancakes, fresh off the griddle? Is he mad at his messy flip that caused an imperfect circle? Describe what that may feel like pretending he is that person; take liberties and make assumptions.
Create a Personal dialogue with your environment. Suggest your child choose one item in your environment and pretend she or he is having a conversation with it. What might she or he say to that item? If it’s her favorite glass cup, adorned with blue flowers, she might say you look so pretty today. What do you have planned? Imagine what that item might say back. This encourages imagination and teaches poetic language. She could also illustrate this with a comic strip format and then develop this into a short movie script.
Observe movement. Choose one moving object or your own and describe the movement breaking up body parts. Don’t just say I looked at the cat as it stood on my porch; instead say, my eyes met this four legged morning visitor as her paws leaped over the wooden banister, and walked on the tightrope of with the ease of me walking on flat ground.
Use all of your sense in your awareness. For the younger child, encourage them to complete a chart with the five senses. During their writing through “awareness time”, make sure they are aware of all their senses and journal them as best as they can. They may need a thesaurus to describe some things in detail. If something smells burnt, they might replace or add tingled my throat, tickled my nose, smoky or charcoal.
Awareness of thoughts and feelings. What is the writer feeling and thinking? When feeling, where do you feel in your body? If you’re mad are you feeling red in parts of your body? Are you feeling hot? If you could draw it, than draw it. What thoughts are contributing to those feelings? How do you feel when you focus on those thoughts? How do you feel when your focus moves toward other parts of your world? The writer will start to see how thoughts affect feelings and to be aware and not afraid of different feelings. Ultimately it improves both awareness and one’s writing craft.
Student Led Learning 