Sherlock Holmes Can Help To Improve Writing!

Many parents want to help their children improve their writing. 

But how do you do this?

Today's post is about a fun approach I use that appeals to children to help them improve their writing by learning from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes.

Here's the opening to one of my favourite short stories about Sherlock Holmes, called 'The Red-Headed League':

"I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair."

It's a sophisticated opening sentence, a multiple complex sentence, and students may need help with some of the vocabulary.

But in my experience they enjoy the challenge of writing a similarly structured sentence:

"I went to see my friend, ... , one day in ... , and found him in conversation with ... , a ...    ".

Developing reading is one of the best ways to improve writing, which Writing with Sherlock Holmes facilitates.  Students also need independent practice, with helpful feedback so they can see where they have made a mistake and put it right.

In the Hartland English Guides, you can discover some of the different approaches I use in my tuition to improve students' writing.

They are all affordable ebooks.

Find out more by visiting my most popular page, 

about my ebooks, here.