Cards are a fantastic way to enhance your creative writing workshop experience with your students. Not only do they allow you to pull apart the material and practice various writing techniques, but they also provide your students with a mental break from the academic pressures of school. When used appropriately, a creative writing workshop with school-age children can be a very positive experience for both the teacher and the students.
The Benefits of Using Cards in a Creative Writing Workshop
Cards are easily accessible and can be used for a variety of activities. They are also inexpensive and simple to use, which makes them fantastic for creative writing workshops with young children. Because of these benefits, it is very easy to see why teachers might choose to use them in the classroom.
In a typical creative writing workshop with elementary school-aged children, you would use a deck of cards to help your students practice various writing techniques. One of the most popular methods of using cards in a creative writing workshop is story-telling. A classic card game for young children, rummy, can be used to practice listening, observing, and describing. Your students will love the fact that storytelling is one of the most basic and fundamental of all human skills. It requires very little teaching and can be easily incorporated into a daily writing routine.
Using a deck of cards in a creative writing class is a great way to enhance your students’ experience. Not only do the cards allow them to practice basic writing techniques, but they can also be used to encourage group work and collaboration. Students can comment on each others’ stories, offering suggestions and constructive criticism. Even more exciting is the fact that they get to choose the ending of the story! The interactive element of a creative writing card game makes it much more relevant to the students than a traditional classroom lesson.
One of the biggest pluses of using cards in a creative writing class is that they can be used to introduce and reinforce key concepts. For example, in the story-telling game above, the students are practicing active listening. However, if you wanted to introduce the concept of metaphor, you could point out that the princess is actually Snow White, and the huntsman is the Big Bad Wolf. By creating a scenario where the characters are physically acting out scenarios from literature, you are able to introduce important literary devices and mechanics. In this case, storytelling with cards can be a great vehicle not only for teaching the basics of writing, but for also introducing more advanced concepts.
How to Write a Creative Writing Essay with Cards
The above activities are just some of the many ways that cards can be used in a creative writing class. If you want your students to write formal essays, you could use the decks of cards to practice the structure of an argumentative essay. Deck of cards can also be used to practice describing a scene from literature. Your students will love the fact that the teacher is imitating the techniques of famous authors as they engage in a game of storytelling. This activity can help your students discover new techniques and ways of storytelling that they can use in their own writing.
Above all else, writing with a deck of cards is a great way to put your students’ creative skills to the test. Many schools now-a-days require that their students write an essay every other week. While this might seem like a pain in the neck for the teachers, it can actually be a boon for the students. By creating different scenarios for the students to practice their writing in, you can make sure that they are developing their skills and are getting a good experience. This is why writing with cards is such a popular option among teachers.
The process of writing a creative writing essay with cards can be quite meditative and relaxing. You could start by asking your students to sit in a circle and put their right hands on top of their left hands. This is to symbolize putting your personal feelings aside and coming up with an objective opinion. Once they have their hands resting comfortably, you can give them a topic to write about. You can guide their imagination, asking them to think of a time when they experienced joy or sorrow. The important thing is to have them write, regardless of what they might write about. You can make them work through their thoughts, challenging them to find the hidden meaning behind their random, unstructured writing. This is a very effective writing technique that will help them find the flow of their thoughts and the meaning behind their writing. It is a good idea to give them some time to settle down, breathing deeply and listening to relaxing music before you begin the writing process.
Once you have some content, you can begin to pull it apart, editing, improving, and combining sentences. You can highlight particular parts of the text that you think are strong and require more attention. This is an important step in the writing process and one that should not be rushed. Take your time with this and make sure that each sentence and paragraph is well-crafted and as flawless as you can make it. This is a great exercise for both you and your students. As a teacher, you can give them feedback on their writing, pointing out the good things about what they have produced and helping them to find the weaknesses. As they are improving at this point, you can give them constructive criticism, helping them to become better writers. This is an invaluable tool in their education.
Conclusion
From introducing children to the basics of reading and writing to practicing techniques and getting a mental break, using cards in a creative writing class is a flexible and versatile activity. Not only that, but it can also enhance your students’ experience by allowing them to use their creative writing skills in a more interactive and engaging manner. If you want your students to have the best possible experience during their time in your classroom, introduce them to the joys of storytelling via writing with cards!