Several hundred years ago, it was the standard in most schools to learn things like diction, handwriting, poetry and complete sentences along with additional languages like Latin and Greek. Over the years, some of these teachings have fallen completely by the wayside and unfortunately, one of those skills lost has been the ability to write and express thoughts.
It’s not all the fault of the teachers and the education system. One of the major perpetrators of this loss of grammar and syntax is the advent of new forms of technology. Between Twitter and texting, Facebook and television, kids are either both too busy and over-stimulated to express themselves eloquently, or they’re so used to keeping things under 140 characters that they simply don’t know how.
Enclosed in this book, you will find 500 writing prompts for you and your kids to enjoy. Why do I include you in there along with your kids? I’ll get to that in the next section.
A writing prompt is a question or an activity that is meant to get your child’s mind going and his pencil moving. Prompts can act as catalysts to start a story, a poem, a journal entry, a blog post or even a school assignment.
Each writing prompt could be used for something as simple as a 200 word daily entry or even an entire novel. Even just one writing prompt might be enough to get your child writing for a lifetime. Since that may be a very special case, I’ve decided to include 500 of them in case your child needs a bit of a writing refresher every day.
Author Bryan Cohen has been writing on the subject of writer's block and personal development since 2007, though he's been a playwright, poet and fiction writer since 2001. Cohen has a degree in English from the University of North Carolina. He has written 3 books, 2 plays and several screenplays. He is also a tutor who comes from a family of teachers. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois where he also acts and does improv comedy.
How Writing Prompts Work
This book works fantastically for use in the classroom. All the prompts have been created in such a way to fit between the ages of first and fifth grade but they can certainly be adapted to skew older or younger if necessary.
Try using the book for the following:
Writing tests
Journal prompts
Story, poem and essay exercises
“Get to know your classmates” activities
Spelling and grammar assignments
Extra credit projects
Writing songs, creating art and adding to bulletin boards
I am certain that there are more ideas than the above, but there is the potential for this book to be used all year round for as many projects and class periods as you’d like.
Has this ever happened to you? You work tirelessly to get your child to stop a bad habit like biting her nails or to start a good one like making her bed or cleaning her room. Despite your best efforts you are unsuccessful. One day you realize that the main reason behind her not stopping or starting this task is because you don’t do it yourself! Perhaps the same thing has happened with schoolwork as your child has said, “Math is stupid, I hate math!” and you found yourself only half-heartedly disagreeing because you felt the exact same way as she did?
This is a classic case of “Monkey See, Monkey Do” and it just goes to show that if you want your child to start writing, you may just need to buckle down and do it yourself. If you’re like me, you may thoroughly enjoy your writing time and you would cherish the time spent writing with your child. But if you’re like most people, you’ll be itching to get back to your work e-mails and your DVR to watch the shows you need to catch up on.
The best way to ensure your child gets into writing is to make sure that you are into writing. Try writing at the same time as your child and maybe even use the same prompt. If your child sees that daddy or mommy enjoys writing, he won’t be too far off enjoying it himself. Perhaps, you may even get some enjoyment out of writing as well.
I am so happy to be able to present you with this book and to give you the opportunity to spread the joy of writing wide and far. While I first began teaching writing skills and motivation to adults, I have received the most satisfaction from presenting kids with the tools to express their thoughts and world views using the power of the pen. Giving kids the ability to write what is on their mind may not solve all the problems in the world, but I feel like it is a step in the right direction and a service I’m proud to provide.
The book is available today at a low introductory price of just $25$2.99.
If you want to ween your kids off the television and their video games, try some writing on for size by purchasing 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade right now! Help your kids to become the writers and students you always knew they could be!
Buy the book today!
500 Writing Prompts for Kids is a downloadable eBook (a PDF file). Click the button to purchase it for only $25 $2.99.
Bryan Cohen is the author of more than 30 books, many of which focus on creative writing and blasting through that pesky writer's block. His books have sold more than 20,000 copies. You can find him on Google+ and Facebook.
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