Quick 10-minute writing skills task - story idea generation.
07.11.24
It can sometimes feel impossible to fit in all the extra-curricular activities we want to do with our children.
This can feel even more like the case when we start to think about 11+ writing preparation.
But even short 10-minute tasks 'on the go' have their use.
This morning, I sat in the dentist's waiting room with my son … for 30 minutes.
And it got me thinking about my post for today.
So, over the next few weeks, I will add a weekly 'writing' task that can be used with your child while you're on a journey, waiting for the bus, or whiling away time in a waiting room somewhere. You can access them via this post on Facebook. They will mainly be oral tasks, but some may require your child to jot down a few words. Using the 'Notes' on a phone is suitable for this. The tasks have been chosen to stretch your child's skills in key areas.
Here's the Week 1 task.It's great for helping children quickly generate ideas for a story. I used this in school as a quick warm-up task with children of all abilities and ages, and it comes from the excellent Pie Corbett.
Thinking of a story idea can cause some children a lot of stress. They can also rely on the same type of plot repeatedly. Reluctant readers often fall into this category as they have yet to read a wide range of stories to give them lots of ideas.
Week 1 – Generating story ideas
Step 1: Brainstorm a list of nouns (about 10). Write them into your notes.Examples: bath, chair, tiger, dentist, yoghurt, train, tree, gold, walnuts, football.
Step 2: Choose two of the nouns that don't seem to go together. Take a few minutes to discuss how the two things could link. Interestingly, this technique is precisely what C.S. Lewis used for his classic tale, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.Example: yoghurt + tiger OR chair + walnuts
Example idea using yoghurt + tiger: One day, a tiger (faced with yet another nasty-tasting boar) realised he needed to widen his culinary experiences. He'd heard whispers of a milky delight called 'yoghurt' and set off in search of this food, changing his life forever (and possibly the lives of the boar community, too!).Let us know if you have an idea for 'chair + walnuts'!
Anna