Miller Kids University
Writing
Why write?
We write to express thoughts or feelings, to tell about something interesting or important, to teach, to ask questions, to reflect on something, to understand ourselves, or to share information, experiences, or ideas with others.
Words are used to make sentences.
A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. Sentences have different purposes. Sentences may be used to make a statement, give a command, ask a question, or exclaim (express a feeling). A sentence has a subject and a predicate. A subject is the person, place, thing, or idea the sentence is about. The predicate tells what the subject is doing or something about the subject.
Writing is often grouped as fiction or non-fiction.
Fiction is created by the imagination and not based only on facts. Mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy are examples of fiction. Nonfiction is based only on facts, real events, or real people. Writing on cooking, health, fitness, animals, art, music, travel, history, and science are examples of non-fiction.
There are different types of writing.
The main types of writing are expository, persuasive, descriptive, and narrative. Each type has a different aim. Knowing about them helps you understand the meanings of the things you read and write and why they were written. Expository writing is used to inform or explain. Descriptive writing uses details to help you see a person, place, or thing you are writing about. Narrative writing tells a story of a character by writing as if you are the character. Persuasive writing gives an opinion or is about an issue.
Writing is a process that involves steps.
Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft. It includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming, outlining, and gathering information such as researching in the library or online. Think of a topic to write about. A topic is a subject, theme, issue, matter, point, question, or concern. Also think about who you are writing for. Next write a draft by putting your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. You should explain, support, and connect your ideas. When you revise, think about if your ideas are clear. You should review, modify, and reorganize your work by rearranging, adding, or deleting things, and by making the tone, style, and content right for the reader. The goal of the revising step is to improve the draft. When you edit, check for things like grammar and spelling. Your final writing can be shared with others or published online.
A paper has three main parts.
The introduction is the first paragraph and tells the topic of the paper and catches the reader's attention. The body is 2 or more paragraphs in the middle of the paper and each paragraph contains an idea of the topic and reasons why it is important. The conclusion is the last paragraph and it sums up the paper and leaves the reader with something to remember.
Writing starts with words.
Each word is a part of speech. The main parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. A pronoun takes the place of a noun. A verb shows action or being. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. An adverb describes a verb. A preposition comes before a noun or pronoun to tell where something is. A conjunction joins words. An interjection shows emotion.
Creative writing
Creative writing is fun, and rewarding. It can be a hobby or a task you do for school or a career. Anyone can be a writer. All it takes is some creativity, ideas, knowledge of language, and an understanding of how writing is usually structured. Read a lot and practice writing to become a better writer. Creative writing is any form of writing where the purpose is to express thoughts, feelings, or emotions rather than just give information. Creative writing is written to entertain or educate someone, to spread awareness about something or someone, or to express one’s thoughts.
Activities
You can write stories, poems, news articles, essays, research papers, book reports, letters, greeting cards, plays, movie scripts, comic strips, songs, newsletters, websites, and books.
Start or join a writing club with other kids or family. Meet together to do a writing project, share writings, and get suggestions. Have fun with writing topics.
Journal
A journal is a fun and creative way to practice writing. For a journal, you can use a paper journal like a spiral notebook or composition book or you can make a computer journal. A journal is a place to write about yourself and your interests. You can write about things you like, your feelings, memories, and things you have learned. A journal can be used to write ideas for future writing. You can write topics, thoughts, words, descriptions, events, experiences, or website links that could be used for stories, poems, reports, and other writings. You can expand something you make as a journal entry into a longer piece of writing later.
20 ideas for a journal:
1. If you like the way a word sounds or its meaning, write it in your journal to use for later.
2. Describe something you like such as a certain food or object. Use senses to write how it sounds, smells, looks, tastes, or feels.
3. Take a picture and write comments about it.
4. Write about your favorite childhood toy.
5. Write about a holiday that is special to you.
6. Write about a person that is special to you.
7. Write about an animal.
8. Write about a place you like to go.
9. Write about a vacation you took.
10. Talk to a family member to find out stories about some people from your family history like a grandparent and then write about it.
11. Watch a person working and write about their job.
12. Write about something you are good at like a subject in school, a sport, or a music or art talent.
13. Write about a day that was special to you.
14. Write about a funny thing that happened to you.
15. Write a summary of a book you like.
16. Rewrite a story from the viewpoint of a different character than the one who is the main character in the original story.
17. Write about your community. Describe your school, businesses in the area, or points of interest.
18. Go outside and write about what you see like birds, plants, trees, animals, or something else involving nature.
19. Imagine yourself in a different time in history and describe a day.
20. Describe how computers and technology are important in your life.
Writing ideas
Write stories based on other stories
Use favorite books as templates. Borrow the structure of a favorite book to help you think of ideas for your own version. For example, if you like “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” then fill in the blanks (If You Give a _____ a _______…) and create a new adventure. Another idea is to change the ending to a story or tell a story from a different point of view. For example, write the story of Snow White from a dwarf’s point of view.
Write about something you read
Write about your thoughts on a story you read and discuss what things you liked or disliked about it and any lessons you learned from it.
Write about family
Collect photos of relatives and learn about past relatives and write stories about them.
Write about the outdoors
Carry a notebook and write down ideas and interesting things they see outside. Use these things you observe to create a story.
Write about your experiences
Write about a place you visited, someone you met, an activity you did, a special occasion, or a memory from when you were younger.
Write a fantasy
Write about magical and imaginary lands and beings likes elves, dragons, wizards, fairies, giants, unicorns, talking animals, princesses, or princes.
Write about favorite characters
Write about a superhero or a character from a cartoon, book, or movie.
Write about real people
Write about a person from the past or present. It can be a famous or ordinary person. Think about what you admire about that person or how you imagine their life is or was like.
Write about friendship
Write about a friend, what things you do with your friend, and what their friendship means to you.
Write about world topics
Write about an important news event you heard about and how it made you feel. Learn about other cultures and write what your learned about them and what you thought was interesting and special about them. Write about world issues that you care about.
Write about places you wish to visit
Think of a place you would like to visit. It could be a real or imaginary place. For real places, search for pictures and information about it online to help with ideas of what is there and why you want to visit there.
Write about the future
Write about your own future or a story about how you imagined the world will be in the future. For your own future, what career do you think you will have? What things do you hope to accomplish?
Write about your community
Write about your neighborhood, school, or city. Think of what makes it special or some event that happened in your community. Write about things that would make your community better.
Write about animals
Write about a pet or an animal you like. Write about an experience you had with an animal. Find facts about an animal to help with your writing. Write about a zoo, an animal rescue, or a special bond between a person and an animal.
Write about something you research
To do research writing, think of a topic you are interested in, research it online and from books and other resources, and write what you learned about it and why you think it is important.
Write about hobbies
Write about activities you like to do such as sports, dancing, cooking, acting, painting, drawing, singing, collecting, photography, crafts, gaming, blogging, making videos, and more.