Teaching Writing To Elementary Students: The Relationship Between Writing, Self Expression, And Personal Experiences

Abstract

The nurture of free, creative expression has become an increasingly important issue in education during the past few years. The expression of emotion, feelings, particularly in the form of writing has been stifled by many who feel that the mechanics of the English language are the most important factors in writing. It has been found extensively in the new trend in education that the dependence only on mechanics as a criteria of good writing tends to make the learning process dull and ineffectual. Children need the opportunity to be able to express the things they feel inside and to feel confident that what they write will be studied mainly for its content, not on how it is written. The development of free expression is hardest, and yet most profound, in a disadvantaged area. This study is an attempt to show how children, when given the chance to write about something that is personal to them, can truly express their innermost feelings and thoughts. This study shows that free expression is possible in children of two varying socioeconomic areas. What they have chosen to write about is all their own and quite different. One of the most interesting ideas to note is that those children representing a disadvantaged area were really able to write about their lives, were willing to express the truths about themselves and their families. The differing values between the two areas become self evident as one reads the individual papers. Of greatest importance, though, is the fact that children were willing to write in this instance and were capable of accomplishing the task because they easily identified with the topic given to them.