Each week I ask Ben to write a letter to someone. He has to pick the recipient by Tuesday, write a draft by Thursday, and put the final copy in the mail on Friday. (In addition to giving him some regular writing experience, I had hoped this would also generate some incoming mail but that has not happened.)
The purpose of the draft is not to give me an opportunity to edit it. Instead I want him to take the assignment seriously and I want him to know that I will be reading it and offering comment. I do not require changes or modify the text.
The letters have not been very interesting writing. I have told him that I (as well as the recipient) would prefer a short interesting letter to a longer one filled with fluff. He is quick to fall into a pattern of asking a lot of question while offering little introspection.
It is easy to gage Ben’s level of interest in a task by seeing the result, and this work has showed a clear lack thereof. This week he was talking about his Halloween costume and I reminded him of the great time he had last year making a paper mache mask at the Art Studio of his 5th grade art teacher. In this week’s letter he chose to write the teacher a note about that memory and told him about his current costume plans. It was an animated and funny letter that was the type of writing I had hoped he would produce previously.
Bridging the ‘interest’ gap remains the primary goal and challenge at the SOD.
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