What’s your favorite season? List all the reasons why you like it so much.
New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.
Natural Stages of Growth: Early Writers
Do you know your child is a writer well before she can handwrite? We do! Early writers are in the natural stages of growth in writing we call Jot It Down and Partnership Writing.
Perhaps you saw our recent webinar on the natural stages of growth. If not, watch it here!
Early writers are bursting with stories about anything from the report about the dog who just ate your shoe to their recap of how they built the latest LEGO masterpiece. When you capture these ideas in writing, you show your kids their thoughts have value and are worthy of sharing with others. An author is born!
In addition to following your child around with pen and paper in hand, ready to write down their precious utterances, how else can you foster the craft of these budding writers? Story Switcheroo and Telling Tales to the rescue! In these family classes (sign up as many children as you want for one low price), we guide you, the parent, through a series of delightful writing activities centered around beloved
- fairy tales,
- myths,
- and legends.
Our instructors show you how to “come alongside” your writer, providing the necessary support to enable him to twist those tales into new stories. Imagine the feeling a child experiences when his stories are not only written down but also shared at dinner and put in the morning basket for a regular rereading. Your kids will soon know that they are authors!
Brave Writer classes help you establish writing routines and a language-rich household where words become fodder for play and experimentation.
Here’s what our parents have to say:
My son surprised me with how well he absorbed the elements of a fairy tale and how confidently he was able to write his own fairy tale in week 4 of the class using so many of the fairy tale elements we learnt during the class. I am very impressed with the “Switcheroo” process – trust the process. Thanks Jen for an amazing course. The activities in this course were very effective and engaging. My sons loved it and so did I. We had lots of fun and laughs. My sons and I bonded so much and I was able to connect with them. Thank you very much!! -Anna
The class is full of amazing ideas for how to promote storytelling in natural, amusing, and imaginative ways. You don’t have to think of storytelling as starting from scratch – a blank canvas. Instead, you can use stories that you already know and transform them into new and often hilarious stories of your own. -Elizabeth
Movie Wednesday: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Amy Frantz
After the planet Earth is destroyed by Vogons to make way for an intergalactic bypass, Arthur Dent, the last surviving human man, hitchhikes to safety along with his alien friend, Ford, aboard the Vogon ship. Soon afterwards, they are dumped into space by the Vogons, where they once again hitchhike aboard the ship of Trillian (the last human woman) and the President of the Galaxy (who also happens to have two heads), Zaphod Beeblebrox, and they become immediately swept up into the quest to find the ultimate question of the universe.
[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases,
Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]
Originally a radio comedy series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams was published in 1979 and has become a science fiction classic.
In 2005 a major motion picture adaptation was released with a screenplay co-written by Douglas Adams, who sadly passed away before the film was completed.
Under the guise of absurdist humor, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy deals with themes of bureaucracy, callousness, whether life has meaning, and seeing things from someone else’s point of view.
Discussion Questions
- Arthur Dent is the Every Man, meant to stand in for the audience members. But if you were in Arthur Dent’s position as one of the last surviving humans, how do you think you would react? Would you react like Arthur or in some other way?
- Trillian is the only female member of the main cast. How do you think the story might change if more of the characters were women?
- If you could custom build a planet as we see in the film, what would your planet be like?
- If you were to write a chapter on yourself in the Hitchhiker’s Guide, what would it say?
Additional Resources
DIY Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Towel Bag – YouTube video
Brave Writer’s FREE movie discussion guide
Amy Frantz is a Brave Writer alum and now works as a Virtual Marketing Assistant for Brave Writer.
Learn language arts with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Boomerang!
The Boomerang is a monthly digital downloadable product that features copywork and dictation passages from a specific read aloud novel. It is geared toward 8th to 10th graders (ages 12—advanced, 13-15) and is the indispensable tool for Brave Writer parents who want to teach language arts in a natural, literature-bathed context.
Happy Birthday, Rebecca Stead!
In celebration of Rebecca Stead’s birthday on January 16, the Boomerang based on her book, When You Reach Me, is:
HALF PRICE till Friday, January 18 midnight ET ($5.95)!
[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases,
Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]
Born on January 16, 1968, Rebecca Stead is the author of the Newbery Medal-winning and best-selling novel When You Reach Me.
Shortly after a fall-out with her best friend, sixth grader Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes, and she doesn’t know what to do. The notes tell her that she must write a letter—a true story, and that she can’t share her mission with anyone.
It would be easy to ignore the strange messages, except that whoever is leaving them has an uncanny ability to predict the future. If that is the case, then Miranda has a big problem—because the notes tell her that someone is going to die, and she might be too late to stop it.—Amazon
Learn language arts with When You Reach Me Boomerang!
The Boomerang is a digital downloadable product that features copywork and dictation passages from a specific read aloud novel. It includes notes about how to teach spelling, grammar, and literary devices found in the passages. It is geared toward 7th to 10th graders (ages 12—advanced, 13-15) and is the indispensable tool for Brave Writer parents who want to teach language arts in a natural, literature-bathed context.
So, celebrate Rebecca Stead’s birthday and take advantage of this special offer today!
Also, if you’d like to buy a copy of the novel, it’s available through Amazon: When You Reach Me
February 2019 Pouch Book Club
It seems like yesterday it was still 2018, but February is fast approaching along with the latest Pouch Book Club. Make sure you snag your child’s spot now before classes fill!
If I could host you all in my cozy living room for book discussion, I would. Instead, Brave Writer provides you a virtual living room space—where students gather to freely discuss the novels they read with you at home. We’ve created a secure environment where kids gather and are guided by a discussion facilitator who helps these kids take their answers deeper. Instead of talking out loud, your kids will use a keyboard and transcribe their thoughts into writing—the kind you can print and save, read again and consider.
Also a FREE digital copy of our language arts guide based on the book selection for the month is provided.
[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases,
Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]
February’s selection for the Pouch Book Club (ages 11-14) is The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig.
In June 1942, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are “capitalists—enemies of the people.” Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia. For five years, Ester and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.—Amazon
Purchase the novel here.
Due to popular demand, Brave Writer now offers a transition book club between the Arrow and Boomerang. The Pouch club is for middle schoolers who want to discuss novels with their peers, who are ready to learn the art of thinking and writing simultaneously all while excited about a great story!
Let Brave Writer help you. These book discussions are drawn from entertaining works of fiction that your kids are sure to love!
REGISTER HERE
Caveat: Please remember that you’re the parent. If you have doubts about the content of a particular book, please check the reviews of the novel or read it for yourself first. Pouch and Boomerang books in particular may include sexuality, graphic language, and mature themes.
