Students from these grades are around the 11-13 age group. Most of them won’t be interested in creative writing, some will be extremely against it, but every now and then you’ll find one who actually likes to write and shows a natural talent for it. These are the easy ones. If they’re given time and permission to write, they’re in heaven. And when I read their words, I can be in heaven too, when their talent shines bright enough to light my day.

The students who aren’t interested in writing are trickier. The way to get to them is to let them write about something they’re passionate about, and their passion for their pony or whatever it is, can shine in the words they write. With the extremely anti ones, generally, but not always boys, you have to work even harder to find something that will light a spark for them. Ask what they like to do, what shows they like on TV.

One tip for getting uninterested students interested is the following:

Ask the student what his/her favorite ad on TV is, then suggest they write a poem about that.

It’s a good idea to work with a teacher who is interested in seeing the students writing creatively. If the teacher doesn’t care either way, the students sure won’t care either.

Short Stories:

• Print out 3 Clip Art images on one sheet of paper – have students write a story with all three things in the story (have several different sheets to give them a choice)
• Limit the number of words allowed, but stipulate they must be proper stories – beginning, middle, end. I’ve had success with 100 words, 150 words. This teaches editing skills.
• Give a theme – birds, pets, food, seasons, whatever – let them know they can interpret the theme as widely as they like – as long as they can explain how their story fits the theme if it’s not immediately obvious

Poetry:

Again, themes – try:

• Favorite animal
• What their dream job would be
• Favorite food
• Least favorite food

Particular forms of poetry – Haiku, pantoum, poetic styles based of syllables. There is a style based on syllable counts, 3 for 1st line, 5 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd , then new stanza, reverse the syllable count, and so on. This helps a new poet know when to end a line and start a new one. It also teaches skills in editing and playing with words.

Other themes to try are:

• Favorite ad on TV, again
• Favorite song

Good Luck!