Kids need few tools to get started with creative writing. Here are some things we like to keep handy.
Other than that, kids need an audience! When your child has written something, where can he or she share it?
My kids enjoy sharing compositions on a private family blog, as well as via email and letters. I also take a video of them reading their compositions, thus giving them a chance to practice oration.
If we want to encourage our children to write, we should encourage lots of it ourselves by doing it ourselves. So much of the time, we do things via apps, including email and text. To encourage writing practice, send letters, actual real letters, to family and friends yourself! Your child may then be interested in joining in by sending mail too.
My thank you cards is a great place to start! As your children see you writing your own thank you notes for Christmas gifts, they can add their own using their own handwriting and words.
If you've read this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I am a big fan of using great picture books as inspiration for early creative writing. See thoughts on one my favorite teacher books, No More "I'm Done!" for more ideas of how to do this.
Or, review the thoughts I share in my classic post, Elementary-level Picture Book-Inspired Writing Ideas.
What essentials do you include in your writing center?
I’m always excited to find picture books that would work well as writing prompts for elementary school kids, so I was extra excited to find Ten-Word Tiny Tales: To Inspire and Unsettle by Joseph Coelho (Candlewick, 2023). This new volume has stories that are each, as the title suggests, just ten-words long. With a variety of illustrators
Read MoreA fantastic 60-page picture book geared for middle school students (The One Thing You’d Save) can mentor your students in in the writing concepts of ideas, voice, a new type of poetry, and even more. Just like in the book, an open discussion can help students recognize the impact of these good writing traits. Further,
Read MoreThe students in my co-op writing class (who are in first to fourth grade) really struggle with starting a story. For the most part, every story starts with “Once there was….” and goes from there. “Once upon a time…” is a close second. It is a challenge to get them to think outside of the
Read MoreWith Thanksgiving coming, it’s time to reflect on what it means to us personally, as well as the context in which we traditional celebrate the holiday. For my older students in my homeschool writing co-op, I found writing about history is a nice way to approach it. Why Read and Write about Thanksgiving?When it’s time
Read MoreWe created our own mail center in our schoolroom and play room because my kids love getting the mail. They love to send letters to friends, teachers, and grandparents. They love to send and receive mail. I made some monster post cards to help us practice writing, addressing, and sending mail. Of course, these aren’t
Read MoreI’ve been creating units for kindergarten using picture books to introduce the poetic concepts of rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor. Today I thought I’d write about another picture book that would help in teaching older children about metaphors in poetry: Red Sings from Treetops by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski.
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