Living Life Twice

  Realistic fiction is a genre that doesn’t get the attention it deserves in schools. It’s there under our noses, yet the writing of other genres and styles is more frequently encouraged among student writers.  It’s perfectly legitimate to use a real life event as a starting point for a realistic fiction writing piece. I have put together some possible ways to use a real event as a launching pad for a fictional piece. Kids also need to know that they can combine aspects of various real life events and mix them into the one story.  Ask students to: Make a list of at least five real life events (funny, exciting, weird, scary) that have directly affected them. Choose one to use as the starting point for their ‘made up’ story. This becomes the impetus for the writing that follows: Find an alternative problem for the characters to solve Change the names of characters. Add additional characters to a real event Change how characters talk, behave or react. Change the setting wher...

Realistic fiction is a genre that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It’s there under our noses, yet the writing of other genres and styles is more frequently encouraged. It’s perfectly legitimate to use a real life event as a starting point for a realistic fiction writing piece. I have put together some possible ways to use a real event as a launching pad for a fictional piece. Kids also need to know that they can combine aspects of various real life events and mix them into the one story.  Ask students to: Make a list of at least five real life events (funny, exciting, weird, scary) that have directly affected them. Choose one to use as the starting point for their ‘made up’ story. This becomes the impetus for the writing that follows: Find an alternative problem for the characters to solve Change the names of characters. Add additional characters to a real event Change how characters talk, behave or react. Change the setting where the action takes place....

It is said that fiction is merely reality with a twist, so today I present a deliberate piece of fiction. A piece that finds its origins in events witnessed during my regular summer walks. It is a fragment of fiction. Recently in my notebook I have trying to weave some word magic, turning fact into fiction under the heading, ‘Fiction Fragment.’ ‘Luther Longhurst loved his front veranda. He felt free and in charge each time he parked himself there. As verandas go, it was a small space, pokey even, with room for a single fold away director’s chair and a planter pot holding some straggly, unloved geraniums.   Each morning when the summer air was at its freshest and the moist scents of the garden rose form the earth, Luther would step out his front door and onto his humble little veranda. He unquestionably owned the space. The foldaway chair vanished under Luther’s large frame. He owned it. Taking his seat the big man immediately highlighted the relative fragility of...

You would have to asleep on the job not to have read about the ‘reading –writing connection’ and how one aspect of literacy feeds the other. We know they co-exist in an effective literacy program. We also know how important it is to choose good quality literature for children to read. Such literature plays such a strong role in improving the quality of student writing. The writing workshop is the perfect opportunity for teachers to share their knowledge of children’s literature. It’s a chance to share the author’s deliberate use of craft- leads, endings, voice, style, vocabulary, format, sentence structure, vivid verbs and accurate adjectives. If you are attending to such aspects of the writer’s craft by reading and noting the author’s attention to such fine details, you are teaching so much about writing! To do this we need to create time to read the available literature. This enables us to make informed choices about the texts we bring to the classroom- the authors with whom we sha...

Realistic fiction is a genre that doesn’t get the attention in writing programs it deserves. It’s there under our noses, yet we are frequently drawn towards other genres. Interestingly, much of the fiction that students have read to them or they select for themselves, incorporates this genre. So they are quite familiar with its structure and features. Realistic fiction involves stories that are true to life. Students quickly realize that you don’t have things such as talking animals and cars that fly in realistic fiction. If students are taught to ask the question, ‘Could this actually happen? It will keep them away from potential pitfalls as they develop a text. It’s perfectly legitimate to use a real event as a starting point for a realistic fiction writing piece. I have put together some possible ways to use a real event as a launching pad for a fictional piece. Ask students to: Make a list of at least five real life events (funny, exciting, weird, scary) that have directly affecte...