I hope you all had a nice weekend. People have started exploring many virtual ways to keep their kids connected which has been really helpful for my extroverted kiddos. So, this week I am going to suggest some writing activities geared towards keeping kids connected.
1. Ask your kiddo to listen to some interviews on storycorps https://storycorps.org/stories/ (some of these stories can be heavy, so if your kiddos are sensitive you might want to listen to these ahead of time to pick the right ones) and let your kiddo think of someone they know who they can interview either about a specific topic or to get to know more about the person. Have them write a list of questions - here is a great list that will help them get started: https://storycorps.org/participate/great-questions/
Next, ask them to conduct the interview and write down answers as they talk or video chat. The extension is to have them use the information they gathered to write a story about the person or thing they found out about.
2. With your kiddos find a recipe of something most people can make with the food they have in their homes. Have your kiddos send the recipe to a friend. Alternatively, you can allow them to create their own recipe to share. Have kids make the recipe they received.
Next (for many kids the most fun part), eat the creation and write a food review. First have them read some food reviews online to better understand the genre. Next follow these steps:
Research: Ask your kiddo to find information about the preparation of the food, the place its ingredients are grown, or the people who make it.
Description: Ask kiddos to use descriptive sensory language to describe how the food looks, smells, tastes, feels, and maybe even sounds.
Opinion: Have kiddos write what they think of the food and why they would or would not recommend it.
Now share the review with the friend who sent the original recipe.
3. If your kids are into collaboration, you could pair up four friends and have each person begin a story. In their introduction they should provide the setting, the characters, and the conflict. Remind them that the conflict can be between self and other, self and self, or self and an external force. Next have the kids send the beginning of their stories to their friend and have the next person write the conflict. Pass it on to the next person and have them create the climax. The last person should compose the resolution. By the end you will have four stories!