Creative Writing - What Would Happen If? - An Educator's Reference Desk Lesson Plan

This lessonplan was downloaded from Big Sky Telegraph.
Telnet: 192.231.192.1

Lesson Plan #:AELP-WCP0010

Creative Writing - What Would Happen If?

An Educator's Reference Desk Lesson Plan

Submitted by: Gail B. Finlay

School, or Affiliation: George Washington Middle School, Ridgewood, NJ

Date: 1994

Major Objectives:

To produce a piece of creative writing
To use word processing and graphics software
To create a classroom journal combining creative writing and graphics

Grade Level(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s):

Language Arts/Writing (composition)

Materials:

Multiple computers; printer
Software: word processing, graphics

Activities and Procedures:

Stir up the students' imaginations with the following:
1. What is imagination?
2. Are your imaginations like anyone else's?
3. Who are some people who use imagination?
4. Tell them that they will be dreaming and imagining and creating word pictures of things that might never have existed or happened.
Present the students with "What Would Happen If..." scenarios. For example, "What would happen if..."
1. vegetables could talk;
2. your brother turned into your sister;
3. water in the oceans evaporated;
4. all clocks stopped;
5. people decided to no longer work for minimum wage;
6. everyone looked alike; and
7. all trees began growing money.
Have the students brainstorm their ideas in phrase form, using the word processor, and print out their notes.
Have the students use their ideas to develop a story, proof/edit it, and print out a copy.
Have them proof one another's, edit, and print a final copy.
Demonstrate the graphics software. Have the students create a picture to illustrate their stories. Print the picture at the top or bottom of the stories.
Combine stories into a booklet.

Follow-Up/Extension:

Spend a class period sharing the stories and pictures and talking about new ones to write. As a larger project, have the students create a literary magazine.