Curriculum for child who likes to write/produce "content"?

[TrilliumSimile]

Please bear with me, I'm having trouble articulating this. 

 

My child (2nd grade-ish) loves to make up stories and produce his own "content". As an example, we've been doing a unit on Greek mythology, and the most successful parts for him are when I ask him to create his own creature within the framework of a myth we just read. Or right now, we're trying out Moving Beyond the Page, and the parts he likes best are the parts where he answers questions about the text, but in a way that seems to feel creative to him. (i.e. not questions that are looking for specific right answers, but ones that are asking him to create his own version of "If You Give A Pig A Pancake", or explore whether he'd rather live in the city or the country.) 

 

As you can see, I'm having difficulty zeroing in on exactly what is working for him, so I don't know what to search for. I think it has something to do with enjoying open-ended questions that are still focused enough that he has a framework for organizing his ideas. Does this ring a bell for anyone? Can you recommend curriculum/books/anything for a child who likes this sort of thing? I just bought BraveWriter's "Jot It Down", and some of the writing projects seem like good possibilities, but I'm hoping for other ideas that are more bite-size. 

 

 

[nixpix5]

I was going to suggest MBTP but it looks like you do that :)

 

My DD likes this series of books

https://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=067602

 

There is a myth one, a fairy tale one etc. They are fun to have on hand for some creative writing with a bit of guidance.

 

Another thing my kids enjoy is the game create-A-Story. They sell it at rainbow resource.

Edited February 27, 2018 by nixpix5

[Peaceseeker]

I have a friend who uses Oak Meadow and she said several of the writing projects that you can choose from are more open ended, creative writing type of assignments. I haven't used it myself, but I thought I would mention it.

[Kiara.I]

Does it need to be a curriculum? Why not just hand him things to do that work for whatever you're studying?

 

Stick with that "make up your own version of <whatever we just read about>" and keep going with whatever curriculum you want to. Just add activities to it, or replace the ones they suggest with a type that work well for him.

 

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Edited February 27, 2018 by Kiara.I

[TrilliumSimile]

Does it need to be a curriculum? Why not just hand him things to do that work for whatever you're studying?

 

Stick with that "make up your own version of <whatever we just read about>" and keep going with whatever curriculum you want to. Just add activities to it, or replace the ones they suggest with a type that work well for him.

 

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A fair question! It doesn't have to be curriculum, but I find that my mind doesn't generate the type of activity that works for him. He doesn't like "make up your own Greek myth" (too broad and paralyzing), but he loves "identify three traits in the monster Zeus just battled, now write about your own monster with three similar traits". 

[TrilliumSimile]

I was going to suggest MBTP but it looks like you do that :)

 

My DD likes this series of books

https://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?id=067602

 

There is a myth one, a fairy tale one etc. They are fun to have on hand for some creative writing with a bit of guidance.

 

Another thing my kids enjoy is the game create-A-Story. They sell it at rainbow resource.

 

Those both look really good, thank you! 

[goldenecho]

Don't Forget to Write is pretty good for stuff like that...and while it's mixed ages it does have some lessons for early elmentary (the rest you could do later).   Our co-op used that for a writing class.

[fralala]

A fair question! It doesn't have to be curriculum, but I find that my mind doesn't generate the type of activity that works for him. He doesn't like "make up your own Greek myth" (too broad and paralyzing), but he loves "identify three traits in the monster Zeus just battled, now write about your own monster with three similar traits". 

 

So, for your past readings have you been able to Google lesson plans or writing assignments related to the books? That's pretty much what I do. (That's not to say I'm not consulting this thread in the hope of finding a curriculum that doesn't just have great writing prompts, but also has several choices of writing prompts for a whole list of books that just happen to coincide with the literature we have chosen to cover.)

 

I do find that the Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus? books are useful for this; often the higher level questions can be slightly adapted as writing prompts. (For instance, my 8 year old and I just read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and adapted a question about imagining Alexander and the "terrific, wonderful, very good, fantastic day" for a writing project.)

[rebbyribs]

Try the National Novel Writing Month young writers program. The first part is a workbook to plan out the setting, characters, and plot, which sounds like the sort of thing your son might enjoy, and there is a lot of support for writing the "novel" (more like a short story at this age.)

 

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[TX Native]

N/m

Edited March 23, 2018 by TX Native