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Enhancing Creativity and Imagination through Writing

Creative and imaginative writing is a valuable asset that fosters children’s imagination and

writing. Professor Ewing in Ward (2015) states that, ‘strong creative thinking and learning

skills are critical to students’ social and emotional wellbeing, academic achievement and

lifelong learning’. Fransen (2017) also concurs with this stating writing enhances the

development of one’s cognitive growth, organisational abilities and the ability to influence

others through persuasion. Atwell’s readings focuses on the workshops for reading and

writing by incorporating ideas for mini lessons to encourage reluctant writers to write and

readers to read. Atwell emphasises that writing is something that can be taught with proper

planning and with the incorporation of mini-lessons. Writers that are reluctant also benefit

from such workshops.

Fransen highlights the importance of creative writing and how it encourages students to

‘exercise their creative minds and practice using their imaginations’. Fransen adds that by

doing so it ‘broadens the thought process’. Students are encouraged to show their creativity,

imagination, an opportunity to self-express, gain self confidence and gain exceptional

communication and persuasion skills (Fransen). Atwell talks of Smith’s concept of implicit

and explicit demonstrations and how allowing the students to pick their own texts to read

engages them more. Gallagher ( 2005) states that teachers spend a lot of time preparing

students for fake writing however providing these students with choice allows them to take

personal interest in their writing hence promoting students to write better. According to

Gallagher, ‘allowing students to choose writing topics has immediate benefits’. By doing so

students develop ownership and are more likely to have stronger work ethics. Atwell’s

articles are full of ideas, plans and resources on how to encourage hesitant writers to write.

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Creating writing workshops with mini lessons that do not last too long ensures students focus

on one particular task. Peha (2003) states that ‘mini lessons are short, usually ten to fifteen

minutes but rarely more than twenty). Mini lessons are kept short intentionally so that ‘each

writing period will be available to the students for writing’ (Peha). The purpose of the mini

lesson is to focus on a particular issue that needs addressing e.g. writing. Atwell highlights

the importance of teachers to ‘provide help by responding sensibly and sensitively to students

writing’ and by ‘modelling ways how students can respond to one another’. Modelling first

for students gives them a better understanding and provides guidance in their work. The mini

lessons are designed to ‘aid struggling writers, help students understand all of them are

capable of producing writing that works both for themselves and for their readers’ (Atwell).

The focus of the writing workshop is to encourage students to write as they ‘all have the

potential to be creative’ (Yager 2017 p. 1). Yager further elaborates that ‘students need to be

immersed into the writing process because all students can write well when they are inspired

and feel supported’. The writing workshop aims to provide support and inspiration for

students to be outstanding writers.

The writing workshop provides students opportunities to write. Gannon, Howie & Sawyer

(2010) state, ‘writing more and writing often’ contribute to making students ‘more

experienced, more proficient, more confident and more supple writers’. Atwell, too agrees

that the more students write the more confident they become. The main goal for the mini

lessons are for students to ‘improve their writing and simultaneously develop myriad

approaches to writing that empower students to effectively evaluate and improve their own

writing and thinking’ (Atwell). Students are encouraged to group share their work with their

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peers and teacher upon which they receive constructive feedback. Atwell states, ‘group share

is another means for helping writers improve their writing’. She further adds, ‘ students need

to try out the content of their writing on others and on themselves as readers, hearing what

they’ve said and considering what they might say’. This is a crucial part of the workshop,

receiving positive and constructive feedback can be valuable to students in better

understanding their work.

The mini lessons, Atwell introduces in the writing workshop are focused to encourage

students to write without the concern of judgement. Atwell also mentions how modelling

assists students and that ‘writing is an act of thinking and considering’. By modelling stories

of personal experience the teacher has provided guidance for students to ‘look for

significances of events of their own lives’. Atwell’s article also puts emphasis on ‘thinking,

writing and talking about ideas’ that students have. Students should be encouraged to keep all

their drafts in their writing folder and not erase anything. Atwell highlights, by not erasing

students are able to save the record of their thinking and how it has evolved. By doing so, the

teacher can see the achievements of the students and how far he/she has come. Atwell also

emphasises the importance of saving everything the students write and status of the class.

Status of the class refers to what students are working on in their piece. Keeping a record of

where each student is assists the teacher in knowing how the students are going. Another

important issue Atwell brings to light is editing. Students need to be taught editing or peer

conferencing. Peer conferencing, according to Gannon et., al, ‘is a useful strategy for

responding to student writing’. During peer conferencing, students are able to discuss any

problems or difficulties they have faced and come up with a solution for it. The mini lessons

in writing focuses on many different things, from first draft, to proof reading, second draft,

editing to final copy with conferencing in between each.

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Atwell also stresses the importance of establishing a writers environment. Having routines

that define the writing workshop will work as an encouragement for students to write. Atwell

also points out the role of the teacher in the workshop. Taylor (200) states that ‘Atwell turns

away from rules and towards intervention on the part of the teacher, a revision that

reintegrates the teacher as central in the writing classroom’. The teacher plays the central role

in the writing workshops. Atwell calls this method ‘handover, where an adult intervenes and

gradually provides less assistance to a learner’ (Taylor). Atwell uses the mini lessons to

address several issues like punctuation, pronoun usage, spelling etc. Gannon et., al states a

writing rich classroom makes use of ‘appropriate workshop process and strategies like

conferencing, mini lessons, peer review which extend students’ understanding of language in

use and their capacity to judge and rework their own writing with sensitivity’. In writing rich

classrooms, the opportunity to write increases whilst pressure to write in ‘high stake

conditions’ decreases (Gannon et., al).

Atwell’s articles have focused on writing and how to approach it using writing workshops in

the classroom. Anyone according to Atwell can write, it is something that can be taught. A

famous quote by Atwell summaries it best,

‘The qualities of good writing are complex and nuanced. But they can be named, and I'm

convinced they can be taught. Of all the arts, writing should be among the most democratic:

all one needs is paper and a pen — and I would suggest, a teacher or two along the way who

works to make the intangible tangible, so every student might know the joy of writing well’.

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Outline Enhance Creative & Imaginative Writing – Stage 4

Week Program outline/Learning Activities

1 Mini-Lesson 1: Private free writing

2 Mini-Lesson 2: A special object

3 Mini-Lesson 3: Through my window

4 Mini-Lesson 4: Symbolism and Motifs

5 Mini-Lesson 5: Verb Driven

6 Mini-Lesson 6: Noun Group Descriptors

7 Mini-Lesson 7: The power of Syntax

8 Mini-Lesson 8: The 50 word Challenge

9 Mini-Lesson 9: Master Chef Story Challenge

10 Mini-Lesson 10: Setting the scene

Mini lesson one focuses on private free writing where students write on any topic of

their liking. The main focus of this task is ‘on students undertaking continuous

writing’ (Boas & Gazis, 2016, p.282). This activity is a ‘strong focus activity that

promotes the development of thinking and writing skill’ (Boas & Gazis). Atwell states

that getting students to write on a topic of his or her choosing is the main thing.

During the first lesson, students are familiarised with the rules of the workshop.

Mini lesson two focuses on students describing a special object that carries

sentimental value starting from the physical appearance to the minutiae details. The

teacher models this activity first using something from her past. This task makes

student ‘look beyond the superficial and capture the minutiae of life’ (Yager). This

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activity promotes thinking and writing skills. Students are taught constructive

feedback and how to deliver it.

Mini lesson three focuses on the power of imagery. Students look through the window

and describe what they see with the help of metaphors and similes. The teacher

models a few sentences for the class. This activity is designed to get students to

‘describe different types of imagery, auditory and gustatory’ (Yager). Benefits of this

activity are deep thinking, greater focusing skills and writing. This activity is ‘fun and

pleasurable’ for students (Gannon., et. al).

Mini lesson four is structured around symbolism and motifs. Students are given a list

of object with their symbolic meaning which they need to utilise in their writing. The

teacher models some for the class to provide a better understanding. The purpose of

this lesson is for students to ‘add deeper and provocative layer to their writing’

(Yager).

Mini lesson five addresses the issue of using verbs to breathe life into scenes.

Students describe scenes using verbs and hence learn that ‘verbs are the muscles of

writing and the masters of polysemy as they can convey multiple meanings in a

single word’ (Yager). Students are given pictures which they must describe using

verbs.

Mini lesson six concentrates on building noun groups. The teacher models some

examples for the class. Students then go on and do their own list. After which, they

must write 150-200 words using their list. This is a simple task designed to ‘elevate

students’ ability to craft effective descriptions by focusing on building noun groups’

(Yager).

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Mini lesson seven focuses on sentence structure. Students are given extracts with

simple sentences and the same with complex sentences. Students are given 10 minutes

to construct a vignette using complexed sentences. To assist students, prompts are

provided. They then work in groups of fours for the remainder of the workshop that

critique each other’s work suggesting how ‘the sentence structure could be

improved’(Yager). The purpose of this is for students to learn ‘sentence structure for

deliberate effect’ (Yager).

Mini lesson eight restrains students to a fifty word limit challenge. The task is

designed to ‘hone a students’ writing skills as they have to be very specific and

discerning’ (Yager). This is a mini narrative challenge where students can choose

from one of the many topics the teacher set out e.g lost in the wilderness, visiting

NASA, climbing Mount Everest etc.

Mini lesson nine is a mystery challenge. Students are divided into pairs and are given

a small box. The box may contain any of the following, a shell, two words: memories

and hidden, a flower, a line of poetry – to see a world in a grain of sand, a

handkerchief and a rock. The challenge is to create a hundred word narrative using the

object as an inspiration. The purpose of this task restraints students to a word limit

and focuses on deeper understanding, imaginative thinking and writing.

Mini lesson ten focuses on the opening setting of a narrative. Students are placed in

pairs and the task is to craft an ‘opening that sets the scene for a narrative and hints at

tension or impending conflict’ (Yager). Students revisit the importance of sensory

details and how they could use pathetic fallacy or striking figurative language.

Students will focus on first person or third person narration.

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Students will be allocated writing folders where to keep all their work. After every

single mini lesson the class comes together as group sharing takes place. But before

the group sharing takes place, students must edit and proof read their work. A name

sheet will be kept of every student who presents so the following lesson other kids get

the opportunity to share their work. The group sharing is kept very brief. Each student

gets five minutes to work on a creative piece once the mini lesson has finished. This

piece will be the same piece that the individual continues to work on at the end of

each mini lesson. At the end of the class there is a status of the class conference about

their creative piece. Atwell states that writing using the mini lessons the teacher is

able to ‘evaluate students’ growth’. The best way to improve writing is write more

and more.

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References

Atwell, N. (n.d.). Responding to Writers and Writing. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from

https://vuws.westernsydney.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=vie

w&content_id=_3604398_1&course_id=_26898_1

Atwell N. (n.d.).Getting Started. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from

https://vuws.westernsydney.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=vie

w&content_id=_3604397_1&course_id=_26898_1

Atwell N. (n.d.).Writing Mini-Lesson. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from

https://vuws.westernsydney.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=vie

w&content_id=_3604397_1&course_id=_26898_1

Boas, E., & Gazis, S. (2016). The artful English teacher: Over a hundred strategies for the

English classroom. Kensington Gardens, South Australlia: Australian Association for

the Teaching of English.

Gallagher, K. (n.d.). Chapter 5: Beyond Fake Writing: The Power of Choice - Teaching

Adolescent Writers. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from

https://sites.google.com/site/teachingadolescentwriters/chapter-5-beyond-fake-

writing-the-power-of-choice

Gannon, S., Howie, M., & Sawyer, W. (2010). Charged with meaning: Re-viewing English.

Putney, N.S.W.: Phoenix Education.

Lessons That Change Writers. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2018, from

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https://www.heinemann.com/lessonsthatchangewriters/

Ms. McClure's Class. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2018, from

http://msmcclure.com/?page_id=3937

Middleton, S., Atwell's "In the Middle," Fully Revised, Remains a Classic. Retrieved October

1, 2018, from https://www.middleweb.com/21209/in-the-middle-fully-revised-

remains-a-classic/

Peha, S. (2003). Welcome to Writers Workshop. Retrieved September 21, 2018, from

https://www.ttms.org/

Taylor, M. M. (2000). Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle and the Ongoing Transformation of the

Writing Workshop. Retrieved September 29, 2018, from

http://learner3.learner.org/workshops/middlewriting/images/pdf/W1ReadNancie.pdf

Ward, J. P. (n.d.). Creative writing boosts kids' confidence and creativity. Retrieved

September 21, 2018, from https://sydney.edu.au/news-

opinion/news/2015/10/20/creative-writing-boosts-kids-confidence-and-creativity.html

Yager, K. (2017). The artistry of imaginative writing. Seven Hills, N.S.W: Phoenix

Education.

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