Brandi's Place

For today’s activity, your students get to imagine themselves all grown up and doing a very important job!  To begin, first have your student(s) give several examples of different careers and talk about what they do. Write them all down where the students can see (add more that you can think of). Then, tell them to choose a career and close their eyes and imagine doing that kind of job. *You could find a book at the library or go online to find more information about the career they have selected to write about. (see below) Now to begin your writing activity, start with the sentence “If I were a ______, I would…” For example “If I were a veterinarian, I would take care of sick animals.”  The next sentence (can be more than one, especially for older students) should describe how they intend to carry out that duty. "Whenever someone brings me their sick pet, I will do everything I can to help that pet get better." The last sentence(s) states why they have ch...

Why should you teach your students creative writing? During most of our school days, the main push and focus is Math, Science, Reading, and Social Studies. But, what about writing? And some may argue that kids are able to do plenty of writing during the course of their other subjects so adding writing as a separate subject might seem unnecessary. That may be because they do not understand the value creative writing has and how it can actually enhance a child’s ability to learn the other subjects. Okay, now really, how can “Once upon a time…” really help a kid with math or science? Good question! I’m glad you asked! The answer lies in the creative writing process itself which not only allows a writer to bring a story together, but also to train their mind to organize and process data. The Creative Writing Process (in a nutshell): Brain Storm Draft Revise Edit Publish During brain-storming , young writers are often encouraged to create a flow chart that...

 I am a dreamer. I love stories, either reading them or writing them. If I am not reading a story, I am writing one in my head. Only sometimes do I actually write them down. Does this sound like you? Does your brain reach for a story like a street drug? Do you ever say "I'm sorry, you're interrupting me." to someone because you're busy conversing with the voices in your head? Then maybe you are born to be a writer!   But, where do you begin? You've probably heard this before: Write what you know! But it's so true. Even if you are coming up with a fantasy world where everything is different than reality, there has to be some feelings, experiences, or interests you can draw from to inspire your story. Think about: What do you like to do? What do you enjoy reading about? Then, sit back and daydream. Go back to pretend land like when you were a little kid and imagine your story playing out like a movie in your head. They say every character in an aut...