Writer/Storyteller Activities & Resources: Ages 6-7

Feb 01, 2013

Ages

6-7

mother and daughter

Feb 01, 2013

Writer/Storyteller

Many traditional ways of teaching and learning are typically easily accessed by the Writer/Storyteller child.  Still, you can extend what your child is doing at school, and support your child to branch into less favored areas, with these activities & resources:

  • Foster creative outlets for storytelling.  For example, using collage materials or fabric cutouts, decoupage shapes (e.g., a dog, a dino) onto flat round stones.  You can also get clip art of favorite book characters. Encourage your child to arrange the stones in different ways to create fanciful stories.  You can also use the stones as a story basis to introduce math word problems.
  • Beautiful Language Walk: Encourage your child to use her expressive skills as you go on a “beautiful language” or “wonderful words” walk, where you take time to notice and describe small details around you. For example, you might comment on the “crisp wind filtering through the smoky gray sky.” Write down her collection of phrases and see if she can turn them into a poem.
  • Allow an expressive outlet:  Think about a drama class or check out some reader’s theater scripts. Both will foster fluency, reading skill, and vocabulary development.
  • Journal Writing:  Many Writer/Storytellers enjoy writing in a journal.  They can describe their day, their frustrations, or their aspirations.  It can be a place to simply free write, or they can use it to respond to suggestions.  For example, they might write a letter to their future self, where they describe hobbies they presently enjoy, a favorite book, etc.
  • Learn while you shop: See if your child can alphabetize your shopping list or find the most interesting named item on the shelf.
  • Some online resources
  • Free Rice: A “smart” vocabulary site that will adjust the difficulty level to match your child’s ability.  Each correct answer earns 10 grains of rice for a person in need. http://freerice.com/
  • Magnetic Poetry:  Have fun with words as you click and drag the magnets! http://www.magneticpoetry.com/poetgame/create.swf?k=3
  • Magic Tree House website: Link reading with playing at this fun site, based on the series. http://www.magictreehouse.com/  and http://www.magictreehouse.co.uk/
  • Letter Writing: Have fun learning to write letters!: http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/letterwriter/
  • Great Word Quest: An online scavenger hunt where children win word gems as they build vocabulary.  http://pbskids.org/wordquest/#/login
  • Word Hippo: To support word learning and vocabulary building, try out Word Hippo, a great place to find words similar to or opposite from other words: http://www.wordhippo.com/
  • Write-in-ator:  What a fabulous way to excite kids about writing!  Kids click on a short Word Girl clip to introduce each challenge.  Children then complete the challenge and submit their thoughts online, where their work will be published. Read the challenge responses by other kids to excite your child to read!   http://www.nhptv.org/pbskidsgo/main_list.asp
  • To support the development of different perspectives, try  http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/letters.asp.
  • There are many wonderful suggestions for how to foster a love of reading in Scholastic’s Raising a Reader Guide: http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/collection/raise-a-reader/
Age 7
Age 6