Creative Writing

Although aimed at my class 5,(10/11 year olds) with a little tweaking this lesson could be used at any grade. 
For younger groups, re-read some of the tales and have them work on their own book covers.
For older student, chose the more challenging posters.

The Challenge
Getting students writing again after the long holidays can be quite a challenge. Most of them seem to have forgotten everything they previously learned.
So, for the first while I like to focus on quality not quantity. That means a very carefully structured lesson - that is also engaging and creative.
I found these wonderful minimalist posters for popular children's books through Twitter and I'm going to use them as a springboard to a creative writing lesson early in the new school year.

                                      Objective
To focus on the 'essence' of a well known story.  This poster captures the idea very succinctly.

To share experiences of stories: in our multicultural classrooms, many children may not be familiar with traditional tales.

To recall the pleasures of being read to.  First experiences of these stories were most likely through parents reading to children.

To capture that 'essence' visually and in the written form.

To encourage collaboration in pairs or small groups.
           
                                      To lead to an appreciation of words as a limitless resource, yet each one must be chosen carefully thus bringing discipline to their creative writing.

Preparation
Using the camera tool on my Interactive Whiteboard, I placed an image of  one poster per page.  I blocked out the title.
I also prepared a page, using a basic mind map diagram, so we could write in our own selection of book titles.

Whole Class Work

Have fun deducing the name of the book from the poster.  For this age group I have chosen 6 of the more obvious types and put in 2 more challenging posters.
The vocabulary focus is on words such as 'deduce', 'inspiration', 'essence' and phrases such as 'A picture is worth a thousand words'.
Discussion centres around recollection of favourite stories.  Some children might summarise a story that other children are not familiar with.
Orally work on the back cover of one or two of the books - the 'blurb', emphasing how short, yet evocative this must be.

Brainstorm
Have the children suggest other titles of books they are currently reading or fondly remember.  Exploit the cultural diversity in your class.
Record these on the IWB Brainstorm page.

Group Work
Have the children work on a visual representation of one of the story titles.

You can then have them continue on to collaborate on a 'blurb' for the story. I restrict 10/11 year olds to a maximum of 250 words.

or

Gather in their posters and scan them onto your IWB flipchart.  The next class can be used to deduce the titles.

or

Gather in the posters and randomly reallocate them.  It is them the job of another group to write the 'blurb'.

Reflect
Get the children's views on the challenge of producing a tightly worded blurb.
Guide them to consideration of writing as a discipline.  Words should be considered, rejected, selected and recorded and not simply written.

Day 3

Bringing the class novel alive

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This is my favourite book to read to my class 5 (10/11 year olds).

Objectives

To foster skills of reflection, curiosity and empathy.

To build an appreciation of the 'threads' woven within a novel.

To explore the historic context of the novel.

To just love it!

To enhance the reading experience using technology.

Why this novel?

I have been using this novel so many years and yet find something new to appreciate every time.  I read it myself to the students, as I feel I have such a depth of knowledge of it I can foster a greater appreciation.  Also I am modelling reading style.  I make a reasonable attempt to give each character a unique voice and accent.  We enjoy the novel once a week and it can take up to 15 weeks to finish it!  I have never had a student - boy or girl -  who did not love it. It is a romantic tale imbued with mystery, science, spiritualism and much more.

Visuals
Some say the author was inspired by the house and gardens she lived in at that time.  You can view pictures and get more information here .  I love the image of her writing at a table in the gazebo, always wearing a white dress and floppy hat!
The Secret Garden was an illustrated book and the illustrations and original text can be seen here .

Technology
What better way to marry the old and the new than to let Fakebook bring them together. That's not Facebook but Fakebook!
Create pages for Mary, Colin, Martha, Mr. Craven and more.  I undertake the editing on the characters behalf but we brainstorm on what to write, charting the characters' progress through the book. The students can post comments and you can upload images too.  Considering the geographical spread of the book - India, England and Switzerland - there is a lot to explore.  We uploaded images of travel in Edwardian times - ships, train, carriages; the Yorkshire Moors, India, Edwardian fashion, Edwardian family portraits, Switzerland - the list is fairly endless.
Zoom in on locations using Google Earth.
Track Mary's journey on Google Maps .
Create Wordles along the way.  Before and after Wordles, using adjectives to describe Mary would be one example. Display a family of Wordles in one place on the wall - character name worldes, place name worldes, Wordles describing characters - the list is endless.




Talking Points

Frances Hodgson Burnett wove a tale with silken threads of wonder leading into so many areas of the modern curriculum.
Inspiration: Burnett overcame a lack of formal education, reduced circumstances and loss of her father at a young age. How are these reflected in her story?  Her biography can be read here . 

Personal growth - Mary and Colin overcome loneliness, disability and orphanhood to emerge triumphant.

Friendship- Friendships cross social divides and emerge from the ashes of dysfuntional childhoods.

Social History - this is very much an 'upstairs - downstairs' book, opening opportunities for much discussion; the industrial revolution, educational opportunities, concepts of class, child labour...

World History: Colonialism

Physical Geography: India
Creative Writing: Finding inspiration in personal experiences. For this age group I like to focus on positive experiences. A good example is Burnett setting up a school, despite her lack of formal education. Guide the students to an inspirational person, friendship, celebrity, book, movie, etc in their lives. 

Beyond the curriculum

In Edwardian times there was great interest in Spiritualism .  It is not overtly present in the story, so will not challenge any religious beliefs the children might hold.  However, the robin as the spirit of Colin's mother is a lovely touch.  The belief that birds are the spirits or souls of those who passed on was quite prevalent.  And in the novel it is the robin who makes the discovery of the garden and its healing powers possible.

Colin represents on another level the advance of Science. He is one of the new breed -always looking for scientific explanations for the workings of the world.

The healing power of Nature is one of the dominant themes.  It is through Dickon that Colin and Mary leave the cossetted and highly charged atmosphere of the house and Colin's room in particular and go outside, allowing their imagination and feelings the space to grow.  The tangled, cluttered, uncared for garden is a metaphor for the neglected children. 

Dickon's mother, Susan, is mother nature.  Though poor and uneducated, she is wise and respected by all classes.  Even the absent patriach, Colin's father, respects her.  This is another example of the class divides becoming blurred.

Perhaps they sound like big themes for this age group, but they soak it up.  It is after all essential for them to glimpse where they have come from!

Day 2

Creating a Digital Story

Bringing the classroom into the home!

Very unusually for an Irish primary school, we subject teach. In Class 2 English (7/8 year olds) I want the children to reflect and share experiences from their summer holidays.

Objectives:
Reflect and recall
Value the experiences of others
Get to know any new students
Connect with their teacher as he/she shares their stories
Appreciate their own experiences
Home - school liaison

Preparation
I will ask the children to bring in mementoes of their holidays - photos, certificates from summer camps, souvenirs, airline boarding passes, tickets to shows, museums, a near empty bottle of sunscreen - just about anything!  The more eclectic the mix, the better!
I will scan or photo the items creating a digital resource for our book.

In Class
We will also have a circle time show and tell. Encouraging the children to relate and share experiences is a must before attempting the more daunting task of recording through writing. They are prompted and inspired through listening to others.

Next comes the writing. Create individual worksheets using the photos of the students' mementoes.  For the best result these should be colour.  These worksheets will also make a great visual display in the classroom.

Once the writing task is done and dusted, rehearse reading aloud from their worksheets.  I will model this drawing attention to tone and pace. Feedback is vital: 'Was I too fast/slow? How could I make it more interesting?' 

Then put them into groups, encouraging positive feedback from their group.

Teacher's Homework
For this younger age group I will prepare the first draft of our story by uploading the children's photos, giving one page per child and one for me.  Little Bird Tales as it is free, easy, allows use of own photos and you can record audio too!

Back in Class

Each child can then record the audio of their story, reading from their finished worksheet, while their page is displayed on the whiteboard!   

More Teacher's Homework!

Finally I  will add the children's texts and check everything through before publishing.

Enjoy!

In school, share it with other classes and familes can enjoy it at home!

My cloud filing cabinet is bursting at the seams. Twitter having crash landed me into the global classroom is providing me with such a variety and quantity of educational tools that I'm living in the virtual equivalent of Francis Bacon's studio! There is stuff everywhere!
With the new academic year only a butty pencil length away, I've made a resolution to actually devise a practical use for one new tool everyday.
This is Day 1.
This is aimed at  English Class for 10 year olds.
I've chosen the wonderfully simple Edward Monkton animation of The Pig of Happiness


The objectives:
                                                                                                                                                                                                           

• sharing, I too will tell them what makes me happy
• to develop comprehension skills
• focus on word skills: antonyms and synonyms
• to 'grow' a creative writing exercise from our work.
• a positive start to the new academic year.

The Approach:

First we will watch the animation.  Once over I will solicit feedback from students. The 'you have a lovely bottom' compliment the Happiness Pig gives to Pig C is a good place to start! Some will vocalise their thoughts superbly and I expect positive and negative reaction.  For others these skills are still developing but I will attempt to draw them in by focussing on a detail and taking a 'yes, I liked it' or no I didn't' response.

In the course of this bear in mind the comprehension questions they will later have to answer.  Pose questions or express your personal response to guide them towards considering these questions without overtly stating the questions. Discuss compliments: those we have received and those we would like to receive!

Whole Class Work:

Using Spiderscribe we will collaborate on creating mind maps.

First for synonyms for happiness, then for antonyms.

Print these out and display.

Individual Work:

Create a mind map using pictures or text: 'Things that make me happy'.

Comprehension Skills:

If you have time you can do this in class.  My preference is to give it for homework. I have embedded the google doc on my class website.  I've kept the typing to a minimum as I am not sure how good their typing skills are!  

You can access a copy here .

Follow Up Activities:

Build on their 'Things that make me happy' mindmaps  to create essays. Prompt them to vary their vocabulary using the mindmaps already created.

Work in groups creating a dialogue between two or more students that is full of compliments.

                               

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