Writing with Reactions

Today in school we had more writing to do...the never ending battle.  He had to write paragraphs with "reactions" included.  We had just read a short version of "Gulliver's Travels" so he had to write a story of a fantasy land. 

He choose to imagine being sucked into one of his video games, Lord of the Rings Online.  He did great his first paragraph with reactions of being "confused" & "amazed" but the second parapraph he totally forgot!  He wrote about being attacked by giant spiders & other great action...but no reactions.  What am I going to do with this kid?

So we discussed what his "reactions" would have been...."scared, nervous, frightened", etc. & how they would have made the story more interesting.  Without "reactions" there is no emotion.  When there is no written dialogue, "reactions" tell how the character feels about a person, place, or situation.

So the next time your child writes a story have them add reactions to add more interest & emotion.  Some reactions to include could be:  happy, excited, sad, concerned, sympathy, anger, shy, disappointment,  proud, disgust, etc.  With these additions they will add emotion & interest.

Writing a Story with Dialogue

Today in school we had to start the process of writing a story with dialogue.  My son hates writing a paragraph much less a story from his imagination....with characters in conversation!  So again we are taking it step by step.

First we are coming up with "seed ideas", using things around us to come up with a plot for his story.  We made a folder out of construction paper to hold all of his "ideas" & then started looking through newspaper, magazines, etc.

I told him to cut out anything that was interesting for a setting....where would the story take place?  Photos of cities, houses, woods, mountains, beaches, etc.   Then I asked him to cut out photos of people that would make interesting "characters".  Old, young, anyone with a different look, etc.   The third thing I wanted him to look for was clothing...what would your characters be wearing?