Archive for the ‘Writing Exercises’ Category

Scattergories Meme

In the blogging world, bloggers play games called “memes.” These games get passed around from blog to blog and spread like a virus throughout the Internet. Some of them are perfect for playing with kids. This one is a game that you can all play together, each child using his or her name to fill in the answers. One of the best ways to encourage word play is to spend time on what looks like idle word associations. These kinds of associations form connections in your brain that help you to become more efficient in thinking of words for the times you need them when you write!

Your name: Julie

1. Famous Athlete: Joe Montana
2. 4 letter word: Jerk
3. Street Name: Juniper Lane (true street where I grew up)
4. Color: Jade
5. Gifts/presents: Jewelry
6. Vehicles: Jeep
7. Tropical Locations: Jamaica
8. College Majors: Journalism
9. Dairy Products: Jersey milk
10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jellybeans
11. Boy Name: Jacob
12. Girl Name: Jill
13. Movie Titles: Journey to Jo’burg
14. Beverage: Juice
15. Occupations: Janitor
16. Flowers: Juniper berries (best I could do!)
17. Celebrities: Jennifer Aniston
18. Magazines: Ladies Home Journal
19. U.S. Cities: Juno
20. Pro Sports Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars
21. Something Found in a Kitchen: Jug
22. Reason for Being Late: Just behind schedule
23. Something You Throw Away: Junk
24. Things You Shout: Jump for joy!
25. Cartoon Character: Jesse James (not even close, so help me out)

Have fun!

Posted in General, Words!, Writing Exercises | 5 Comments »

Boggle your writer

Anne said:

Julie:
I really appreciate your Brave Writer site. Your words have removed much of my fear and rigidity around teaching writing.

My ten year old daughter and I often play Boggle or Cribbage during mealtime. We sometimes play Boggle cooperatively, just seeing how many words we can jot down together. Lately we have been taking the word lists generated from one or two sessions of Boggle and then writing poems or snippets of a story. Starting with a word list is so much easier than starting with a blank page. When (and if) she grants me permission I will send you a sample of her writing. No guarantees.

Thanks for your site.
Anne

I said:

Thank you Anne!

I’d like to post your suggestion to the blog this week. Would that be all right with you?

Julie

She replied:

Julie-
Posting it would be fine.
Here is a sample of what my daughter, Natalie, wrote from this exercise. Words from the Boggle list are italicized:

“I seek a set of leeks,” said a rabbit.

“To eat?” questioned an ant.

“Yes,” replied the rabbit. “I will eat them to loosen my tooth.”

“Do you think a tooth fairy will take your tooth?” said the ant.

“Of course! But I will need to send a hint.”

“Who is the tooth fairy?” wondered the tiny ant.

“I am,” declared a small, smiling creature in a hood. The tooth fairy disappeared, however there was still a tune in the air.

Thanks.
Anne and Natali

Isn’t this a great idea?

Posted in Activities, Email, General, Writing Exercises, Young Writers | 1 Comment »

New Year’s “Revolution”: Project 365

Happy New Year everyone!

Caitrin keeps asking me what my “New Year’s Revolutions” are going to be. I realized this is a great way to think about those “resolutions” isn’t it? Let’s change the way we do something, do something revolutionary!

I want to share one of mine with all of you. A friend put me onto Project 365. The simple task of this project is to photoblog each day of the year, for one year. That means that you will want to take one picture each day and then upload them to a blog as often as you can (you may certainly upload a week’s worth at once; the real idea is to be sure you take a daily photo).

One of the nice things about this project is that you create natural opportunities for writing: your kids may want to tag the photos with captions, for instance, or one of you may take a photo worthy of a freewrite or that might catalyze a poem. Somehow putting a camera in a child’s hands leads to a new view, to energy released, to enthusiasm for paying attention to the small things in life.

To set up a blog, I like Blogger.com. The platform is free and you can upload photos directly from your computer to your blog without having to host them at a photography platform first. Flickr.com is a great website for creating a slideshow of your photos to share with others. Simply create an account and start uploading your photos to it. You can also use Flickr.com to directly post to your blogger blog.

If all this sounds too technical, please don’t be intimidated. Perhaps the New Year’s Revolution you might like to attempt is getting familiar with some of these public Internet tools so you can expand your online horizons. Remember: teenagers can figure this stuff out. It can’t be that hard, can it?

So have fun! If you create a photoblog, feel free to send me a link. I’ll list it in the sidebar.

Posted in General, Writing Exercises | 1 Comment »