Favorite Resources for Creative Writing

In Waldorf, seventh graders do a block on Creative Writing which is called "Wonder, Wish, and Surprise." The very BEST book for this block is Dorit Winter's and it happens to be available FREE online as a PDF at the Online Waldorf Library.

The Art and Science of Teaching Composition
by Dorit Winter

Note: In making that link I found another writing book by her -- Fire the Imagination, Write On! -- which is also available at OWL for free. Can't wait to download it and read it!

Fire the Imagination, Write On!
by Dorit Winter

I have some other books I really like for Creative Writing as well. They are:

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Lane Smith

Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly
by Gail Carson Levine

How to Make a Zero Backwards: An Activity Book for the Imagination
by Richard Kehl

My webpage for this block contains the notes from the first time I taught it (in October 2017). Now it is October 2021 and I'm teaching it for the second time. I'll keep my notes here instead. I think it's hard when there are two sets of notes on one page. Also, last time I combined Creative Writing with the Imaginary Island Project but I'm taking a different tack this year. We ended up spending so much time creating our imaginary islands that we never did much creative writing about the events that took place on them.

Wednesday, Oct 13

pass out new creative writing journals (inexpensive 100 page spiral bound notebooks with lined paper and yellow covers)

decorate front cover of creative writing journals in a unique way

read Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, look at Dr. Seuss's handwritten brainstorm notes, talk about the writing process

read chapter 1 of Writing Magic and do the writing exercise

Monday, Oct 18

play Grammar Sense Game: Set 1

read chapter 2 of Writing Magic and do the writing exercise

Tuesday, Oct 19

do "natural object" activity from The Art and Science of Teaching Composition, page 24 (we used different kinds of acorn caps)

Wednesday, Oct 20

send home a mystery nature object in a blank box, work on precision of description, The Art and Science of Teaching Composition, page 24

this is a really beautiful old turtle shell

Thursday, Oct 21

focus on descriptive language and focus on one attribute at a time; brainstorm images for shape, size, color, texture of ribs, pattern of shell (what else does it look like? what else does it remind you of?)


The Private Eye: Looking/Thinking by Analogy - A Guide to Developing the Interdisciplinary Mind
by Kerry Ruef

Monday, Oct 25

I'm working with a student who has a lot of anxiety around being creative, and a fear of being wrong, so we are going to spend the next few weeks just focusing on relaxing and having fun with it!

Flowers from Their Names
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Tuesday, Oct 26

Mixed-Up Animals
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Wednesday, Oct 27

Sky, Handle, Shoe
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Thursday, Oct 28

An Eye Chart
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Monday, Nov 1

Magic Names
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Tuesday, Nov 2

A Visit to a Strange Land
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

read chapter 3 of Writing Magic and do the writing exercise

Wednesday, Nov 3

Basic Ideas (with a friend)
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Thursday, Nov 4

Bottom and Top (with a friend)
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

I am still meeting a lot of resistance to the Creative Writing block so we are going to take a different approach. Open-ended work is a struggle for some children! I'm going to make it an optional ongoing thread in Language Arts, during independent work time, and keep How to Make a Zero Backwards and Writing Magic and the creative writing journal in a little pile inside his desk for the rest of the year. We are going to shift into doing Greek Mythology with the younger students in November, and then writing a script and putting on a class play of our favorite myth in December. He can be co-director of the play. This will still allow for plenty of creativity, but with the support of an existing legend. Hopefully, without the pressure of a "block," creative writing will become something he wants to put in his plan when it's time to choose a Language Arts work!

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