Paddy Eger
Educating America News on Schools A Newsletter Supporting k-8 Classroom Volunteerism Spring, 2016
Volume 16:1 This quarter’s newsletter is focused on Ways to Jazz Up Creative Writing Students are often asked to create a story using their imaginations. This newsletter will provide ideas to inspire educators, classroom assistants, students and parents.
Ways to Jazz Up Creative Writing 1 Quotes to Ponder
About Me
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It’s a win-win for everyone!
Ways to Jazz Up Creative Writing The assignment: write a story. “Use your imagination. Write in any genre. Add interesting details. Focus on creating a strong beginning, middle, and ending.” Now what?
How to Write a Really Cool Fiction Story 2
Make a plan to answer: What will I write about? How will I start? What elements do I need to include? Let’s look at these three basics of story writing. (For details on writing not addressed here, consult a book or online resource on writing with students, or check out my resources listed under Online Support on page 3.)
Resources
What will I write about? How do I start?
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One Way to Look at It
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Need inspiration?
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Final Notes
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Looking for Ideas to Train Para Educators Cassroom Volunteers 4
Quotes to Ponder Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words. ~ Mark Twain Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~ William Wordsworth
Begin thinking about what you like and know. What interests you? sports? cartoons? your family? book characters? movies? Use what you know to focus your ideas. This doesn’t mean you copy a storyline; it means you use it to help you narrow down topics that interest you. Next, find a way to organize you ideas. It might be an 8-square paper with 1 drawing in each box to show the order of scenes in your story. Or, you may use a graphic organizer or a web to get down your thoughts. The form is not as important as getting down your ideas in a loose order. What elements do I need to include? The checklist on page 2 in the newsletter is one way to keep track of the elements you need in your story. Beginnings of stories need to hook readers and keep them reading or listening. The middle of a story needs a clear problem and several attempts to solve that problem. Endings allow the reader to feel the story has reached a satisfactory conclusion. It contains answers to the problems and lets the characters move forward. Characters, verbs, sensory details, and proper arrangement of details make the story interesting. Here’s where a reader/students editor/adult listener helps. Stories need to be read aloud for their authors to catch errors and add details. ...continued on page 2
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