How to Sparkle at Writing Stories and Poems

Book excerpt: How to Sparkle at Writing Stories and Poems will help early and beginning writers to master some of the skills of composition and writing conventions. All of the activities stimulate creative writing, in the form of stories or poetry. They are designed to give children lots of ideas and to help them plan and develop those ideas. The book contains 40 photocopiable worksheets. Pupils are asked to describe what is happening in pictures on the worksheets or to write stories about topics such as their best friend, who they would like to be, or what it would be like if their world shrank in size. The worksheets also give models for poems of different types, for example acrostic poems, shape poems and poems about feelings. The tasks are designed to be open-ended so that they will be a stimulus for children of all abilities. Some of the extension activities will also encourage children to think of different audiences for their writing.