Writer’s notebook Ideas
Compiled by the oz lit teacher community
DEAR OZ LIT TEACHER COMMUNITY
“It takes a village to raise a child.”
Soooooo, let’s join together to compile a useful resource that will benefit all of the writers in our schools.
Thanks for being a part of the Oz Lit Teacher community!
I have compiled this collection of writer’s notebook strategies for teachers and students to share and use freely (please do not rebrand and sell on TPT or the like).
Oz Lit Teacher- Narissa Leung
I love sharing ideas, mentor texts and resources with Australian educators.
Website: http://ozlitteacher.com.au
Instagram: @Ozlitteacher
Facebook: Oz Lit Teacher (search groups)
Twitter: rissL
Email: narissa@ozlitteacher.com.au
A note on using this resource
I get regular requests from teachers to be added as collaborators on this document.
Many schools have their Google Apps set up in a way that restrict me from adding you as a collaborator. (Having said this, you should not need collaborator rights to add or use this document.)
Please email me at narissa@ozlitteacher.com.au if you are having issues.
Strategies vs prompts
“Unlike a prompt, a strategy can be used again and again in different contexts with different results.”
(Aimee Buckner, 2005)
The purpose of the slides in this presentation is to teach students different strategies for coming up with ideas for writing.
Remember: we are teaching the writer- not the writing!
Think, feel, wonder
Look at a picture.
What does it make you
List or write your thoughts.
Jot words around a topic
Note: website such as the the Literacy Shed or pobble365 can be useful for providing images for this.
Get wild!
Go outside.
Draw three things: something you hear, something you smell, and something you see.
Scribble a few words or phrases about each of those things.
Use this word bank to write a first draft.
Now turn your poem on its head.
Get wild.
If your first draft is serious and light, make the next draft silly and dark. If it’s silly and dark, get serious and light.
Start with what you observed—then play with your words. Create a mini-movie in your mind.
Write about what you DON’T love
We are often asked to write about what we “love”- a favorite place, a beloved pet, etc. Sometimes, however, thinking about things we don’t love-or, better yet, things we wished we loved, but don’t-provides just as much, if not more, fodder for writing.
New York Times Picture Prompts
Visit the New York Times Picture Prompt page for inspiration for writing.
This page displays images from NYT stories and asks readers to imagine the story that went with the image. (You can then click through to read the actual article the image relates to.)
Write Outside
Take your notebook outside and look around you.
What do you see, hear, feel?
Is there an image you can describe?
Notice and Wonder
Sit quietly and observe the world around you.
Write down what you notice.
Write down what you wonder.
Write about the weather
Go outside or open the windows.
What is happening with the weather?
How does it make you feel?
How does the outside world look in this weather?
What is special about this type of weather?
How is the weather impacting people/animals/the world?
Dreams
Write about a dream that you have had. Is there one that sticks in your mind?
From prose to Poem
Write a story (or look for one you have already written).
Take out some words to make line breaks, add some funky rhythm to turn it into a poem.
This is my original piece, a childhood memory of running to knock on our neighbour’s door.
Right: The poem I crafted from this piece.
I remember...
Write down as many memories as you can. Quick! Give yourself 5-10 minutes only.
Keep them short.
The idea is to create a list of memories so you can refer back to these as starters for a piece of writing at a later date.
Thank You to author Jane Godwin for providing this idea.
Write as Something or Someone else
Pretend you are someone or something else.
Write from that perspective.
Maybe you are a goalpost, a football, an umpire?
Maybe you are a book character, a doctor, a rich person?
Maybe you are a dog or a cat or a bird?
Write From a Quote
Record quotes in your notebook. These may be from conversations or books or anywhere else.
Respond to one of these quotes with a notebook entry.
What does it make you feel or think? Why do you like it?
Write From an Artifact
Collect artifacts: tickets, receipts, pictures cut from the newspaper or magazines, photos or other mementos. (You can keep these in a ziplock bag until you use them).
Stick one of these onto a page, and write a few notes about what you were doing, who was with you, what you were thinking about, why you were there etc.
A holiday task for students: collect holiday mementos in a ziplock bag and bring them to school the following term.
Be a Word Collector
Ask ‘What If?’
Sit down and observe the world around you right now.
Ask yourself ‘What if’...
Let your imagination run wild.
Eg. What if all the electricity around me turned off and never came back on?
What if the AFL football went over the stadium and the umpires couldn’t find a spare?
What if my dogs could talk?
Now write!
Write About Ways to Avoid Writing
Sometimes it is hard to come up with an idea for something to write about.
So...use that problem as your idea.
Write about how hard it is to write.
Wonderings
What do you wonder about?
What questions about the world get you really thinking?
Write down all the things you wonder. (There are no silly wonderings!. They can be big or small wonderings)
Visit Wonderopolis for inspiration.
Write From an Image
Check out these websites to find interesting images for writing:
Write a list
Give yourself a short time to write. Write a list on a topic.
Once you have written the list, put an asterisk next to the items on the list you think you could write more about at a later time.
Some list topics include:
Things I enjoy doing
Things I don’t enjoy doing
Favourite possessions
Worst events
Best life events
First times
Things you didn’t do on your holidays
Things I love
Things I know a lot about
Things I don’t like
Places I’ve been
Things that annoy me
Things I would like to do/bucket list
Memories I have
Five sense writing
Find a place to sit and observe the world around you.
What can you:
COLOUR WRITING
Name/List colours
What do you think of?
How does that colour make you feel?
What do you hear when you think of that colour?
Where can you go to see that colour?
What does that colour taste like?
What does it look and sound like in another language?
Magnetic Words
Come up with a list of 5-10 random words or better yet, get someone else to come up with a list for you. (See next page for some lists)
Write a story using all of these words.
The story can be really bad- just write and make sure you include all the words.
WHY?
Doing this opens up the creative juices and sometimes you end up writing about a character or a problem you never would have thought of before!
Write non-stop for as long as you can. Don’t worry about the quality.
*Check the next slide for some sample word lists (you can use the word in any form eg. plural, as someone’s name, get creative!)
This strategy is from Jen Storer’s Scribbles Writing Course
Magnetic words lists
List 1 | List 2 | List 3 |
chilly | anklebiter | Saturday |
laser | gumnut | adore |
rose | radiant | portal |
Adelaide | lolly | cucumber |
fork | trenchcoat | comics |
hole | fingerprint | spray can |
Character images
You don’t have to write a story about them, just do dot points to get to know the character. You can expand on the dot points later.
My Life Map
A life map is a visual timeline. It traces key moments in your life from the time you were born until the present day. The events and experiences you draw in your life map can make great starting points for writing topics, particularly for personal writing.
Create your own life map.
1. Start your life map with the day you were born.
2. Record the dates of key moments in your life in time order.
3. Draw each event to help you remember it.
4. End your life map with the present day.
My life Map
Where have my feet been this week/month/year/lifetime….
As humans we are born to move and travel. Many of our exciting ideas come from our travels.
Draw an outline of your feet on paper. Fill up with places you have been.
This activity can be done as a holiday recount, as an end of year reflection, or as a life journal.
I can’t Imagine life without
A different way to list things we love. What can’t we imagine life without?
Check out this super cool visual from ‘Musings from Middle school’.
https://musingsfromthemiddleschool.blogspot.com/search?q=imagine
Things I can’t Stand
Another great list idea by ‘ Musings from Middle School’
Instead of using the word ‘ hate’, let’s list things that we can’t stand.
Write as the opposite of yourself
What do you connect with
Example : Animals/people
Heart Map
Draw a heart and fill it with words depicting all the people, places and memories that mean the most to you.
Add:
This strategy is from Georgia Heard and is referenced in Nancie Atwell’s book “Lessons that change writers”
Found Poetry
Found Poetry
Watch this youtube clip for some inspiring examples
Brainstorm From a Word
Writing off literature
Read a piece of text (picture story books and poems are great for this).
Read the text first as a reader and then as a writer and a thinker.
Now write.
You might write about what the text reminds you of, what it makes you think about, connections you made to it etc.
This strategy is from Aimee Buckner's 'Notebook Know-How’
Write from a picture for 10 minutes-
(just like author lian tanner does!)
Author Lian Tanner says she often sets a timer and writes for 10 minutes about a particular picture in her notebook.
Why don’t you try the same?
Timed writing ideas - (Lucky dip writing)
1 minute wonders
2 minute tunes
3 minute funnies
4 minute forecasts
5 minute fairytales
6 minute sells
7 minute stories
8 minute autos
9 minute narratives
10 minute talkfests
Lifting Lines
Borrowing lines, words and sentences from other writers help inspire better writing.
Sentences I wish I’d written
When reading or listening to books (or watching movies) keep an eye out for clever, beautiful or inspiring sentences.
Record these on a page in your notebook.
Read about how published authors use their notebooks
Think/ Wonder/See
Look at a picture.
What does it make you
List or write your thoughts.
Possible text types - What can you write?
Brainstorming
Stick your ‘seed’ in the middle.
Jot down everything you know about this topic.
Possible categories to research?
Possible questions to answer?
Brainstorm (continued)
What does it mean to you?
Types?
Benefits?
Origins?
100 things i love
We always do our best writing when we write about a topic we are passionate about. So jot down ‘100 things I love’ to reference back to when struggling to come up with ideas for your next topic.
Experiment/Experience
This is from a cloud making experiment using hot water, ice and hairspray. The video of this experience was used as a seed for writing. This kind of experiment can inspire some excellent thinking for writing.
History of a name
Write about your own name (first, middle or last)
Where did you get it?
What does it mean?
How has it shaped you?
What do you like/ dislike about it?
Alternate options:
This strategy is from Aimee Buckner's 'Notebook Know-How’
Found in a library book
Visit this website to view photos of items librarians have found in library books.
Use one of the photos to inspire ideas
for writing.
Contact me!
Hey, if you’ve found this resources useful I’d love to know!
Drop me a line on my website to let me know what was useful or how you used the resource.
Add your idea here!