September 19th, 2011 — Elementary, Writing Games & Activities
Writing activity centers are a great way to reinforce the formal composition skills you’re teaching in your curriculum. They’ll give your kids more practice writing in a fun, relaxed setting. Whether you create a basket of materials by the sofa or a stand alone writing desk in the family room, try these different learning center ideas.
Picture Book Mail
Place a collection of favorite picture books in a basket. Ask your child to read one or more of the books and then write a letter to one of the characters. What could she say in the letter? When finished, have your child place her letter in a decorated envelope, with a sticker for a stamp. Later, you can respond to the letter as the character your child wrote to!
“And Now, a Word From Our Sponsors”
Gather a variety of household items and place them in a box or basket. Ask each child to write out advertising copy and create a poster for a product. Why would folks want to buy this item? Remember to keep colored markers and construction paper close at hand, and encourage your kids to do rough drafts and sketches before they begin.
Character Diaries
At this center, have your children create the imaginary diaries of favorite characters from books or novels they’re reading. Design your own diaries or buy inexpensive ones from the store.
Round Robin Stories
Make available a timer and plenty of paper and pencils. Have each child begin to write a story based upon the same pre-selected prompt. (Visit Creative Writing Prompts for ideas, or use WriteShop StoryBuilders.) Set the timer for three minutes.
When finished, have the children exchange stories. Set the timer again for three minutes, and have each child begin adding to the story he or she just received. Write until the timer ends, and exchange papers again. Continue in this manner for several rounds of exchanging papers and adding content to everyone’s stories.
Let the original owner of each story read the resulting tale aloud, and enjoy the hilarity!
Silly Sentences
Ask each child to write a set number of sentences, some factual and some outright ridiculous.
- A factual sentence might be: Cheetahs are the fastest land mammals.
- A silly sentence might be: Cheetahs drive sports cars.
Remind kids to use correct capitalization and punctuation. When finished, have kids share their sentences with each other. Which are true? Which are false?
Self Portraits in Words
Using mirrors as guides, have your children draw pictures of themselves. Then ask your children how they would define themselves in words. What describing words would they use? Write those words on the paper, surrounding the self-portrait.
Family Portraits
Draw or paint portraits of each family member, including all the pets! Bind the pages together with a hole punch and yarn. Under the portrait, write a short one-paragraph description about each family member. Include information about characteristics, talents and interests, favorite activities, and more.
Related Post: Writing Activity Centers: Part 2
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Janet Wagner is a regular contributor to In Our Write Minds. For over two decades, Janet was an elementary and middle school teacher in two Christian academies, a public district school, and a public charter school. She also had the honor of helping to homeschool her two nieces. Janet and her husband Dean live on the family farm in the Piedmont region of north central North Carolina. Currently, she enjoys a flexible life of homemaking, volunteering, reading, writing, tutoring students and training dogs, and learning how to build websites. You can view her web work-in-progress at www.creative-writing-ideas-and-activities.com.
July 19th, 2011 — All ages, Holiday & Seasonal Ideas, Writing Games & Activities
Has the boredom bug bitten your brood? Are you looking for a few ways to keep your kids writing while school’s out? Try these ideas for some summer writing fun.
1. Snapshot Storyboard
Take pictures of your child engaged in a fun activity such as swimming, making a craft, or climbing a tree. Print out the photos and have your child glue them on paper. Beneath each photo, your child can write a caption or sentence that explains what she’s doing (“I had so much fun sliding into the pool”) or adds an interjection (“Splash!”). Pre-writers can dictate their ideas to you while you write them down.
2. The Story within the Painting
With your children and teens, look through an art book, visit an art museum, or browse an online art collection such as the one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In particular, look for a painting that seems to tell a story. Once they find one they especially love, have them brainstorm a list of words, phrases, or ideas that the painting suggests. Then invite them to write a story that imagines what’s happening in the picture.
3. Best Memories
Sort through family photos with your children and have them choose a favorite that has lots of good memories associated with it. Invite them to write a story, reflection, or journal about the photo, focusing as much as possible on the sensory details—sights, sounds, smells, flavors, and textures—that made the day or event so meaningful.
4. New Endings
Gather a few picture books and read them aloud together—but don’t read the last few pages that reveal the ending. Instead, have the children write new endings. Pre-writers can dictate their ideas to you while you write them down. If your child is familiar with the story and can’t seem to think of new ways to end it, try reading a book that’s new to him. After he writes a new ending, compare the two versions over cookies and milk.
Older children and motivated writers might enjoy writing a new final chapter to a favorite novel.
5. Travel Brochure
Are you taking a vacation this summer? Have your children and teens design a travel brochure that highlights a favorite city, tourist spot, or other destination. Encourage them to use photos, illustrations, and maps. Make sure they include text to write details about the highlights or features of the place. What a great lasting souvenir!
Copyright 2011 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.
February 15th, 2010 — Brainstorming, Elementary, Teaching Writing, WriteShop Primary
Don’t you just love watching your kids develop a sense of humor? I get such a kick out of the things my grandchildren find funny. I wish I could bottle up every silly story, giggle, and laugh and save them for a rainy day!
Once children reach age six or seven, they’re ready to start having fun with humor in their writing. Even if your child is a bit on the serious side, here’s a brainstorming activity designed to help kids think about ideas for writing a funny story.
Advance Prep
Read some funny picture books together. Depending on your child’s age, you can find some great funny-bone ticklers out there!
Since your goal is simply to introduce humor in writing, use this time to read short books with simple yet humorous themes, even if your child’s reading level is more advanced. Here are a few suggestions:
Prepare a blank comic strip for your child to fill in by dividing a piece of computer paper into six equal blank squares to resemble a comic strip. Make the squares as large as possible, perhaps making two rows of three.
Draw a simple story web on a sheet of paper. Draw a circle in the middle and six lines extending out from the circle to resemble a web.
Brainstorm for a Humorous Story
If your child is not familiar with comic strips, show her some examples from the newspaper or www.comics.com.
1. Choose a main character. Ask your child to choose a main character for her funny story (animals, birds, or dinosaurs make good subjects).
2. Think of a story idea that features the main character. If your child can’t decide on an original funny story idea, encourage her to use an idea from a comic or humorous story she already knows.
3. Fill in the story web.
- Write the topic in the center circle of the story web.
- Write the details of the story on the story web. Gently prompt her to suggest the details by asking:
Who is the main character of this story?
What happened in the beginning of the story?
What happened next?
Tell me something really funny that happened.
How did the story end?
- Write down ideas for a title on the story web.
Draw the Comic Strip
Your child will not need to do any writing for this activity.
- Give her the blank comic strip you prepared. Ask her to draw one picture in each frame using the details from the story web.
- Since this is the brainstorming stage, discourage her from drawing the pictures in detail. Simple stick figures are best.
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This is just one of the many fun and creative projects and activities WriteShop Primary uses to reinforce simple writing skills at the primary level. In Book B, children learn to write a funny story using the steps of the writing process, beginning with pre-writing and brainstorming and ending with a published final draft.
January 5th, 2009 — Books and Reading, Writing Games & Activities
Did you know that you can help prepare your child to write by reading a picture book together? A good picture book exposes children of all ages to quality literature, enhancing learning and teaching them a great deal about writing.
- How words hook the reader at the beginning of the story.
- How words form sentences and paragraphs and, finally, an organized story with a beginning, middle, and end.
- How precise word choices show actions, descriptions, and feelings.
A Springboard to Writing
Before beginning to work on a new writing project or lesson, read a related picture book aloud to your child. Be sure you read during this time, not your child. She can practice reading skills another time.
Talk about the book with your child. Here are some ideas.
- What words or sentences grabbed you at the beginning and made you want to hear or read more?
- What happened at the beginning of the book? The middle?
- How did the story end?
- What are some of your favorite words?
- How did the story make you feel?
Choosing Picture Books
We know you will want to take care in choosing just the right picture book for each lesson. There are so many wonderful read-alouds with delightful story lines and engaging illustrations. Start with your own bookshelf!
You can also scour used book stores, yard sales, online stores like Amazon, and the library in your search for the “perfect” book. For guidance, ask your local children’s librarian, read book reviews online, or seek out the recommendation of friends. Keep in mind that others’ recommendations may not always match your family’s criteria for acceptable reading. So the final decision, of course, is yours.
Though your child may love superheroes, Disney princesses, or other cartoon characters, you’ll want to avoid these mass market-type picture books for pre-writing times. Instead, look for high-quality, timeless books that play with language and use unique artwork. You know which ones I mean—the books you don’t mind reading again and again because you love them too!
A few lists of top picks:
If your child is older, and especially if she’s already reading, you may believe she is beyond picture books, but that’s not true! You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that many picture books are actually geared toward older children.
Begin your search here:
February 25th, 2008 — Books and Reading, Interviews
Nancy I. Sanders is a prolific writer who, we’re thrilled to announce, has developed a fabulous primary-level writing curriculum for us. Hurrah! We’re on pins and needles as we enter the final stretch of last-minute editing, page layout, and cover design in preparation for an April release of the first in the series: WriteShop Primary Book A. It’s just so exciting! And the timing couldn’t be better, as it coincides with Nancy’s Virtual Book Tour. When we discovered she was hosting her blog tour, we just knew we had to invite her for a visit. So without further ado, let’s meet Nancy! Continue reading →
February 24th, 2008 — Interviews
Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow, February 25, for a wonderful interview with author Nancy I. Sanders. Nancy has written over 70 books and numerous articles for such noted publishers as Focus on the Family, Scholastic, and Sleeping Bear Press. We’re delighted to introduce her as the author of our newest (and soon-to-be-released) series, WriteShop Primary, for K-2nd grades.
In addition to getting a sneak peek into WriteShop Primary, you’ll also learn a fun lesson in using picture books to help your early elementary children learn to write.
See you tomorrow!
February 22nd, 2008 — Interviews
It may surprise you to learn that we never actually planned to enter this world of writing and publishing—though it was evidently in God’s mind that we should do so! Once we were on board with him, we could fairly hear him call, “Hang onto your hats, girls. Here we go!” And eight years later…well, here we are!
Just as we never intentionally set out to write a curriculum for secondary students, we decided we’d never produce any younger levels of the program either. After all, Debbie and I were empty nesters, far removed from the days of homeschooling our own young children. Continue reading →
