Past Year's Reflections Writing

It's time again for our New Year Writing. It's a tradition, but it's a little different every year. Here is Part 1 for this year, reflecting on last year.

Tomorrow will be Part 2 when we will choose one of the things we wrote here and write about it in length and detail.

AFRICA: Literary Comparisons and Essays

Even though we are doing a unit on Africa for the sake of geography and social studies, I am going heavy on the writing with this unit, learning and/or refining (depending on the child) the writing process and different types of essays. Two picture books have been tools for writing comparison essays. 

The Egyptian Cinderella is obvious:  compare the traditional "Cinderella" with this African cultural version.

After reading Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, which some people call an African Cinderella tale, I felt there were more possibilities with this book. I left it wide open with no suggestions whatsoever. I told my kids to independently read the story and then think of some other story they knew that was similar and write a comparison essay on the two stories. I was pleased with how that assignment turned out. One compared it to "Cinderella," one to The King's Highway, and one to "The Princess and the Pea."

In my opinion, you're never too old for picture books. I love them! Also, I like introducing concepts with picture books, like comparison essays. Rather than beginning with two huge literary works that may be overwhelming, it's good to start building those writing muscles with something smaller where kids can be clear and successful before tackling something bigger.

CCCW - Renouf Tree Settings

In our biology and botany studies we have been learning about the basics of plants and right now more specifically trees and leaves. While looking for an autumn art project on leaves, I found and fell in love with Eloise Renouf's style of drawing trees as first seen in this sketchbook project. We just had to do something with this!

We used white cardstock and black Sharpie pens. A basic straight-line tree trunk works fine, or you can add a thicker trunk. Choose multiple designs to repeat for the branches. (For inexperienced/unsure artists, practice on scratch paper first.)

Now it's time to paint! Watercolors add both color and additional shape.

Once the kids were done with theirs, they were to use their favorite finished piece as the setting for a new piece of creative writing.

I found creating fall images this way absolutely addicting and made page after page over the course of a few days.

Trees and/or scenes can be as simple or elaborate as each artist wishes, and all skill levels can give this a good go.

Happy Autumn, Happy Homeschooling!

AFRICA: A Long Walk to Water

Our back-to-school studies this autumn have centered on literature and writing combined with world geography. Our first book to read, discuss, and write about is Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water. This is an excellent book that I highly recommend to everyone.

Due to everyone coming and going at different times, I'm not currently reading anything aloud to the family. Everyone had to read this on his or her own. This book is best read that way anyway, however, as the point of view switches back and forth between two main characters.

As I said, everyone read this book. My youngest had only to fill out a book report on it. The older ones had a packet of study questions to fill out. After they answered the questions in writing, we all discussed it together. Then they were each supposed to choose one of the topics of discussion and expound on it in an essay.

Here is what I prepared for the study packet:

A Long Walk to Water

By Linda Sue Park

*Complete sections 1 and 2 of this reading journal before beginning to read the book.

*Begin reading; when you reach the post-it note on page 6, answer the question in section 3.

*Read the remainder of the book. When you are finished reading, IMMEDIATELY complete section 20.

*Complete sections 4-19.

*Read the provided National Geographic articles.

1.  Do your best to copy the map that is next to the title page of the book here.

2.  Vocabulary - 

What is a village?

gourd

cassava 

sorghum

acacia

3.  "Into the bush. Do you hear me? Not home. Don't run home. They will be going into the villages.  Stay away from the villages--run into the bush."  (pg 6) 

Imagine you are Salva. Write what you would be thinking at this point. Would you run into the bush?  Why or why not? 

4.  You have often heard of America's War for Independence. You know that Freedom of Religion played a large part in the founding of our nation. Were you aware that this is a struggle all over the world and it has been for the entire history of the world? Why do you think this is? (pgs 6-7)

5.  Salva is able to identify fellow Dinka tribesmen by the scar patterns on their faces. (pgs 15,19) Scarification is normal and popular throughout Africa:

Scarification, as a cultural activity, is widely performed across Africa. In essence, it is the practice of incising the skin with a sharp instrument, (such as a knife, glass, stone, or coconut shell) in such a way as to control the shape of the scar tissue on various parts of the body. Cicatrisation is a special form of scarification, whereby a gash is made in the skin with a sharp instrument, and irritation of the skin caused by applying caustic plant juices forms permanent blisters. Dark pigments such as ground charcoal or gunpowder are sometimes rubbed into the wound to provide emphasis. These cuts, when healed, form raised scars, known as keloids. The most complicated cicatrisation was probably found in the Congo Basin and neighbouring regions, and among the Akan speakers of West Africa.

Scarification is a long and painful process, and a permanent modification of the body, transmitting complex messages about identity and social status. Permanent body markings emphasise fixed social, political and religious roles. Facial scarification in West Africa is used for identification of ethnic groups, families, individuals, but also to express personal beauty. It is also performed on girls to mark stages of the life process, such as puberty, marriage etc. They can assist in making them more attractive to men, as the scars are regarded as appealing to touch as well as to look at, but also as testimony that women will be able to withstand the pain of childbirth. 

 ( http://www.randafricanart.com/Scarification_and_Cicatrisation_among_African_cultures.html)

Many people would call this practice "barbaric" and call these people "savages." What do these words mean? 

Do you agree that scarification is barbaric and/or savage? Why or why not? 

Keeping in mind the purpose of scarification, make a list of other cultures (modern or historical) and the methods they use to communicate the same types of things.

6.  "To the pond and back--to the pond and back--nearly a full day of walking altogether. This was Nya's daily routine seven months of the year. Daily. Every single day." (pg 20)  

Take a moment to seriously think about Nya's life. Her mother isn't being mean. This is a matter of survival. This is the reality for some people in other places. Now think about your life in comparison. What do you take for granted? What do you think is hard or miserable that, honestly, really isn't?

7.  Salva, a child, is abandoned numerous times by adults (pgs 13,18,21,66). What do you think of this?

How does this compare with what you know of other mass migrations such as pioneer wagon trains heading west in the United States? 

Why do you think different peoples/cultures would behave differently regarding children in these situations?

8.  Salva's story begins in 1985, Nya's in 2008. Twenty-three years later the Nuer and Dinka tribes are still fighting over land. (pg 26) Why do you think this is? 

9.  "Salva heard that sigh all the way to his heart." (pg 29) 

What does this mean? 

10.  "A cold fist seemed to grip Salva's heart." (pg 38) 

What is Salva feeling? Why does the author describe it this way? 

11. What type of channel is mentioned? (pg 49) What do you think of both the problem and the solution surrounding the channels? 

12.  "Salva Mawien Dut Ariik!" (pgs 53-54) Why does Uncle use Salva's full name? Why is it important to remember who you are, especially in difficult circumstances? 

What does your full name mean to you and/or remind you of? 

Is there another name you wear on your heart which you should remember? What name is this and what does that mean to you?

13.  "If you give them your water, you will not have enough for yourself! It is useless--they will die, and you will die with them!" (pg 55-56, 58)  

Is there wisdom in what the man said? What would you do? What should you do? Are there ever circumstances where what you should do changes? 

14.  Salva gets through his arduous journey one point at a time. Introduced to this approach by Uncle, he fixes on something he can see and reaches it. (pgs 53-54, 72-73, 82) Is there wisdom in this?  What does this teach you about goal setting in everyday life and in crisis management when you're overwhelmed and maybe in danger or afraid? 

Write of a time when you have used or you may need to use this approach. 

15.  "When the smaller boys grew too tired to walk, the older boys took turns carrying them on their backs." (pg 81) 

Why do you think the boys cared for each other and those younger than them when the adults they'd encountered previously would not? 

16. As Salva led the long trek to Kenya he thought of his family, remembering the good things they taught him (pg 81). How much influence does a family have on an individual member and how important is that? 

What influence has your family had on you so far in your life?  How does or how will that help you?

17.  It took a year and a half, but 1200 boys arrived safely to Kenya (pg 82). What are your thoughts on that?

18.  Have you ever given much thought to where your old clothes go when they are donated? How does knowing that people like Salva may receive them make you feel? (pg 91-92) 

19. In Africa there are tribes, chiefs, villages. What other times and peoples have lived with these? Any nowadays besides Africans? Why or why not? 

20.  How do you feel after reading this book? What are your immediate thoughts and impressions? 

New Year Lapbook

It's that time of year--time for New Year's Writing. This year I created a 2016-17 Lapbook for my kids. It is four pages of different flips and flaps and lots of reflective writing. Feel free to download the pages and use it yourself!  (If you have trouble with the download, let me know. I'm still hit and miss with google docs.)

Perspective--Creative Writing the Night Before Christmas

I love Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," also known as, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." As you know, there are many, many, many versions out there. The original classic has been illustrated by so many different people there is really no way to count how many times it's been published. But there are also variations; creatively re-written versions such as the popular Cajun Night Before Christmas, A Pirate's Night Before Christmas, Pennsylvania Dutch Night Before Christmas, Mr. Darcy's Night Before Christmas, and on and on. In fact, the the original story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer began, "'Twas the night before Christmas..." and followed the format. So it should be no surprise that in today's mass market society we also have Olaf's Night Before Christmas. The beauty of all of these different versions is the wide world of differences they share and perspectives. 

I appreciate the creativity and twist that many of the different versions share. This year, I am really, really in love with the Olaf version. Olaf is the Frozen character my kids really liked and this book is written perfectly in character and from his perspective.  It begs you to look at something traditional and familiar with new eyes. Again, I love that it demonstrates point of view. And so, with that in mind, I read this to my kids (who are all over the age of 12 now, mind you, and they loved it) and then tasked them with choosing any well-known character from some other "story" and write "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from that character's point of view, in that character's natural setting.

It might sound like an obvious, cliche, knock-off sort of assignment, but I'm here to tell you it takes thought and creativity, especially to stay true to both your character and the original poem. I love the results!  We ended up with "R2-D2's Night Before Christmas" (Star Wars), "Moana's Night Before Christmas" (new Disney movie, Moana), and "Mr. Weasley's Night Before Christmas" (Harry Potter). They were so charming and clever!

Interestingly, a couple of weeks after this, my missionary son sent home a homemade Christmas card wherein he'd independently written his own version relating to his mission that was also smart, entertaining, and informative. Additionally, he mentioned that he wanted to start a new tradition reading Cajun Night Before Christmas because it was his mission companion's favorite and someone had invited them over to read it on Christmas Eve and he loves it. I love it when things coincide like that! (We're going to have to get our hands on that book!)

This is a creative writing activity that you can do year after year with new characters, settings, etc. to keep it fresh.

CCCW - Roget and The Right Word

As an unapologetic logophile and someone who owns and frequently uses 10 different thesauruses, I was delighted to find the awesome biographical picture book The Right Word - Roget and His Thesaurus. Not only does this book give an astounding amount of information about a remarkable person, Peter Roget, it is also a visual delight in its illustrations (hence the Caldecott honor). 

I used this book both for Biography Club and creative writing. Inspired by the story and illustrations, and my newfound knowledge that thesaurus is Greek for "treasure house," I created this to show at Biography Club as I shared the story of Roget.

The next day I talked more about the book with my own children and asked them to each re-read it on their own, slowly drinking in the pictures. I then tasked them with making their own synonymous, listed creation as an artistic approach to playing with words.  Here are a couple of their creations.

CCCW - Pumpkin Characters

Inspired by an idea I saw by that artist woman, I came up with a plan for a timely, festive two-part project where we artfully created characters and settings for some creative writing.

First, I read a few picture books for example and inspiration...because picture books are awesome!

I'm not going to write an art tutorial because you can go here to find that. I did switch it up a bit, though, so I'll explain that. Instead of painted paper for the weaving, we used patterned scrapbooking paper as was originally done at Cutting Tiny Bites. And instead of a green frame, we used black so we could use pastels on a nighttime background to create our story settings. (I love, love to use pastels on black paper, so I'm always looking for a reason to do it!)

Here is a closeup of mine, all finished. I even add the Big Dipper to my sky!

Here are all of the finished characters.

I'm a huge proponent of CCCW--Cross Curricular Creative Writing. Go here to see another fun example perfect for this time of year.

The Search for Delicious and Other Appropriate Words

As I mentioned before, I am tying Creative Writing into our BIO year. Here is how I kicked that off.

We began our day singing "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words" and discussed whether words have power in them, such as power to build or give life, or power to destroy. I shared the Mormonads on the worksheet below and we read the scriptures that go with each. 

A most appropriate scriptures was James 3:8-10:

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made of the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."

The metaphor of a tongue being full of deadly poison fits right in. (See also verses 11-13.)  We talked about each of the pictures and their implications and then I gave them this Life-giving or Biohazardous Words Worksheet.  

Examples of some of the additional scriptures the kids found that coincide with the idea of the words we say either giving life or destroying it are:

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:  so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature..." (James 3:6)

"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life:  but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." (Proverbs 10:11)

Amazingly, the Piano Guys released the following video the very day I wanted to talk about this, so I tied it into our discussion as well.

After talking about the affect spoken words have, I moved the discussion on to written words. I love the following quote from an old Church manual and shared it (along with using it for handwriting practice that day).

"Reading the scriptures and other good books nourishes our minds, just as good food nourishes our bodies. Books are like companions. They can lift us up or tear us down. We should read only books that will help us become better people." 

Then we talked about how we're going to do a lot with creative writing throughout the year, giving life to words and trying to write words that nourish, or give life, to our minds.

I assigned everyone to read The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt. I love to use this book in language studies. I think it's very clever. Suffice it to say, the creation of a dictionary helps set off an impending civil war, the dictionary entry for delicious being key to both the creation of the crisis and its resolution.

After reading and discussing the book, I had my kids close their eyes while I said a word out loud. When I said the word, I wanted them to tell me what they immediately associated that word with. For example, I said, "Christmas." One child replied, "Presents," while another said, "Cookies!" I asked if either of those answers were the definition of Christmas and, of course they weren't. We then talked about the difference between definition and connotation. In The Search for Delicious, the dictionary entries weren't so much definitions as connotations, and words used contextually in a sentence. The assignment was to create a "dictionary" written in the style of the one in The Search for Delicious, with the requirement that every sentence had to be in reference to food.

(Incidentally, if you're looking to build your children's vocabulary and need some help for your tired brain, sites like this help. It came in handy a few times for me when I created the worksheet.)

Download the entire Search for Delicious Word Worksheet.

Just like the book, none of my kids agreed on what delicious is. We had pepperoni pizza, endless crepes, a bowl of mixed fruit, and creamy mac and cheese for contenders. Here are some of my favorite sentences written by my kids:

"Aromatic is a batch of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven."

"Aromatic is a hot bowl of Jambalaya."

"Aromatic is a freshly baked pizza."

"Unnecessary is orange juice in a smoothie." (From a kids who hates OJ and hates it when I try to sneak it into smoothies!)

"Juicy is a ripe pear."

"Tart is my dad's lemon bars."  

"Lucky is when I get to have Reese's Puffs cereal," and "Unnecessary is Raisin Bran cereal," from the same child.

"Lucky is getting a doughnut for free."

"Proud is baking molten lava cake for the first time."

Another day, I read aloud one of my favorite picture books, Cookies, Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. (There are actually several sequels to this, too!) This is another book that explains meanings of words in a very creative way, through the medium of baking cookies.

Then, using the exact words "defined" in Cookies, I created a writing assignment in which these words had to be explained referencing baseball/softball.

Download the Bat-and-Ball-Sized Lessons Worksheet here.

When it comes to understanding the meaning of patience, every one of my kids referenced waiting for a good pitch. :) Here are some of my favorite sentences my kids wrote:

"Open-minded means, 'I've never bunted before but I will try it.'"

"Content means you and me cheering together for our teammates."

"Respect means to not talk back to your coach."

"Unfair means (an umpire) calling strike three at the kid's eyes."

"Cooperate means to turn a double play."

"Open-minded means to listen to your coaches."

"Trustworthy means to let your pitcher know he has defense behind him."

"Wise means to pull your pitcher out before the other team scores too many runs."

"Loyal means to always be friends with someone even if he struck out to end the championship game that you just lost."

"Respect means to not hate someone just because he's on the other team."


We also began using the Complete the Story story starters.


Here's to the power of words!

BIO-- The Year of Life

Anyone who has taken my Unit Studies class knows that I like to carefully and prayerfully choose a theme for each school year and tie our units into that theme. This year's theme is BIO.

The theme of BIO lends itself to so much! I am really excited. We will be studying Biology, picking up/continuing with the subcategory of Ecology inside that, adding some Botany, and incorporating Health and Nutrition (which will include cooking for my youngest) and Anatomy. While I will do this on a higher level for my high school-aged kids, it will be Life Science for my youngest; this allows us to be learning about the same things and doing many things together while tailoring certain assignments and experiences to individuals at each level.

We'll also be doing a lot with biographies. I have started a Biography Club including some other homeschooled youth for one thing. We'll be incorporating Family History for another.

Creative Writing is another focus this year, and believe it or not, I've tied that into our year of life as well. (More on that in another post.)

Last but certainly not least, we are learning more about the Giver of Life and the way to pattern our lives after his by participating in the Godly Characteristics Series, and we are spending a lot of time learning about the Tree of Life and the path in this life that leads to Eternal Life.

Here are a few things from our first week. (Some other things will get separate, more detailed posts.)

We of course began with the root bio. Each of the kids had to find 25 words that contained the root and write down the definitions. Using words from their lists and, adding some others, I created some Bio Vocabulary Cards. Then individually they matched words to definitions, I went over additional root words and prefixes/suffixes for being word detectives, and then over the course of a few days they continued to match and rematch until they could get 100% correct.  After that we played Memory with the cards.  Here are the cards I created. (Hopefully the link above will take you to a downloadable set you can use. If it doesn't work <sigh> I'll keep trying to get it figured out.)

We did another whole-brained project, each child choosing what they wanted to draw to represent BIO:

We began a biographical writing series of my own creation. The first two assignments are below. (The first one includes a photo of me; I personalized these for each of us.) These writing assignments are meant to be introspective, journalistic and biographical, and the topic word is chosen based on things we are learning about in our other studies.

Things to Get Excited About!

I've run into a few things while traveling this summer that I liked so much I just had to get them for the upcoming school year.

Coloring books are of course everywhere these days. The market is inundated with them and much of the time if you've seen one you've seen them all. But, at a truck stop in the middle of Idaho of all places, I came across this Inspirational Coloring Book for Girls that I really, really like. Each page has a scriptures verse and nice coloring page. It's perfect for my daughter. She is excited about it. I've challenged her to look up every scripture and mark them as well as memorize them. I haven't decided if this will be a daily thing or a weekly thing.

The Book of Coloring Art is something I picked up for myself. (Also at the truck stop!) Inspirational quotes and scripture with really lovely pictures to color, this book flows with serenity and wisdom. I will probably copy some of the pages to give to my kids at different times when I feel they connect with our learning or when a particular principal needs some focus.

A wait for the championship game and an unexpected rainstorm during a baseball tournament drove me inside to a bookstore where I found this Complete the Story journal on a bargain shelf. I love, love, love the tantalizing possibilities of all the unique story starters in this book! We'll be using this for creative writing this next school year and I can't wait to see the stories it leads to. I'm even excited to join my kids and write stories myself with this!

Genius of Graeme Base #1 - Animalia

There is probably a good chance you have already seen Graeme Base's Animalia and enjoyed the fantastic illustrations and awesome, alliterative text. There are more ways to utilize this book, however, that just enjoying it as a nice picture book. It's a great tool to help your children with their language skills.

First thing, of course, is to read and enjoy the book--especially if you never have. For young children just learning the alphabet, it is enough to identify the letters and their sounds from the text and then hunt through the pictures for all the objects in them that begin with each letter. Each page is an adventure!

The next objective is vocabulary. I guarantee there are some words used which your child is not familiar with. That is very beneficial. After the initial read, I asked my children to go through the text and identify each word they weren't sure the meaning of. Then I sent them on a search in the dictionary. After learning the meaning of these words it was time to re-read the book with a new understanding. (Depending on your child and his or her age, you may still need to participate in this second reading to help explain context and help them fully understand.)

Vocabulary expansion is coupled with grammar in the next activity. There are two ways to do this. One is to have your child copy the text of Animalia, either by handwriting or typing, and color code the parts of speech. For example, each noun would be in blue, each verb in red, etc. The other way is to have your child identify each part of speech in a different reading. For example, one day the child would read the book and make a list of all nouns in the text as he goes, then the next day he would read the book and make a list of all adjectives, etc.

Finally, focus on alliteration. This book is superbly alliterative and a brilliant example to learn from and imitate. Have your child choose a topic on which to write about, like food or a sport or something else she is familiar with or excited about, and then letter by letter through the alphabet and using Animalia as an example, have your child write their own alliterative lines about his chosen topic, making sure to include all parts of speech in each line. It's hard, and it's meant to be. Often we can be alliterative, but we're cheap and lazy and silly in doing so and don't force ourselves to really stretch and include all parts of speech, which makes us think and expand our vocabularies further.

 I am sure there are more lessons this fabulous book could lend a hand with, but this is what I've come up with so far. Happy reading, writing, and homeschooling!

Politics, Storm Chasers, and the Bermuda Triangle

As a follow up to "Bigfoot and Other Persuasive Writing Prompts," here are a few more examples of ways to use current events, your current studies, and other "everyday" things as ways to jump start thinking, opining, writing, and leading.

Using the latest issues of Parade magazine and Scholastic News, we learned quite a few things about different careers, and/or maybe profitable hobbies, as well as tornadoes. For instance, even at 83 years old, one woman adds to her income by being a professional dog sitter ($7,895 annually). We had no idea that there are people who made a decent amount of money just for standing in line! A professional line sitter in New York charges $25 for the first hour and $10 for each additional half hour to hold your place in line for you. It ends up being $54,470 a year, just to stand in line! Of course, many other professions were represented, and there were even more that were not, which we talked a little about. Then we read about storm chasers who are actually employed by a news station to update on current conditions (rather than just chasing tornadoes on their own simply for the thrill of it). The writing prompt was to write about jobs you definitely don't want to have, and those that you do. 

The Bermuda Triangle falls into a thriller/mystery category, but it can and should also be a part of geography studies. Since we are working on world geography, both "Tornado Alley" (referenced in the storm chasing reading) and the Bermuda Triangle fall into enhancing those studies in intriguing ways, while giving us something interesting to write about. My kids had some fascinating theories on what is going on in the Bermuda Triangle.

It was all too easy to find another of this past week's writing prompts when I opened the morning newspaper to an article all about the upcoming changes to United States currency. The biggest change will be Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill. I read the article to my kids and then had them write their thoughts on it. I was surprised at how definite their opinions were, and I think this is a topic I'll want them to practice their expression and persuasion on.

The thing about this type of writing is that it is engaging kids in politics, whether they know it or not. Any time someone writes a letter to the editor of a newspaper, or discusses the goings on in the world, for good or bad, they are engaging in the political process. I'm hoping to help my kids learn to gather good information and come to good conclusions, to recognize that their ideas and opinions matter and that they should be engaged in shaping/changing/helping the world around them, and also to be able to express themselves to the best of their ability so that they can.

An additional benefit is the broadening of my kids' knowledge base. As I mentioned in the other post, my kids are supposed to periodically choose one of these topics to expand on in a full, polished essay. One of my boys decided to write about how he would not want to be one of the first people on Mars and why. He did some research on everything those people going will have to do to prepare as well as what they expect to be doing once there, and also the dangers along the way. At some point, I don't remember the exact context, we were discussing his findings and I mentioned that some people think that NASA faked the moon landings. All of a sudden he quoted, "We're where NASA faked the moon landings," which is a line from the film RV with Robin Williams. He smiled and said, "I never really understood that line before now." I smiled over that because even though we haven't watched that movie in months and months, that question was stored in his head and just a little bit of learning recalled it and answered it.

Bigfoot and Other Persuasive Writing Prompts

Many classrooms and homeschools across the world have a point in their day where they free write in either a daily journal, or a writing notebook. Often there are writing prompts such as, "If I could travel anywhere, I would go..." or a story beginning such as, "Thunder clapped loudly as the dark figure entered the..." which the students need to finish. 

While I love creative writing, I am taking a different approach to this activity. I want my children to be able to think critically, make decisions, form opinions, and be able to express their beliefs and opinions in sound an solid ways. So, currently, our daily writing prompts are essay starters, kindling persuasive writing.

First, I share some information with my children. Every day is something different. If I come across an interesting or provocative book like the Bigfoot "autobiography" shown below, BINGO! After reading the (considerably informative yet still speculative) book, plus a few accounts of sightings from the internet, the question for the day was, "Do you believe in Bigfoot and why or why not?"

This school year we have had a subscription to Scholastic News. Each issue has articles on current events and a lot of interesting bits of information, plus a debate section. I choose the pieces I think most valuable to think about and read the article, then pose a question to write about. Examples of some of these are, "Should boys and girls attend school together, or should they be separated?" "Should students have more P.E. time?" "Would you want to be one of the first people on Mars?" "Should (a kid who has been trained) be able to climb Mount Everest?" Keep in mind that before writing my kids have heard multiple perspectives as well as some cold, hard facts and information, and they're expected to back up their positions.

I also come up with writing prompts based on our current studies and common reading and viewing. An example of this is, "Compare and contrast Andrew Jackson and Donald Trump. Are they more alike, or more different?"

After about seven writing prompts, I have my children choose one of the free write topics and write a full, researched essay to develop their thinking, researching, and writing skills.

In case you are wondering, most of my kids believe in Bigfoot. We have one, solid holdout among us.