Teaching creative writing can be one of the most challenging yet most rewarding parts of the teaching curriculum. While experimenting with new teaching methods, it is essential to keep the proven tips of teaching creative writing handy. Below you can find the simplest yet proven ideas for teaching creative writing to help your pupils hit writing exercises.
● Workshop-style Teaching
Divide your students into groups. Each group will be able to choose what they work on. Some groups can work on fiction and storytelling, while others could focus on spelling, word games, and puzzles. The assignments and tasks must be rotated; this way, children will find their favorite activity and be more engaged. Every child can work in a group, but each will have direct time with the teacher by this teaching approach—more about workshop-style teaching from Felicity Stone Toronto.
● Practice What You Preach
In this case, this adage means you must show your class how it is done. Conducting live creative writing sessions will give them insight into building a compelling story. It also gives them a chance to understand how it is okay to make mistakes and take feedback. Tell your students how they should not be afraid to create whatever they want or feel. You can ask your sharp pupils to share their ideas with their class fellows.
● Encourage Book Reading
Books reading brings a plethora of benefits to children from an educational POV, many of which directly link to creative writing. One can only experience engaging storytelling in books. Book reading helps in increasing vocabulary, fueling imagination, and improving creativity. Try to create more book reading opportunities for the students in the classroom.
● Utilize E-resources
YouTube is a secret stash of learning resources and other accommodating substances that can help advance the students’ experimental writing capacity. With a speedy search, you’ll spot a lot of interviews with acclaimed academics sharing their experience.
Use these resources to dive more into the brains of the writer. Understand the process of writing and its difficulties. Such resources can provide key elements that students can apply in their next creative writing assignment. Want to know more about utilizing e-resources while teaching? Check the work by Felicity Stone Toronto and learn more.
● Give Pupils Prompts or Story-Starters
Giving prompts or story-starters are great for keeping the creative juices running. It saves pupils from feared “writer’s block”. Writer’s block many times crushes the confidence of younger learners.
● Let Your Pupil Experience Freedom
Many children thrive when the freedom to write is given. Always remember to step aside while your students are writing. It gives them a chance to unleash their imagination and write about their favorite topics. However, it is your duty as a facilitator to check if some students find it more open. In this case, proposing a particular topic can also help.
● Take Creative Writing to Home
The time is limited and divided in school, but children are more comfortable at home. Experts suggest that many children find home more inspiring to create imaginative worlds. Encourage parents to ask questions about their stories. Students can share their stories to various audiences like in class, at home, or in school magazines. This will help in boosting their confidence.
Bottom Line
Remember: Practice makes a man perfect. Incorporate creative writing into your yearly curriculum. The more students practice it, the more quickly they will learn it. And soon, you will be marking their fun creative writing assignments.
