Writing Children's Literature

Writing has become more and more important in schools today. For decades students have become unskilled in writing. Their writing is ungrammatical and lack any spark of creativity. College entrance exam readers and SAT readers complain that most of the essays they read are boring beyond belief. These readers also explain that a paper or essay that actually has a tiny bit of creativity or the student's voice consistently get higher grades. Writing that is formulaic and robotic gets the lower grades. Readers of these dull papers have even complained about being lulled to sleep out of boredom.

When writing is taught in the early grades, teachers try to help students become creative as well as grammatical. They plan writing assignments that will stimulate their student creativity. They have stopped using the ever boring What I Did on My Summer Vacation. Instead many elementary school teachers have started teaching their children to write their own children's literature.

In elementary school most students enjoy reading whether it is picture books, chapter books, or even comic books. Teachers can exploit their interest in reading to help them become creative writers.

One lesson plan that has always worked well is for the teacher to read the class a story. Then the students write a few sentences, a paragraph, or even a page story after they hear the story. Of course, the younger students will write the shorter stories and the older ones will write the longer ones. Anyway, the teacher asks the students to write a story about one of the characters from the book she just read.

Another idea is to ask students to change the ending of the story she just read. Kids enjoy changing stories to fit their own personalities. Some boys might have Prince Charming go play baseball instead of marrying Cinderella. Maybe Cinderella might become a soccer player. The point is for kids to turn the stories upside down and make them their own,

Children are born story tellers. They love to watch a DVD over and over and can even quote dialogue. The teacher might ask her students to change something about their favorite video or write another story starring their favorite character. I know I would have loved to re-write Bambi and Old Yeller. Bambi's mother would live and Old Yeller would be fine.

Teaching creativity is not rocket science. Children are so open and free. They love to read and tell stories. Teachers must tap into this creative streak and have students writing children's literature that everyone can enjoy.

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