Ideas

**Ideas** []

Ideas make up the content of the writing. When ideas are good and strong, the message is clear. We should guide students to select and narrow a topic. Students must be able to elaborate on the topic obtain additional information for the topic. The goal is to go from the general to the specific in writing. This will animate the ideas.
 * ~ ** Ideas and Content Picture Books ** ||
 * ~ I’m in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor ||
 * ~ Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg ||
 * ~ Miss Nelson is Back by Harry Allard ||
 * ~ Secret Place by Eve Bunting ||
 * ~ The Magic Schoolbus (series) by Joanna Cole ||
 * ~ The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler ||

- This is a delightfully creative catalog of women and men's clothing. The way the items in the catalog are described are perfect examples of how to give students ideas for their writing! - T  his is a similar activity to the J. Peterman Owner's Manual where students "sell-ebrate their use of adjectives! )  - This activity sparks the memory and has students write about associations they have with the taste and smell of popcorn. You could use all sorts of other springboards to memories as well!  - Have your students go through the editing process when they create something with Plasticine. Lots of fun!  - T he writer becomes the person or thing. They t hink as he/it thinks, feel as he/it feels, notice the things he/it notices, and react as he/it reacts.

=Ideas to get your students writing:= - completely editable so that you can tweak to suit your needs and the needs of your students

Back to Writing Traits
 * ACTIVITIES **
 * ~ * Use graphic organizers to brainstorm writing topics ||
 * ~ * Use unusual pictures from magazines, calendars, cards, or from your own album that will help jumpstart detailed writing. Have students describe the picture in great detail. Post the pictures and read the writing and challenge students to match the description with the cards. ||
 * ~ * Rewrite a familiar tale or story using only the main events and characters leave out the details. Read the rewritten story to students. Challenge students to decide what is missing. Brainstorm ways to improve on the story. To end this mini lesson read the original full length version of the story. ||
 * ~ * Find a busy scene with lots of action and people. (beach, shopping mall, farm, fair, or a park) Show the picture to students and have them write the things they see on sticky notes. Post the picture and the sticky notes on a bulletin board and let this go on for a few days. Discuss what the students thought this activity showed about writing. Details are important but sometimes too many details can overwhelm and bog down writing. Have students choose one aspect of the picture to write a story about. (mom and child in the mall, the lone boy on the beach, or the black sheep in the pasture) ||
 * ~ * Have students write about some exciting event that happened to them recently. Concentrate on s narrow topic and fresh exciting details.
 * Have students write their own "memes" for pictures. ||