Writing Menus - A Tasty Way to Encourage Children to Write

Writing Menus are a great way to encourage children to do more writing!  I learned about Writing Menus through a wonderful book by Melissa Forney called The Writing Menu. 

The basic idea of a Writing Menu is that a list of writing choices are prepared for children to correspond with a unit study, academic subject, or a number of academic subjects.  Just like a menu in a restaurant, a Writing Menu is divided into three parts-appetizers, main courses, and desserts. 

The Appetizers section of the writing menu should include easy projects that can be finished quickly.  These are small bites of writing designed to just get a child writing a little bit in a fairly painless fashion.  Here is an example of an appetizer option from a Writing Menu that I prepared during our Middle Ages unit study:

• Choose one of the highlighted words in the Glossary of “How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages” (pgs. 46-47). Write down the word on one side of an index card and the definition on the other side. (2 points) Add a picture to the definition (1 point). Use the word in a sentence correctly (1 point).

The Main Courses section of the writing menu should include projects that take several days or weeks to complete.  These writing options are designed to be large writing projects that will involve all the steps of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing).  Options in the main courses section of a writing menu should be big projects that cannot be easily or quickly completed.  Here is an example of a main course option from a Writing Menu that I prepared during our Middle Ages unit study:

• Make an ABC book of the Middle Ages. Think of a fact about your topic for each letter. For example:  T is for Torture - Ghastly Medieval torture chambers were used to punish those people who had committed crimes, both real and imagined. Include a picture for each letter. (50 points)

When one is eating a meal, dessert is often looked forward to with anticipation.  Dessert is the fun part of the meal!  In a Writing Menu, the dessert options are the fun and particularly creative projects.  These projects might involve art, music, photography, dance, or movement.  While they are fun and creative projects, they do typically take several days or more to complete.  Here is an example of a dessert option from a Writing Menu that I prepared during our Middle Ages Unit Study:

• Create your own magazine cover for a magazine that could have been published in the Middle Ages. Come up with a name for the magazine related to the Middle Ages. Next, come up with at least five catchy article names to advertise on the front cover. Include an eye-catching illustration on the cover. (15 points)

One of the best ways to understand a Writing Menu is to actually see one.  I've included two Writing Menus that I created for use in our homeschool.  One is for a unit study we completed on the Middle Ages and one is for a Reptiles and Amphibians Unit Study.  In Melissa Forney's book, The Writing Menu, she encourages educators to make exciting writing menus fashioned after menus in restaurants.  While I think this is a great idea, the writing menus I created were simply printed on white paper and kept out as reference for my children throughout the unit study. 

The Middle Ages Writing Menu

Reptile and Amphibian Writing Menu
You can learn a lot more about Writing Menus and teaching writing to children in Melissa Forney's book, The Writing Menu.  In her book she includes the following chapters:

• Why Young Writers Need Writing Menus 
• Planning Writing Menus
• Target Skills
• Introducting Writing Menus
• The Point System
• Writing Menu Layout
• Sample Writing Menus
• Narrative Handout Sheets
• Expository Handout Sheets
• Special Helps for Little Writers
• Guided, Layered Revision
• Ending a Writing Menu Period

In my next post about writing menus, I'll discuss how I handled the points and the rewards to go along with those points in our homeschool.