by Linda Ann Nickerson

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: February 17, 2012

Super Student Writing Smarts

Elementary school students can be amazingly creative, once their imaginations become focused on an interesting project. How can you help school-aged children to practice their developing writing skills?

Try these great creative writing projects with your favorite elementary school subjects. Prepare to be amazed at the results.

Find a photo.

Many school-aged children are very visually oriented. Computer games, television programs, movies and other diversions appeal to this sense. Why not seize the advantage and harness children's creativity by offering an intriguing, humorous or unusual photograph as a story starter?

Post a photo or drawing, and watch what happens. Encourage elementary school students to consider what ideas or emotions the image evokes. Some children may write poems, while others create stories.

Keep a quotation.

A challenging or even surprising quotation, particularly from a popular celebrity or famous speaker, can often provide a marvelous springboard for creative writing. Read the quote aloud, or print it on the top of a sheet of paper, and instruct elementary school students to respond or react to the statement.

Older students might be inspired to incorporate the quotation into a short story's dialogue, or to use it as the opening line for a poem.

Make it magnetic.

Pick up a magnetic poetry kit at a bookstore or educational toy store, or make your own. Place the word pieces on large metal trays, and encourage small teams of elementary school students to create their own original poems with the magnetized words.

Fill in the Blanks.

Remember the popular party game, Mad Libs? Why not create your own fill-in-the-blanks story for elementary school students? Write an original story, or simply adapt a favorite fairy tale for the occasion.

Here's an example, to get you started:

Once upon a _____, there were three little _______. They lived in a _______by the _______. One day, a wicked _______ discovered their secret treasure, a giant pile of ________. Do you know what happened next?

Jump into journaling.

Even the youngest elementary school students may be encouraged to create personalized journals. Many teachers set aside a few minutes each day for quiet reflection and unstructured writing.

To foster creative ideas, why not play some soothing or intriguing music as children write in their journals? Or, take an occasional journal-toting field trip to a park, an art gallery or even the local zoo.

Build a blog.

Nearly everyone is blogging these days. Why not create a classroom blog? Post a different elementary school student's creative writing each day. Invite parents to subscribe to the blog, so they can read what their children have written?

Most blog platforms offer privacy settings, so you can limit readership to invited individuals, such as school students, faculty and families.

Pick a prompt.

Online writing prompts abound. Some websites (such as Meme Express offer creative writing prompts, while others (like Simply Snickers) have purely poetic entries. Online prompt topics are unlimited, and writing genres and formats may vary. By visiting such sites, you might gain numerous ideas you can adapt for your own elementary school students.

Basically, writers of all ages refine their wordsmithing abilities by practicing them. Encouraging elementary school children to write may require a bit of ingenuity, but your efforts will certain pay off.

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