Story Planning help required?

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panicattack!
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:30 pm

Story Planning help required?

Post by panicattack! »

Anyone got any helpful suggestions on getting my child to plan a story in 5 mins and then write one in 30? At this stage he can plan in 15 to 20 and write in 45?!! HELP :idea: :idea:
yoyo123
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Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

you could draw out a "writing frame" a set of boxes. as space is limited then the plan is kept short -- lots of children start writing the story rather than just planning the outline

main characters, setting, theme, mainevents (or who, why, where, what)

main events. (opening , main story, end)

he just makes notes e.g. John --a robot.

It helps to think of a story like a hill, it starts off, builds to a climax and then you tie in all the loose ends to go down to the end..

Perhaps you could do planning of teh story as an exercise in itself.

Cards with different settings, characters, objects and genres. (write them or draw/cut out pictures) face down

pick up a set number from each pile, turn upright and then set a kitchen timer for 5 minutes. This can be fun if you play it as a group, best plan wins.

you can extend it to swapping plans and writing the expanded story in a set time too.



Make sure he uses imaginative vocabulary.

again a set of cards with single words like big, nice, little etc. Turn one over, set timer who can find most synonyms for that particular word...

gorgeous, stunning, excellent, wonderful ............dictionaries encouraged!
panicattack!
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Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:30 pm

Post by panicattack! »

Thanks for those very helpful tips. :lol: Have you any advice on facing a blank page with just a title on it? I can't get him to read fiction at all so he needs to prepare some stories ahead of time I think ...
moved
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Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Post by moved »

Like Yoyo I try to get the children to think of the story as a hill. I get them to draw a hill shape on their page and cut it into 5 pieces: Introduction, build up, climax, resolution, conclusion. For exams I also get children to learn ten high quality words that can be sprinkled throughout the story.
moved
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Post by moved »

To your second question. Initially write a story, no matter how poor the quality, just to get something down on paper. You can then work with him to improve this.
Another activity is to sit with a word processor and change a basic sentence by adding adjectives, adverbs, etc. Change verbs for stronger verbs, nouns for more interesting ones. I usually take turns with a child when doing this, deliberately turning what they have written into something silly. One word at a time after the initial sentence.
panicattack!
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Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:30 pm

Post by panicattack! »

thanks for help with this one - I am certainly going to give all suggestions a go! :)
MrsK40
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Location: Coastal village

essay planning

Post by MrsK40 »

Hello Panic Attack,

My DS also has writer's block when faced with a blank page and a title. His teacher has taught him to put 5 dots on the page, representing the five phases of the essay. Then break down each section into about 5 sentences - starting with the introduction, build up, dilemma, events and conclusion.

The teacher also said, always include a subordinate clause - as I was educated in the 70's when they abandoned grammar, I did not know what this was, however DS did, lucky!!

I like this method, it makes the essay seem less over whelming if you can break it down into smaller chunks. My DS likes this method because he is mathematical and it seems nice and logical for him.!!

Hope this is helpful
panicattack!
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:30 pm

Post by panicattack! »

Thanks MrsK40
My DS is mathematical too so that could be a great way in... trying to make it more like a puzzle or math exercise will also get his attention!! :P
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