Creative Writing Lesson Plans - Page 3
© Gloria Campos-Hensley
8) Introduce them to nontraditional writing assignments. Creative Writing is not just poetry and short stories. Have a greeting card section. Where they can make greeting cards out of materials and then write their own greetings. This writing assignment is wonderful for that special occasion.
9) Let them write in their own language. Sometimes students speak more than one language and speak one better than the other. So let them write in the language that makes them feel more comfortable and natural. They can or someone else can translate their writing later. Use this prompt on cultural day. Inform them that translating can also be a writing career.
10) Get out from the old and in with the new. Your students live in a time when pen and paper just is not enough anymore. Let them use the computer if the class has one. Bring in an old typewriter. The typewriter is technically not a "new" thing but it is to them. They have always written on paper with pencils and pens. 11) Do not just keep it in the class! Take your kids on a field trip. A walk outside or to the library day! If a teacher allows you, take them to another class and have them quietly observe the other students for five minutes. Then go outside the classroom and write about it. This can be a little risqué. If any of the students begin speaking and disrupt the class you may never be welcome in another class again. Make sure the kids can handle that discipline. It is very tempting for a student to giggle at a funny observation and pass it on to another student. Before you know it, you will have a class full of rowdy kids and one angry teacher. 12) Write anything you want day! Direct them to the prompt folders. This is also good if your student ever say; "I don't know what to write about!" direct them to the prompt folders:
Ideas for Prompt Folders 1) Magazine Pictures 2) Magazine words and sentence 3) Grammar worksheets 4) Mad Lib 5) Newspaper clippings 6) Examples of dialogue 7) Vocabulary words 8) Samples stories, poetry, articles, greeting card versus, bumper stickers 9) Sensory Images
Don't force a child to write. Inspire them. If one day your student just does not feel like writing, ask him to doodle or draw instead. This too can encourage creativity. Play writing games with them, flash cards, and refrigerator magnet poetry. One fun thing that is always enjoyable to children is MAD LIB. Let them fill in those blanks and then read it out loud to them when they are finished filling in the blanks. This is a keen way of showing children their nouns, verbs adjectives, etc., without your students really noticing it.
