Clustering is a nonlinear brainstorming technique that can encourage children's natural writing ability by helping them draw on their need to make patterns out of their experience. Tips for introducing cluster writing into the classroom are offered. (MT)

Eight ideas to motivate children to write. (CM)

Author provided two methods for encouraging creative ideas from students. (Author/RK)

Offers strategies for integrating poetry throughout the year and throughout the curriculum, including suggestions for creating a back-to-school poem and capturing scenes of nature in haiku. Student pages offer a primary poem coloring worksheet and an intermediate haiku worksheet. (SM)

An elementary teacher presents suggestions for helping students focus their thinking, find a central theme, and develop story ideas for writing. She describes how to demonstrate focus in writing (via teacher's writing, professional authors, and student's writing) and how to develop focus when conferencing. (SM)

This article presents 15 activities designed to motivate students to engage in creative writing. Also given are ideas on how to reinforce and maintain student interest in writing. (IAH)

Presents suggestions for teaching students about poetry by using pets. The article recommends discussing poems about pets, writing with rhyme to describe pets, writing free-verse sketches about pets, collaboratively describing pets, and studying line breaks by writing one-line descriptions of imaginary pets. A reproducible teacher page offers two…

Writing skills can be reinforced when students work together to create a classroom novel. Examples of how a language arts class developed a character by brainstorming, then wrote and revised their story to be shared with others, are given. (DF)

Author's sixth grade class published their own fiction magazine in a venture that was modeled as closely as possible after a real magazine business. (Author/DR)

Presents two children's poems about candy, by Dorothy Aldis. The article describes a teaching unit on the poems, the poet, and her use of end rhymes. Activities include writing rhyming words, writing rhyming poems, rhyming a recipe, and creating collages. (SM)

Thinking about how published authors get their ideas for stories is one way for children to generate their own story ideas. The article discusses how elementary teachers can use storytelling, reading, examining picture books, and learning writing techniques to help their students select a topic. (SM)

Presents an assessment rubric that allows teachers to consistently assess children's work over time. The rubric focuses on 3 features of writing (surface features, inner layers, and creativity), within which are 18 specific competencies. The article describes how to use the rubric to assess creative writing. (SM)

Presents poems and activities that help students explore poetry. Poems about poetry are a good introduction to studying literature and verse. The article explains how to discuss poetry and literature and offers appropriate activities. A handbook on introducing poetry to children and a student page on approaching poetry are included. (SM)

A children's book author describes how to help students blend bookmaking techniques and the writing process to create a classroom hardback library full of unique publications. The project requires inexpensive, easily accessible materials and results in impressive finished products. (SM)

This article describes a variety of language arts activities for the classroom that can be done without duplicating masters. Children use materials such as the newspaper, telephone book, and advice columns for creative writing activities. (DF)