"Take My Word For It!" - creative writing for kids

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "Shhh Secrets" at Musically Minded

We're half way through the week already, taking a look at all different facets of secrets. Yesterday we started off by continuing work on the secret stories that we started on Day 1.

Following the more somber look at Anne Frank's secret hiding place, we took a more lighthearted look at the "secret recipe". The kids were given free range to come up with original secret recipes for all kinds of things - not only the edible kind.

Here are some excerpts:

 

Beauty

"One day Emily was thinking. She was the top chef at the restaurant Chez Panisse and they needed a new recipe. She had made a few up but none of them seemed right. Then, she had an idea. She wrote down: Beauty..."

-Tegan

 

A Recipe for Flying Pigs

"'I bet I can pass the test!' said Claire. "In fact, I'll get a better grade than you!'

"Ha!' barked Jane. 'When pigs fly!' ...

Claire wrote down a recipe for a flying pig. Here is what she wrote down:

1. A small pig

2. Fairy wings

3. A parachute

4. A tall building

5. Drop the big, parachute, fairy wings and all off the tall building..."

-Esme

 

A Recipe for How to Grow Taller

"Once upon a time there was a white rabbit who was very wise and cunning. One day the rabbit said to himself:

'I am so short and everyone else is so tall! This is very bad!'

The white rabbit said this as he hopped along the floor deep in thought.

'Aha!' he said. 'I will make a magic cake that will make me grow!'

So the rabbit brewed and bubbled, boiled, and added until it was all done. There sat two tiny cakes.

He took one big bite and ate the whole thing!

-Anna

 

Secret Recipe

"There was once a very selfish, but sad and lonely woman who lived in a forest in a small wooden hut. She wanted someone to keep her company. So she go out a large bucket and started to make a recipe for a perfect friend.

It took her days, which turned into weeks, which turned into months. Finally, finally, the potion was done. The woman laughed with excitement. And then, out of her bucket rose the perfect best friend. His name was Steve..."

-Amy

 

Later in the afternoon we completed a fantastic art project making  boxes with drawers using four match boxes and decorative papers, gluing on covers, positioning them and adding brad drawer pulls. It was a challenging project and all the students did an awesome job! They each finished their own hide-away box for little secrets. We then wrote messages for our mailboxes to be opened tomorrow.

And, here are some pics from the art containing secrets we worked on the day before!

 

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "Shh Secrets" at the Center for Creative Exploration

Here are some excerpts from our week of camp at the Center for Creative Exploration!

The Secret lives of animals

 

“The only strange thing about me was as soon as I hatched out of my egg, I lifted my soft, fuzzy, baby, feather wings and started flapping severely. All of my family members started staring up at me as I began to hover out of my cozy nest into the cool breeze. All of the sudden I started falling through the air. My mother swooped down and I landed on her warm, plump back with a quiet plop.” –Sydney, 5^th Grade

 

“Britney is a butterfly—a spoiled, beautiful, bratty butterfly. She is mean, and not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Most Butterfolk love her—only for her beauty and popularity, though. Others despise her. These are the lonely, unpopular, jealous, slightly dumpy Butterfolk. Nobody really cares so much about them.” –Sara, 6^th Grade

 

"Once I’m in Alexis’s room, I see she’s lying in her de-stickified spider web hammock. She has a beautiful room and lovely paintings on her green leaf walls that were painted with fruit juice. She has a few weaved toys laying around too. ‘I’m not getting any younger here,’ Alexis reminds me. I sigh and start gently polishing her wings.” –Dahlia, 6^th Grade.

 

 Keeping an imagined secret

“One day I was thinking about something. I was thinking about running away from home. Instead of leaving during the afternoon, I will just leave at night. So I snuck out the window and I ordered a boat and I flew to Mexico and I lived the life of a dog.” –Praxedis, 3^rd Grade

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "Shhh Secrets" at Musically Minded

Yesterday we looked at the more somber side of secrets and learned about the Secret Annexe - where Anne Frank and her family, along with other Jews, hid from the Nazis during World War II. We watched two short films - one about the circumstances that led to Anne going into hiding and how she kept her diary and the other about Otto Frank, her father, the only one who survived after the war and the work he went on to do with young people, keeping Anne;s legacy alive.

We also continued to work on our stories about the secret that we randomly picked yesterday. Before diving in to more writing, we learned the elements of a story - plot, dialogue, setting, etc. and how to think about the arc of the story we're creating. Here are some excerpts from two stories thus far:

 

Secret: I cheat on almost every test in Math

"The numbers on the page swam in front of my face as I looked at the first problem on the math test. Cautiously I peered over the shoulder of Sue, the blonde haired girl sitting next to me and wrote down the answers to the first page....My name is James B. Martain and I live with my Mom, Dad and dog, Ms. Patterson....Over all I am a pretty normal boy except for the fact that I have a dark and terrible secret: I cheat on almost every math test. I don't want to cheat but I just think asking for help is too girly..."

- Tegan

 

Secret: I am planning to run away from home

"On the last day of school I sat at the bus stop watching all of the other kids filing out of school, laughing and racing to the street, hugging their parents and then jumping into cars and driving off to a happy, warm summer vacation. I sat there thinking of what my summer would be like, but the way it was going at that time I knew my summer was going to be as dull and boring as the rest of the year. My parents worked so much that they didn't even have time to pick me up from the last day of school like all the other regular parents, which left me, Alice, to stay at home alone with only our old cat for company..."

- Sophie

 

Then in the afternoon for our art session we finished putting together our sketchbooks and cut out doors, windows, drawers etc. in our secret places paintings. See the photo and you'll have to guess what's behind closed doors!  We also decorated "mailboxes" and everyone wrote a message to be delivered tomorrow. Another fun day!

Why Not Write Wednesdays? Creative Writing Prompt

Some Wednesdays we challenge you to pick up your pen and indulge your budding author self with our writing activity. See where your imagination takes you, and feel free to share your ideas in the Comment section!

Here's one to try:

What is your favorite fairy tale or Disney plot? Perhaps Cinderella, who lives happily ever after with her prince after fitting into her shoe. Perhaps you like Little Red Riding Hood - who ultimately finds the wolf to be disguised as her grandmother.

Pick an ending to one of your favorite stories...and change it! Maybe Cinderella doesn't live happily ever after. Maybe Little Red is actually the wolf! Be creative, and don't be afraid to challenge a traditional ending!

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "Shhh Secrets" at Musically Minded

We have 12 eager and enthusiastic young writers and authors with us for this week of camp.

Our theme is "Shhh - Secrets!" and each day we'll be delving into the many facets of secrets with our pens and our paintbrushes (as well as other materials!).

Yesterday we started off thinking up all the different kinds of secrets there are. Here's our list: secret handshake, secret recipe, secret hide-away, secret crush, secret admirer, secret code, secret weapon, secret formula, secret identity.

For our first writing activity, each kid picked a sealed envelope. Inside the envelope is a secret that has now become the centerpiece of a story they will work on for several days. Here are the list of secrets that were picked at random - ask your child which one they picked!

I once saw a UFO

I am planning to run away from home.

I have a pet rabbit living in my room, but my parents don't know. (I keep his cage hidden behind my bed and sneak carrots and lettuce in to feed him.)

I once saw an elf living in the trunk of a tree.

I have a twin but he/she was given up for adoption when we were born.

I read my older sister's diary when she isn't home.

I can read people's minds.

I can time travel.

My older brother drove my parents' car while they were on a trip out of town even though he doesn't have a license.

I tell everyone my dad is rich and is always travelling around the world for his job, but really I have never met my Dad.

Sometimes I eat insects.

I cheat on almost every test in math.

We started our first art afternoon of camp by exploring paint mixing colors, stamping and rolling paint to make sketchbooks covers and will finish putting together our sketchbooks tomorrow. We then sketched and watercolored a painting of a building with windows and doors or an interior scene  with drawers and cupboards that will be cut out and folded to reveal the secrets inside. We'll finish those today. We have some fun creative art activities planned for the week but Shhh! It's a secret!

Here's our fabulous group:

Braelyn, Anna, and Sophie

Amy

Esme and Catherine

Ian

Kyra and Xochtl

Mikela

Nicole

Tegan

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "The Word Party"

At Friday's camp our kids read their work aloud for their parents - here are a couple pics of our fantastic group!

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "Stamps and Letters" at Musically Minded

Yesterday, we succeeded in writing our pen pal letters to Ghana. We told our pen pals a little bit about ourselves and then we tried to think of questions to ask them that were both unusual as well as sensitive to their environment and culture.

We asked questions like: What's the first thing you see when you walk out your front door? What's the biggest bug you've ever seen? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Our letters are going to go first to L.A. and then be hand-carried to Ghana in February by a group of kids going with the organization called Kids Helping Kids (www.kidzhelpingkids).

Kyra continued reading aloud Roald Dahl's book The Witches. Finally, we started selecting the pieces we are going to share with you at Friday's reading.

Later in the afternoon we walked to the little park and did "rubbings" of textures found on trees, leaves, concrete etc. in our sketchbooks and then stopped to draw our climbing tree. On the way back we picked up leaves and branches to use for printmaking later in the afternoon. Back at  Musically Minded, the students added photos and stamps to their letters to Ghana . We then looked at Asante of Ghana symbols for love, strength, rhythm and patience and with sponge cutouts created paper pattern prints resembling Adinkra cloth. Then we brought out our nature finds and sponge-rolled leaves, lemons etc. to make prints creating wrapping paper, notecards etc. A busy and productive day!

Where would you go with this? Creative writing prompt

Our challenge to you is to look at the photographs we post and see where they may take you, and your pen.

Let your imagination wander freely! And, please feel free to share comments you have, or stories, poems, musings that were spurred on by this week's photo.

Happy writing!

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "The Word Party"

Today at "The Word Party" I challenged the students to write pieces that required certain limitations. All the activities included restrictions of some sort -- specific word counts, syllable patterns, etc. First I asked the kids to complete a "lipogram", which is a piece written without using a specific letter. They had to write a paragraph without using the letter "e". They laughed and struggled as they thought of new ways to describe a house ("a cool building") or of sports that don't include an "e" in them (which ruled out soccer, baseball, basketball).

Then we focused on three very different kinds of poetry:

• Six-word memoirs and wishes (expressing a feeling or thought using just six words)
• Haikus (following a 5-syllable, 7-syllable, 5-syllable pattern)
• Limericks (rhyme scheme: 1st, 2nd and 5th lines rhyme, and 2nd and 3rd lines rhyme)

Then we explored visual poetry, in which words are not arranged in straight lines, but in other shapes and forms. The way the words are used and spaced apart actually becomes part of the writing. Each student completed a "concrete poem", writing about a subject in the actual shape of the subject: a tree, a house, a leaf, a balloon.

Here are some of the haikus and limericks the students wrote today.

Haikus

Green wet and wild
Boys and girls roaming the grass
Ferocious players.
-- Annaliese

I like thunderstorms
They are so flashy and bright
I got badly struck.
-- Aden

I made a great goal
The goalie was mad and frowned
I kicked my cleat off.
-- Sofie

Waving like a flag
Sloshing lonely back and forth
Ocean brave and strong.
-- Kaitlin

Limericks

There once was a stick man named Bob
Who started an angry mob.
It was a big pity
When they blew up the city
Then were stopped by a big angry blob.
-- Jordhi

There was once a big fat cat
Who always chased a very mean bat.
Then the cat chased it
And the bat had a fit
And the cat slipped on a mat.
-- Gina

I once met a bear
That broke a wooden chair
He ate too many berries
Which ended up being cherries
Then screamed with a frightened scare.
-- Nicole

There once was a hog
Who wrestled a dog
Then pranced on their hinds
And went to bed at quarter to nine
Then there was an angry mob.
-- Jonah

Sisters Gina and Sofie think about their poems

Nicole

Jonah, Alex, and Jordhi

Kaitlin

Annaliese

Aden

Summer Camp 2011 - Daily Diary: "Stamps and Letters" at Musically Minded

Today we continued writing our "Licking Envelopes: A Cautionary Tale" stories and then moved on to another type of correspondence- letters to a company whose product or service we love.

The 5 girls collectively wrote to the following companies- can you figure out which one(s) belong to your daughter?

-Hostess - for their Donettes powdered donuts

-O.P.I. nail polish

-Teacake Bake Shop cupcakes

- Little Shin Shin restaurant

- Tootsies on College Ave

- Market Hall's "cowboy cookies"

- Ghiradelli chocolates

We are going to send out our letters of praise for these company's products to let them know how much we appreciate them and see what happens...

After composing our letters to companies we watched a video on how the British Royal Mail (their version of the USPS) gets a letter from London to a tiny island off the coast of Scotland in 24 hours. Next we saw a video of the world's smallest post service- an Oakland-based artist who creates teeny tiny letters and puts them in teeny tiny envelopes, sealed with a drop of sealing wax. They are packaged and sent out with a magnifying glass!

Tomorrow we start our pen pal letters to some kids in Ghana, West Africa. More on that later!

In the afternoon, we got out needles and thread and sewed felt and fabric "envelopes" and purses embellishing them with fabric and rubber stamps. Sophia made a fabric envelope addressed to herself including a stamp . Check out the photo and your flower children in the park!