Writing is an important skill all students need to have. Just like any other skill, writing needs to be developed and improved with practice! Parents, teachers, and caregivers play an important role in helping young writers develop their skills and build their confidence! Using fun and effective writing exercises for young writers is a great way to help them improve their skills. However, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel! Here are five writing exercises for young writers that are sure to get your students excited about writing.
Writing Exercises for Young Writers
There are several different writing exercises out there you can try with your students and many of them work! Here are five that I love using with my students:
- Free-Write Frenzy
- Poetry Power Up
- Story Starter
- Character Creation
- Letter Writing
1: Free Write Frenzy
Sometimes the hardest part of reading is knowing where to start! A free write is a great way to get the creative juices flowing and loosen up the writing muscles. When I do free-write frenzy, I set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and give my students a prompt that is broad. For example, I might say “Write about your favorite thing to do.” You can also use any of these Expository Writing Prompts to get your students started.
Next, I encourage my students to write as much as they can without worrying about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. At the end of the time, have students read their free-write aloud and discuss what they wrote. This can be done in small groups or as a whole class. For spelling and grammar practice, you can have your students edit and review their free-writers. This is a great writing activity for young writers because it helps students start to write.
2: Poetry Power-Up
Writing exercises for young writers don’t have to be long. Poetry is a fun and expressive way to play with words and explore new ideas. To do Poetry Power-Up in your classroom, all you need to do is give your students a list of concepts or words and have them create a poem using those words. For example, you could give your young writers words like sunshine, butterfly, flower, and happy. Then, encourage your young writers to use figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, to bring their poem to life. You can also use Poetry Power-Up as a free-write activity on days where you want them to have a little bit more focus.
3: Story Starters for Young Writers
Like I said before, getting started on a writing project can be the hardest part. This writing exercise for young writers is great for getting over writer’s block! All you need to do is give students a story starter. This is a sentence or two that gets the story going and gives your young writer a jumping-off point. For example, you could give your students a story starter like: “It was a dark and stormy night, and the only thing that could save the day was a brave superhero.” Then, you can have your young writer finish the story and see where their imagination takes them. If you want some added fun, have your students illustrate their story!
Throughout the year, you can incorporate story starters that relate to a theme for the month. For example, in February, you can use this Love Monsters Valentine Writing Paper and Centers in your literacy centers.
4: Character Creation
When you are teaching students how to write, you want to make sure you include all the different aspects of a story. One of the most important parts of a story are the characters. When you use the writing exercise character creation, your young writers can have fun coming up with believable and interesting characters. To do a character creation writing exercise for young writers, just have your students answer questions like:
- What is your character’s name?
- What does the character look like?
- What are the character’s likes and dislikes?
- What are the character’s goals and motivations?
After you have done a character creation writing exercise, you can have students write a story about their characters. This can then lend itself to a free-write frenzy or a story starter exercise.
5: Letter Writing
While this writing exercise for young writers can seem old-fashioned, it’s a great way to practice writing! Having your young writer write and send a letter to a friend, family member, or even a favorite celebrity is a great way to improve grammar and punctuation. With this activity, you can also teach the proper way to write a letter to someone depending on who they are.
Writing is a vital skill for all students. When you use writing activities for young writers that are interesting and help get the creative juices flowing, you are opening the door for your students to become stronger writers not just in content, but also with grammar and punctuation. Plus, they are so stinkin’ simple to implement in your classroom, you don’t have to worry about taking hours preparing a writing lesson. So, the question is which writing exercise are you going to try out first?
Until Next Time…
Keep Being Educational Rock Stars
