the-Articles.com » Writing-and-speaking » Writing-and-speaking » Writing-articles » Teaching Creative Writing To Children - 5 Steps

---

Teaching Creative Writing To Children - 5 Steps

Author: ZachariasAllred Total views: 9 Word Count: 469

Teaching children creative writing can be a very enriching experience. Children become familiar with stories at a young age when parents read to them at bed time. Teachers who want to start a creative writing program in the classroom can consider these 5 suggestions to start with.

1. Start small. Think of the most basic topic which is common to most of your students. Pets, parents and toys are some examples. Require the students to write 5 fictional sentences about the specified topic. You can have them write these 5 sentences as a story.

2. Dictation. Get a tape recorder and allow each child to tell a story that you record. Do not allow the stories to be more than a few minutes as you will need to transcribe them. On another day read the stories to the class from a paper. This helps the students understand some basic elements for good.

3. Word processor. Kids take to computers very quickly and most of your students are probably already familiar with them. If possible have them start typing their stories on a computer as soon as possible. Using a word processor is much easier than writing by hand and so the writing will be easier. At first do not be too concerned with grammar, punctuation and spelling. After awhile you can gradually start showing the students how to make capital letters and use some of the grammar and spelling tools offered in most word processors.

4. Idea box. One of the hardest steps for most writers is coming up with good ideas. An "idea box" can help. Bring a box to class and tell the students that this is only for creative writing suggestions. Be sure to let the kids know that others will have access to their ideas so they may also want to have their own idea boxes. This will help with brainstorming for new stories.

5. Teach character development. Developing characters in a story is easy when done correctly. Teach the kids that the main character needs to be the most likable. Read excerpts from Louis L'Amour where he develops his main character in the first few pages of his novels. You know that this cowboy is the best and smartest and, oh yes, he always gets the girl in the end.

Teaching creative writing to children can seem overwhelming at first but when taken in small steps it is not as challenging. Start with basic stories and then work the kids through ideas then into character development. There are other more advanced steps like plot development, editing and publishing but this will get these suggestions will help them get started.

Article Source: the-Articles.com

About the Author

Get a free e book about parenting by going to Zacharias Allred's site about teaching children. You can also select teaching children to write to read other free articles. You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.

---

Rating: Not yet rated

--Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

Comments No comments posted.

Add Comment

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.


Copy and Paste Article Code.

Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.

More articles in this Category

1: Running a Business from Home: Making Your First Million
2: Tips in Writing a Successful Credit Dispute Letter
3: Optimizing Your Blog Correctly
4: What to Blog About
5: Learn to Write Poetry