Esl brainstorming storywriting activities12/18/2023 Mike is a mess! What do you suppose would be some ways he could try to solve his breath problem? Keep directing your child to include humorous elements such as ridiculous situations and silly solutions. Why is having bad breath a problem? For the beginning of the story, let’s make a list of funny things that could happen because of his bad breath.Īs you come up with possibilities together, jot words and phrases on your whiteboard. We’ve decided that Mike the Monster has bad breath. It’s good to ask questions such as: What funny situations might a monster find himself in? Could he get stuck in an elevator? Could he have trouble learning to skateboard? Or maybe he looks silly-a pink monster who wants to be scary but only ends up making people laugh.Īfter tossing ideas around together, you might say: OK. For their lesson on humor, Amy’s son wanted to write about a monster. Here are some ways to coax more content from your child. Now that you know the direction the story will take, it’s time to brainstorm for different title ideas. Help your child include elements that support the story’s theme. Keep asking questions to prompt your child. (Again, if this results in tears or tantrums, don’t hesitate to write the ideas for him.) Brainstorm for the story’s middle and end. Then, have your child pick his favorite “beginning” and write it on his own worksheet. Once you’ve come up with ideas together, write some of them on a whiteboard. Where does the story take place? In the kitchen? Under your bed? At the soccer field? On a strange planet?.When does the story happen? One winter? Last Tuesday? Yesterday?.Who could be the main character in your story? An animal? A person? A make-believe character?.Talk about different ways the story could start. He might need to pick a new topic that he can tell more about. If he can’t think of anything now, he definitely won’t have much to write about later. Pump out those ideas!īrainstorming should produce more ideas than your child plans to use. If it’s a funny story, help him decide on a main character who finds himself in a humorous situation. If it’s an adventure story, your child will want to think of a main character, an exciting or exotic setting, and a problem for the character to solve. That’s why the title should actually be the last step of brainstorming. He might think of a great title, but sometimes he can’t come up with any ideas to go with it. Writing the title first can back a child into a corner. For now, know that it’s okay to take over the writing for your child. Young or reluctant children can shut down if expected to do too much writing. As mom, teacher, coach, and cheerleader, your goal is both to encourage your child and train him to think. That’s what brainstorming sessions are all about! Plan to do the writing, if needed. Reluctant writers in particular should not be left to write on their own. Until a child has learned the skills to be a good brainstormer, you’ll need to work closely with him. Look to the parent instructions to direct the activity rather than rely on worksheet pages alone. Sometimes, brainstorming sheets aren’t self-explanatory. If you’re using a writing program, lean on the teacher’s guide, which is loaded with tips and guidance. I sent Amy a number of ideas for how to plan a story with her son. You’ll find those suggestions-and more!-below. To Amy’s dismay, all he wrote was “Once upon a time” and “The end.” This post was gleaned from a series of email conversations I had with one such mom, “Amy.” The trouble began when she handed her son a graphic organizer on which to write ideas for what could happen at the beginning, middle, and end of his story. They don’t see how he’ll ever write a decent sentence, let alone a whole story. They don’t know how to help their child get past tears and pencil-throwing. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear from moms who have a Ben of their own. On the other hand, my son Ben, though he loved to tell stories out loud, wouldn’t write one down to save his life. They didn’t need much coaxing from me they knew how to plan a story-and they wrote because it was fun! In their free time, if their noses weren’t buried in a favorite book, they might be found with pencil in hand, ideas spilling into their spiral notebooks like water from a rain spout.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |