Brighten writing through games - playful pre-writing activities for students

Four playful prewriting activities that make every student a winner

I often hear from teachers at this time of year: "How can I help my students fine-tune their writing? They have the basics of storytelling down pat, but they still use lackluster language and rush through their narratives without fully imagining the worlds of their stories."

You can help your students take command of language and give their artistic vision fuller expression with the following prewriting games I developed in kindergarten through sixth-grade residencies.

Game 1: BANISH YUCKO WORDS

Young writers often fill stories with adjectives like nice, fun, good, and scary to jazz up unfocused tales. But rather than adding focus and drama, these words make the stories flat. I've dubbed these words Yucko Junko Garbage Can Words, a name kids remember forever. This game will help your students bid a fond farewell to those Yucko adjectives.

How to Play

Give students examples of Yucko Junko words, and ask them if they can think of others. Then have them rewrite the first paragraph of a book they are reading. Tell them to make it as full of Yucko Junko words as they can. The student with the most Yucko Junko words wins. For a dramatic ending, have students say good-bye to Yucko Junko words as they crumple their papers and toss them into a garbage bag.

Game 2: FIND THE FRAYED EDGE

Children tend to describe perfect worlds in their writing, where the skies are blue, the grass is green, and the people are pretty. As a result, their stories and poems aren't as convincing as they might be. This game helps children realize that describing idiosyncrasies will make their writing more memorable. How to Play

Divide the class into groups of four. Tell students they have five minutes to look at the objects in the room and write a list of all the imperfections they see. (Their lists might include observations such as faded construction paper, a dirt-streaked window, a single mitten lying on the floor, and a book with a torn cover.) When the five minutes are up, compare the groups' lists. Create a master list on chart paper and hang it on the wall to remind writers to describe objects in their stories as they appear in the real world.

Game 3: CATCH A SHADOW

Your students will be amazed at how including shadows in their writing will deepen the illusion of reality. (After all, only real things cast shadows.) Here's a game to make children aware of shadows and how they enliven writing.

How to Play

Take students on a silent walk outside to observe shadows. What objects cast them? Do they sway, float, hang, spread, flutter? Are there shadows that aren't dark and dense, but soft and pale? Return to the classroom, still in silence, and ask each child to sketch the shadows he or she saw. Then have them write a few paragraphs that include shadows and light, or they can add these details to a piece they are already working on.

Game 4: DAYDREAM DETAILS

Using daydreaming as a prewriting tool calms students, teaches them to look inward for material, and reassures them that they have something important to say. Set students' daydreaming in motion with the following script. Because it incorporates the techniques offered in the previous games, it's an effective grand finale.

How to Play

Turn out the lights. Ask students to close their eyes. Remind them not to giggle, talk, or look around; this is serious work. Ask a series of open-ended questions about a particular place or topic, which students can answer with their inner eyes. Picture a porch, you might say. What objects do you see? Is anything rusted, faded, or otherwise not perfect? Do you see any shadows? What casts the shadow, and how exactly can you describe it? What kind of light do you see? Notice the weather, the smells, the sounds, and the textures. Notice how things move. Does something flicker, drift, stumble? Look carefully; the details you see will help you write with color.

After completing this daydreaming exercise, a first grader wrote:

This porch is my grandmother's porch. I can hear cicadas in the trees. I can hear giggling from Mom and Dad.... I can see beautiful leaves on the ground.... There is a spiderweb by the door. With the spider in the middle. My grandma keeps bikes and toys in a separate part of the porch. When the door to the porch opens, it makes a squeaky noise. When the rocking chair rocks, it makes a click cluck noise....

Justin Szymoneck West Ridge School

TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

With Microsoft's Creative Writer, a fun-filled new publishing program just for kids, your students can jazz up their writing with custom fonts, formatting options, clip art, and more. Available for Macintosh and Windows ($50; |800~ 426-9400).

DR. CYNDE GREGORY, author of Childmade: Awakening Children to Creative Writing, works with thousands of children and teachers annually in workshops and residency programs.

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