January Writing Activities

I start the new year with the poem “Months of the Year” by Sara Coleridge. The rhyming couplets and seasonal imagery makes it an interesting way to launch into a discussion of what happens through the year. After reading and discussing the poem I prompt the kids to tell me the highlights of each month. I write the following categories on the board: holidays, colors, nature, activities. Then on chart paper I list their responses for each month. Using the information gathered the kids write their own “Months of the Year” poem. For each month they write a couplet, but I tell them not to worry about rhyming. I keep this assignment pretty relaxed. Since it’s the first week after winter break, I want the kids to enjoy being back at school, and to perceive the task as a fun activity.

For upper grades: I would encourage 4th and 5th graders to write a metaphor for each month. What are some images that come to mind for a particular month? Focus on one image. Think of something you can compare this image with. Now write your metaphor. Example: April images might be spring flowers, blossoms, new growth, animal babies.
A metaphor might be: April is a paint brush, sweeping cheerful colors across the land.

Dreams ...

We honor Martin Luther King, Jr. by thinking about how the world could be a better place. I got this idea from a book I found at a Scholastic Book Fair called WE DREAM OF A WORLD. This book was created by the students of a 5th grade class and entered in a contest held by Scholastic. They won and the prize was publication of the book. In the book each student contributed a page of text and illustrations. A template guided the format for the text. A really easy task to implement. I thought this idea of thinking about problems in our world and what it would take to solve the problems fit perfectly for the week leading up to the MLK holiday.

The template for this activity looks like this:

WE DREAM OF A WORLD ….

Students think about a problem in the world to focus on and complete the topic sentence with how world would be if the problem didn’t exist.

Did you know?

They write a few facts/statistics about the problem

What you can do:

Here they write down what each of us can do to make the problem go away.


This is how I teach the lesson:


1. Read the book and show students the pictures.
2. Discuss the problems mentioned and ask them to think of other problems we have in our world. List their responses on chart paper.
3. The kids decide on a problem to focus on. For homework they should research facts about the problem and its impact on our lives. They should also think about what we can do about the problem.
4. In class the next day have a discussion and encourage students to share new information. It’s important to emphasize what we, as individuals can do to solve problems in the world.
5. Hand out the templates. Guide the kids through the three main prompts.
6. Students illustrate the idea using symbols and pictures. 

I had a very positive response to this activity. The kids came up with thoughtful responses and my bulletin board looks very attractive with their pictures and pretty borders around their text.

Winter Stories - To Share ...

My students rose to the challenge of the assignment and produced rather creative stories. In this blog I am sharing the best one, as well as another that is representative of the quality of writing I got from the top one third of my students. Do keep in mind these students are third graders. You may notice a few "problems" in the stories such as incorrect factual information, or plot details that don't quite connect, or wrong word usage. I believe that it is important for the teacher to overlook these sorts of things. Kids need to feel free to be experimental in their writing. Teachers should provide a safe environment for this.

Here then is a story by a boy whose talent will be immediately apparent!


 The Time Capsule
by Liam

It all started in the year 3907, when my Uncle Jack constructed a time portal. It was made for a new type of study. I was such a curious boy. I kept hearing in my mind, “This would answer all your questions about the past.”

Oh, so sorry, name’s Willy. On the 17th of December, Uncle Jack went on a vacation to Hawaii with a new girlfriend. I decided I would take a trip to the dinosaurs. I called up my parents and said, “I’m having a sleepover at Luke’s house.”

After school, I literally flew to my uncle’s house. Luckily the back door swung open. I lurked in and saw a lot of rusted junk. In the very back of the second floor, I saw it!

It was five feet wide and was as tall as an average door. I ran in and saw a clock. But the clock wasn’t going in any direction. I assumed I was to crank it back, so I did. When I cranked to the five the machine started swirling around and then I heard a spheeeee! I got extremely dizzy and almost puked.

I fell right into deep snow. There, I saw in the damp light about ten yards away, a gigantic wooly mammoth with clumsy babies struggling in the deep snow. I started feeling a horrifying frost bite slowly freezing parts of my body. I suddenly heard the most terrifying sound. The rumbling of a huge snow avalanche. I started to freak out so much you could see the bloodred veins in my eyes.

I trudged to the nearest cave I could see. I then jogged to the back of the cave. I realized there was no way I could survive in these freezing conditions. I then sprinted out of the cave. When I got to the snow I started to walk. Every step I took went slower and slower.

Finally, I got to where I thought the destination of where I thought the contraption was. In the place of it there was a deep, rectangular print. In fact it was so deep you could see the frozen dirt below.

I started to ask myself where it had gone. Who had taken it? I was starting to feel nauseous so I sat down next to a tree. I then realized there were huge footprints in the deep snow. Once more I trudged through the snow around a frozen lake, over a hill, then stopped.

There, right in front of me was the time capsule and the woolly mammoth with its babies. The babies were crawling all over the time capsule. I yelled, “GET OFF THAT!” I realized that was a horrible idea because the woolly mammoth wasn’t at all happy and the babies seemed pretty frightened.
It looked like the woolly mammoth was going to put a two foot long paw on me until I couldn’t stand the pressure any longer. I thought about the frozen lake and how much the woolly mammoth weighed. I slowly ran over the hill and jumped right down and slid. The woolly mammoth ran on and then I heard a crackle. The ice was separating. I was five feet from the other side. It was cracking into big chunks of ice.
I jumped three feet and I landed on my stomach. I managed to pull myself on the snow. The woolly mammoth fell in. I felt sorry for her, but I wanted to get back. I walked back over the hill and hopped into the time capsule.
When I got back it felt like I hadn’t been there for 18 million years.

And here's a story by a girl who has a strong interest in the performing arts.

The Ice Dragon and the Snow Leopard

By Aliyah

A Japanese Ice Dragon and a snow leopard attacked five million years ago. Now, if you’re curious to know what happened and how it all began, then listen. One day there appeared a crystal rock on a grassy, snowy mountain. When the sun, moon, and stars were in place the crystal rock burst open. Out came the Ice Dragon and the Snow Leopard.

Now people never saw this happen. One day the Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard were wandering about. Thy came to a town where there were people. The Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard didn’t know people were people. A boy shouted, “Dragon! Leopard!” All the people were terrified.

It was December when this happened. The people called the police, the army, and the president and government. Some people were crazy and wanted to ride and pet the animals. The army and police came. The government and president were too scared.

The army tried to hurt the animals, but they missed. The Dragon and the Snow Leopard roared. The people didn’t know that these animals had powers. The Ice Dragon’s power was breathing ice, so things froze. The Snow Leopard’s power was to think of as much snow as it wanted and it would appear. Luckily they didn’t use their powers.

The police came with an animal trainer, called Penny. Penny had dirty, blonde hair. She was wearing a purple shirt that said “Animal Trainer” in small letters at the top. She had a cat with her. Penny went to pet and calm the leopard. The leopard let her pet it. Then she pet the dragon, who also let her pet it. The people were amazed. They couldn’t believe their eyes. They said it was a miracle.

The dragon swooped down and picked Penny up. Her cat was on the leopard’s back. She was flying on the dragon! They went to the land where the Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard were born. The Ice Dragon said in a low voice, “This is where we were born.” Penny was surprised that the dragon could talk. The leopard said, “We were born from stone.”

The cat got off the leopard’s back and hopped back into Penny’s arms. For a long time the leopard and dragon showed Penny and her cat around. They showed her the waterfall, and cherry blossoms, and the koi fish. They said that when they were born the crystal had lost four pieces and they needed to find it before December was over, or there would be no more winter. Penny said she would help find the stones.

Penny and her cat slept in one of the caves. In the morning they all woke up. Penny jumped up on to the Ice Dragon with her cat. The Snow Leopard said, “Each stone represents one of the elements – water, earth, fire, and air.” The leopard went into one of the caves and got a map and gave it to Penny.

She opened the map. “First stop, Water Island,” Penny said in a loud voice. They flew up over into the sky and through the clouds. They could see the town’s people. They looked like ants. They past by other places too. Finally they got to Water Island. They all landed safely.

Penny opened the map. For some reason it had changed. It had some weird words: Stick your hands in the lake, but not to bake, and comes a crystal. Penny got off the Ice Dragon and stuck her hands in the water. She could feel something hard. She pulled it out. “Is this it?” she asked.

“Yes, it is,” said the Snow Leopard.

Penny jumped back on the Ice Dragon. Next stop: Fire Cave. The map changed. This time it said, “Take a piece from your body and burn it to dust.” Penny asked the Snow Leopard, ”Can I take a piece of your hair?”

“Yes.”

She took a piece of the leopard’s hair and burned it to dust. She saw a burning stone.  She took it but it was hot, so she put it in her pocket.

It was getting late. December was almost over. Next stop: Earth Boulder. They flew over to the place. As always the map changed again. It said, “Push the boulder with courage and light, to roll down the hill.” Underneath the boulder was a crystal. Penny picked it up and put it in her pocket.

Her cat was getting hungry so Penny gave all the animals her left over berries. She jumped back on the Ice Dragon and set off. It was December 29th.

Next stop was Western Air Town. She opened the map. It said, “Take something sharp and blow in it.” Penny took a little piece of her cat’s nail and blew into it. There was a big wind and a crystal appeared.

“We have all the crystals!” shouted the Ice Dragon and Snow Leopard. They flew somewhere and slept there for the night. The next morning they all woke up. It was the 30th of December. They hurried home and put the crystal in.

We did it! They all cried. That’s why there is winter!

Winter Holiday Story

Last week I described how I approach this activity. I started the process this week and I will now describe how it's going.

Day I.
We created a list of problems for a story with a winter holiday theme. The kids seemed to be in a particularly inspired frame of mind, which led to a lively session. It’s necessary for you, the teacher, to maneuver the discussion in such a way that you get a variety of suggestions. Don’t be afraid to distil out weak ideas.  With a little tact you can encourage your students to think hard, and to be original. If they get hung up on some basic idea, tell them we need to change to a new idea. An important part of the process is for you to suggest examples too. Every so often, especially when the kids offer timid ideas, I model more adventurous ways to approach story problems.  For example: Santa’s reindeer were on vacation in Hawaii and refuse to go to the North Pole in December.
When I throw out some crazy ideas, it sparks excitement in the kids, and gets them thinking more creatively.
 First, they came up with ideas about Santa and various problems with the presents.  Examples: All the elves had flu; there was a shortage of toy-making materials; Santa’s sleigh had a mechanical problem; etc. The best one was the following: Because of Global Warming, the ice on which Santa’s workshop sits, melted and fell into the Arctic days before Christmas!
It was time to steer them in a different direction. Let’s think about kids and people. What would make someone unhappy or worried at this time of the year? I managed to get ideas like these: A family lost their home and had live in a shelter; all the Christmas trees were sold out .
Time to move on to something new. I said, “What are some other problems we can think of to do with winter? What do you think about when you of winter?” Someone said “snow”. Can you think of problems to do with snow? First I got the usual type of response, like getting caught in a snowstorm. Then someone said: Scientists were in Antarctica and they encountered aliens. This led to another student suggesting: A group of snowdragons wanted to destroy Earth.
By the end of the session I had a list of twelve pretty decent problems and a class of kids eager to get started!

Day 2. The kids selected a problem, then did a quickwrite of a story. I told them it was a pre first draft, just to get the basic idea of a story down on paper. I gave them half an hour for this.

Day 3. They made a picture of the most important setting in the story, then wrote a paragraph describing the setting.
Day 4. In a paragraph, they wrote a description of either the main character, or, if the story was in first person, of an important character in the story.
Day 5. The problem – frame-by-frame. I had not taught this skill before, so I needed a full hour for this lesson. Because this is an advanced skill, I felt the best way to teach it would be to model the process using a student’s problem.
Me: Who would like to tell me their problem?
Student:  Santa’s reindeer had disappeared.
Me:  I am going to draw 6 frames on the board and we are going to write down exactly what went on in sequence.  So, what happened first? Who discovered the reindeer were missing?
Student: An elf.
Me: What was his name? And tell me exactly how he made the discovery.
Student: His name was Gorgy. Gorgy went to the stables and the reindeer weren’t there.
Me: Okay, let’s back up and picture the whole thing. Class, we are all going to help Sara with this, so please give us your ideas. Gorgy leaves his cottage, or Santa’s workshop and is walking toward the stables. Does he notice anything before he reaches the stables? Can anyone tell me?
Second Student: He sees hoof-prints in the snow.
Me: Great. Let’s fill out our first two frames. Gorgy steps out of the workshop and walks toward the reindeer’s stables. He notices hoof-prints in the snow. What is he thinking now?
Third Student: He is puzzled and races to the stables.
Me: Good. Let’s write that down in our third frame. What’s the next thing he sees? Pretend you are Gorgy. What are you seeing? How are you feeling?
Fourth Student: The stable door is open. Gorgy panics.
Me: Excellent. You guys are getting the idea. Let’s put that in our fourth frame and fill out the rest of the frames.
With student help I wrote: When Gorgy got to the stables he saw hay scattered all over, but no reindeer. In shock he ran to tell Santa what happened.

We have just taken the most important part of the story and we wrote details to help the reader understand the story and the problem better. Now it’s your turn to do a frame by frame description of your problem. Picture it. Imagine you are there experiencing it.

I have to say, about half the class got grumpy about this task. I quickly realized that this was not an easy skill for third graders. I worry when I push my students too hard. As I walked around the classroom helping kids, I got the impression that they understood what to do in theory. This was great. Obviously not everyone is going to get it the first time. But the next time we do a story they will be more receptive to this part of the writing process. On a positive note, I have a significant number of strong writers who embraced the frame-by-frame exercise.

Winter Holiday Story

I have just started the following writing activity this week, and wanted to share how I execute the project. In this task I go into plot development in more detail. In writing this narrative my students use all the skills I have taught thus far, as well as a more complex plot structure.

The process takes about two weeks, maybe even three, from start to the final drafts. It’s very important to keep up the excitement level, and not to make them feel stressed ore overwhelmed. Pace these steps as it works for you. I start with a series of workshops before they write out their first draft.

Prepare kids first by reading a selection of picture books related to the winter holidays.

1. Remind kids that every story has a problem that the main character tries to solve. Brainstorm problems  with a winter holiday theme. List the problems on chart paper.

2. Now ask the kids to write a story. This should be a stress-free exercise intended to help germinate an idea. This will not be their first draft!!
3. Hand kids a story map in which they write down who the characters are, what the setting is, and what the problem is.
4. Main character. Write a paragraph describing the main character or an important character in your story. Tell what they look like and what their personalities are like.
5. Setting. What’s the most important setting in your story? Illustrate this on white paper. Then make a table with four squares labeled: Sights, Sounds, Smells, Feel. The kids then complete the table, using their picture to help them.
6. Write a paragraph of this setting
7. Now focus on the problem. On white paper use a frame by frame graphic to sketch out the problem in detail. How does it start? How does the main character react? How does the problem affect the character?
8. Plotting. Explain how writers develop plot in a story. The main character thinks about how to solve the problem. Usually he/she fails at the first two attempts, but learns from the experience, which helps him/her solve it at the third attempt. This is the magic of 3. Refer back to the stories you read aloud as examples.


Now have the kids complete the following plot diagram.

First Try                        Second Try                               Solution



The kids are now ready to write their story plugging in the descriptions of their character and setting in the appropriate places. These could in fact be their first two paragraphs if you want to make the process easier.
As they begin writing, I like to put up a list of words that they are not allowed to use. I call them “banned” words. These are: good, nice, great, cool, bad, stuff, things.
They may use a thesaurus if they are stuck for a synonym of these words.

When they are done with their first draft, they should do some revising and editing on their own.
First, look at the opening sentence. I do not allow them to start with “One day …”, or “Once upon a time …”, or “Once.” Just cross off those words and the sentence would be a whole lot stronger.

Do not use the word “and” more than once in a sentence. (Learn the rule first before you can break it!).

Avoid starting a sentence with the word “Then”.

Fix spelling.

Put periods at the end of sentences.

Fix other punctuation.

Capitalize all proper nouns, etc.

After they’ve done their editing, it’s time for you to go through their stories and help them clean it up.

Time for publishing!!

Fall Poems

Task: Students write an acrostic poem about the fall season.

Step One: Read a few poems.

As I have said before, if you want kids to write well, they should be constantly exposed to high quality literature. Select a few fall themed poems for the kids to read aloud. Discuss the imagery and other literary features of the poems. Ask kids to circle all fall words.

Step Two: Create a word bank on the board of “fall” words. I like to categorize the vocabulary list that is generated.

This is what my class came up with:

FOOD:  crops, pumpkins, squashes, corn, nuts, turkey, pies, apples, pears
COLORS:  red, orange, yellow, brown, scarlet, golden
ACTIVITIES:  basketball, football, Thanksgiving, Halloween, harvest, cooking, families celebrate
NATURE:  hibernate, migrate, leaves change colors, leaves fall, shorter days, cooler weather, mist, breeze, squirrels gather nuts, seeds, acorns
OTHER:  Autumn, season, changes, scarecrow, thank you

Step Three: The first draft.

I displayed a model of an acrostic poem I made up using the word AUTUMN. The poem was written with colored markers on a 12” x 18” sheet of white construction paper. Around the poem I made a border of leaves in the colors of fall.

You are now going to write the first draft of your poem. After that I’ll help you fix your mistakes and then you’ll do your final poem on construction paper which you’ll decorate with fall pictures.

It is extremely important for you to be proactive in order to get your students to produce high quality writing. Be specific about what you require of them before they begin.

Because I have a class of enthusiastic writers I tend to take more risks than I would if I were teaching predominantly English language learners.
My instructions were as follows:

Choose a fall word for your acrostic. Can you give me some examples?
I created a list of their responses: leaves, harvest, fall, pumpkin, autumn

You may use one of these words, or a different one if you prefer. For each letter, make up a line that tells something about fall. Would “Fall is fun?” be a good line?

They shook their heads. “Why?” I asked.

They couldn’t tell me, so I explained that it gave me no information about fall at all. It was too vague. Besides, it showed no thinking or use of imagination.

Another important thing to remember is that each line must have a different idea. If you mentioned leaves in one line, you cannot talk about leaves again. Do you all understand?

Before you get started let’s quickly look at our chart of “banned” words.
I asked the kids to suggest synonyms that they could use and displayed their responses on the board.

Banned Word Synonyms
Fun                                      enjoyable, wonderful
Nice                                     excellent, pleasant, helpful, kind
Great superb, extraordinary, splendid
Good
Bad                                      unpleasant, awful, dreadful

I must point out that I’m not fond of adjectives that aren’t specific and helpful to the reader, but eight year olds are not ready to understand this. However, making them think harder about their words is an important step.

Note: If I had a class of kids that struggled with writing tasks, I would give them the word for the acrostic poem. I would probably also do the first two lines together with the whole group, then have them work independently on the rest.

Older students (4th and 5th grades) should focus on fine tuning details. For example, pin down the shape, color, texture of a specific leaf from a specific tree and write about it so that your words create a photo of the image in the reader’s mind. Make it more real. Hold a microscope to whatever it is you are writing about.

A Haunted House Story

Task: Write a story set in a haunted house


Goals: 
1. Vivid description of the setting, using sensory details, in story. Develop a vocabulary for describing sounds.
2. Writing a story with a plot that shows a problem and a solution.
3. Nurturing a joy for creative writing.

This writing activity needs to be done over 4 – 5 days. Use your judgement about combining steps into a single lesson.

1. Set the mood …

 I started this task by taking the students on a virtual tour of a haunted house. I found a decent website by doing a Google search. As we entered the house and explored the various spooky rooms the desire to create a story shone in the faces of my students!

2. Make the setting come alive …

I played a Halloween soundtrack. The kids were instructed to listen and jot down all the sounds they could hear. After about five minutes of the soundtrack I asked them to share what they heard. I listed their responses on chart paper. Whenever they gave a vague response such as “I could hear an owl”, I would say, “How did you know it was an owl? What sound did it make?” They soon got the idea. We came up with an impressive list: cackling, screeching, rattling, groans, moans, howls, screaming, hooting, growling, yelps, creaking, evil laughter.

3. Get the picture …

 I handed a picture of a haunted house and some writing paper to each of the kids.
Look at the picture. What can you see? What would you be able to smell? What would you hear? What would you feel on your skin? 

I asked the kids to divide their writing paper into four squares. In each square they wrote down the following headings: Sights, Smells, Sounds, Feel. They then filled each square with as many sensory details as they could come with from examining the picture.

4. The first draft …

Think about a story set in that haunted house. Who would your main character/s be? You could put yourself in the story and write it in first person. What would the problem be? How would it be solved? 
Now write your story. 

I didn’t give too much guidance with plot development. They were already quite excited about the task. I wanted them to just let out their creativity. The one thing I emphasized is that the story should have no violence or blood and to remember our “banned” words which are displayed on a chart made visible during our writing sessions. My students understand very well by now that they are not allowed to use these words: nice, good, bad, stuff, things, cool, great.

5. The Setting – described in a powerful paragraph …

 This lesson was devoted to writing a stellar paragraph describing the setting. I asked the kids to get out the paper with the four squares and look at what they wrote. On a separate paper they had to select from their list what would fit into their story. They had to write sentences to describe the setting, being sure not to start with “I saw … “; “I heard … “; etc. After they wrote their paragraph, I told them that this could be the first paragraph in their story, or if that didn’t work, they had to decide where it would fit. Because my students are third graders I felt a little unsure about this. Did they get what I was asking of them? To my delight, they were fine. They knew exactly what I was asking them to do.

6. Finish the story. The kids returned to their stories, plugged in the setting, and figured out ways to resolve the problem they had thought about. They had to proofread for spelling and punctuation.

7. Editing and Revising

This step applies to all writing tasks. Each student comes to me with their story and I help them fix their mistakes. I show them how to make their sentences short and succinct. We delete “so” and “then”, and clean up awkward words and phrases. Because I am a writer I can do this quite quickly. I realize that this phase of the task could be difficult to manage. This is a good time to solicit the help of a parent volunteer.

8. Final Draft

The stories are rewritten and the haunted house pictures are colored.

Below are excerpts of student stories showing their setting descriptions.


When they got to the haunted house they saw that it was as large as a school. It was musty and you could smell it a mile away. When it became dark they went in. It was dark. All of a sudden ghosts started hovering all over the house. When they flew away the three kids decided to sleep there. They could hear a wolf howling fearlessly in the moonlight. At about 1:30 A.M. they were awakened. They turned on their flashlights and what they saw was not pleasant!


Sara opened the door and they heard witches cackling. It was scary, but they went on. They felt a light breeze on their necks. They couldn't see what it was so they lit a candle. When they turned around they saw ghosts! "I thought was lost them," said Sofia. From the corner of their eyes they could see three witches.


Fhernand and Daniela were walking when they saw a haunted house. They could hear eveil laughter coming from inside. They could feel the cool wind. One of the wooden beams from the house fell. They could smell the old wood. Cackling witches were flying around on their broomsticks.


Here is  a full story by one of my students:


A Haunted House



There was a boy in a cornfield, just walking along. After a while he came to an open space with a house in the middle. He walked to the house and up the steps. He knocked on the door. As he knocked the door just opened. He walked into the house slowly. About three feet in he heard a really loud noise. He turned around fast. 


The door had closed and locked. 


The boy, Indy, screamed for help. HELP! HELP! HELP! He walked toward a wall and put his back against it. 


After an hour Indy heard slow footsteps. He said to himself, “How will I get out of here?” The footsteps came closer. There was barely any light where he was standing. Then he remembered what the haunted house looked like. It had broken windows, old, rotten pumpkins, rusted doorknobs, words written on walls, ripped clothes, a chair missing a leg, old and dirty books, a hole on the roof, and spider-webs everywhere.


Indy took a step forward and his foot hit something. He looked down and he saw a flashlight. He bent down and picked it up. He turned it on and looked for the steps going upstairs. When he found it he walked up three steps. A bat flew at him and knocked him down. He got back up and went upstairs with his flashlight. 


There were five rooms upstairs. Indy walked into the middle one. It had a closet on the side, a bed in the middle, and a few windows on the side. He walked to the windows and tried to open them. He tried for about five aminutes. They finally opened. He looked down. Indy thought he could jump down but there were spikes. As he was looking down a skeleton jumped up and pushed Indy onto the bed. Indy kicked the skeleton out the window and into the spikes. 


He got off the bed and walked to the window. He looked down and saw that the skeleton was gone. Then he looked up. He saw witches and he knew this was a haunted house. He looked at the witches for a while. But then a witch saw him. He ran out of the room and into another room and jumped out the window. He past all the spikes. He landed on his back in a pile of leaves right by the spikes. The witches couldn’t find him. After he got out of the haunted house he looked at his watch. The time was 12:51 P.M. He got out of the pile of leaves and ran back to his house.

Halloween Stories

The holidays provide excellent opportunities for creative writing. Kids love making up stories with their favorite holidays as subject matter. A few years ago I mentioned to a friend of mine who teaches writing at the university in town, the hang-ups my colleagues have when it comes to assigning writing topics in the classroom. One of these colleagues had said, “You can’t just put a topic on the board and tell the kids to write a story!” My friend found this remark astonishing. “Why not?” she responded.

It’s important to remember that you want kids to enjoy writing. To do that you need to make the process as stress-free as possible. Provide a prompt and a few guidelines and then let them use their imagination.

These days the kids are getting quite excited about Halloween. Every year I take advantage of this excitement by having them write Halloween stories.

For the assignment last week I gave each student a picture of a dancing scarecrow. They had to write a story about the scarecrow and why it was dancing.

These were my guidelines: The story should have a beginning, middle, and end.

The Beginning: Tell about the main character/s. It could be the scarecrow and somebody else. You could be in the story, or you could write it in third person.  Give the characters names. Tell what the main character wants, or what problem they are experiencing.

The Middle: What does the main character do to try to get what he/she wants; or to solve the problem?

The End: How is the problem solved? Why is the scarecrow dancing?

I should mention that I would prefer to just put a topic on the board and have the kids write freely. However, I know my students well enough to know that only about half of them would be able to produce a solid narrative. The other half would flounder a bit. The guidelines help them come up with an actual story. My students bubbled with enthusiasm over this assignment. Their stories were rewardingly cute.