A Helpful Idea to Help Kids With Their Writing.
Hitting A Wall
If your children are anything like mine, you have experienced the dread that plagues them when it is that wonderful time to sit down and write. Being that writing is an absolute fundamental, it was difficult to watch the lack of interest they showed in formulating their ideas and putting their triconderogas to paper. From the heavy sighs to the procrastination, for them, writing became their sworn enemy all too quickly.
In both my children, I have found that at seven years old, they hit a wall with the desire to write. Seeing this disheartened me, as both had amazing penmanship, creative minds, and were filled with humorous ideas. I wanted those great attributes to reflect in their written stories and writing assignments.
Getting Over The Wall
I'll be the first to admit, keeping a seven year old excited about writing paragraphs is quite a lofty goal, but I was determined to get them over that wall they were stuck at, and show them there is fun in writing!
But how was I going to achieve the breakthrough?
It all came about because of our ghost thematic unit.
Each week I base all of our learning activities around the theme we are studying. As I was planning the activity titles, "ghost writers" was one so fitting that I knew I wanted to included it, and what better use for it than with writing exercises.
So the idea began to take shape.
What became of it was more than a craft project, it was the wrecking ball I needed to break down their writing walls, and have them experience the excitement and fun involved in the power of writing. It was so well received by my young writers, that I even had my son say "I'm excited to write about this!". Needless to say, my heart swelled!
Here's hoping that this concept can help to inspire other little writers out there- no matter what the season or theme your in.
*Get the complete Ghost Unit Lesson Plan HERE!*
"Ghost Writers"
First and foremost, I wanted the board to look fun and festive. I wanted to peek their interest in it, so I was sure to use our ghost theme by adding ghost cutouts, coordinating Halloween colors, and ghost spinners.
There are so many variations you could make using this concept, I will definitely be using this writing tool in other weekly studies.
Each wheel on the board was a story element. Inside each wheel were silly, intriguing, and wild story pieces that they would use when building their story.
They got to spin each story element wheel to see which story idea the ghost was going to land on. Once they had all three elements to include in their story, they then moved to the paired writing sheet.
They started the paired writing sheet by filling in the ideas that they had previously spun, into the story elements box. From that, they could then begin piecing a story together in whatever creative fashion they wanted. We used the "Ghost Writers" board for four days, which for them, generated four completely unique stories with ease and excitement.
Although I'm sure they'll be more challenges that come in the writing department, I'll be keeping this idea close in hopes of reminding them of the concept that writing can be fun!
Have any other ideas for helping young writers? Be sure to share them in the comments!
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