KIDS HOPE AUS. THEMED MENTOR HOUR A BOOK BY ME!

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1 KIDS HOPE AUS. THEMED MENTOR HOUR A BOOK BY ME! Helping a young child write their own book is a great way to encourage a love of reading. Children have very vivid imaginations and there is nothing they enjoy more than sharing a good story. The experience of writing a book is sure to instill a sense of pride and accomplishment in any child. After going to the library and visiting the local bookstore, he/she already understands that books have the power to educate and entertain. Creating his/her own book is a great way for him to share his thoughts with others. If your child is too young to write, you can create a book by having the child dictate the story to you. Just try to keep remain as accurate as possible when taking this approach. Even young children want to feel like they have some control over the creative writing process.

2 Ideas for helping a young child write their own book In most cases, you won't need to provide much input into topics for your child to write about. Children are natural storytellers, although some have more of a flair others do. If your child is struggling for something to write about, however, here are a few ideas to consider: Family Friends Pets or other animals Sports Favorite things Spin-offs of popular movies or TV shows Creative versions of popular fairy tales Adding Sensory Details Regardless of age, the best writers are those who make the reader feel as though he is a part of the story. When helping a young child write their own book, encourage them to incorporate many sensory details. Taste Touch Smell Sound Sight Spelling and Grammar When helping a young child write their own book, one of the most common concerns is whether or not it's appropriate to correct spelling and grammar. For very young children, correction is not necessary. Most experts believe that mistakes are a natural part of learning to speak and that vigorous correction will discourage a child from experimenting with language. For school age children, however, it's perfectly appropriate to work on reinforcing the rules of proper spelling and grammar. Invented spelling, also known as phonetic spelling, is a very common phenomenon among children who are just learning to write. It's nothing to be concerned about, but it does make it hard for your child to share his story with others. Ask your child to read his story back to you, then write the correct spelling and grammar under his text.

3 Assembling a Handmade Book Once the story is finished, it's time to assemble the book. Keep in mind the following tips to help create a book that is sure to be enjoyed: Use quality heavyweight cardstock instead of regular printer paper to assemble the pages of the book. An easy way to make a book cover is to use folders with inserts for three hole-punched papers. These folders are available in a variety of colors and sold in the school supply section of any discount store. Write the book's title and your child's name on the cover using alphabet stickers or rubber stamps. Encourage your child to draw colorful pictures to illustrate the story. If the characters in the book are friends and family, use copies of old photos as illustrations. Consider having the pages of the book laminated at your local copy shop to make it a bit more durable. If the story is one that will interest your child's friends or family members, don't forget to make a few copies for him to give as gifts. This is a wonderful way to encourage your child to keep writing. DIFFERENT TYPES OF BOOKS 1. COMIC BOOKS Learning act4ivities: There are many educational opportunities to be found in the creation of comic books. They are an easy way to encourage kids to tell a story, and they foster a love of reading. Fostering creativity: When you help a child make a comic book, you foster his/her creativity. As she draws and colours her pictures and designs the layout of the comics, she'll become more adept and more confident in her ability to create. How to Make a Comic Book In order to make your own comic book with your child, you'll need to consider his age and ability level, and design a comic book that is appropriate. A comic book that is too detailed and complicated will frustrate a younger child, so start out simple. Supplies could include the following: White or coloured paper or cardstock Pencils Coloured pencils Ruler Hole punch or stapler

4 Yarn (if punching holes to join the pages) Suggestions for Younger Children With younger children, the key to creating a successful comic book is to keep it short and simple. Most children do better if they have a visual they can look at. Since you may not have a simple enough comic strip on hand, you'll probably need to create one that your child can use as a model. To create a younger child's comic book, you'll only need to make two or three slides per page. Use a ruler to draw several frames, and then show your child how to fill in the frames with figures and objects. Next, help your child verbally develop his story so that he has an idea of what kind of pictures he wants to draw. You might want to draw a few of the characters of his story for him, so that he can copy them later. Now, give your child some comic strip frames so that he can draw his own pictures. He'll probably need to use a pencil to draw the pictures, and later he can go over them with coloured pencils or crayons. Once the frames have been drawn, you can help him add dialogue. (For very young children, you might want to forgo the dialogue and simply tell the story with pictures.) You're now ready to connect your frames or strips by either stapling the pages together or punching holes in one side, and tying the pages together with yarn or string. If the comics were drawn on paper, glue or tape them to cardstock to make them sturdier. Suggestions for Older Children Older children and teens can get in on the comic book act as well. Have them create their storylines before they start actually making the book. Older kids will probably want to fit anywhere from four to eight frames per page. Once they've drawn all of the characters and added features, they should add color to each frame, even outlining them in contrasting shades as well. 2. STORY BOOKS Start by reading a favourite story together. Talk a little bit about the story s author. Help the child understand that the author wrote the story and made decisions about what should happen in it. As you read, stop and ask the child to make predictions about what is going to happen next and why he or she thinks so. When you do this, you are encouraging him or her to think about how stories work and how readers understand stories both important when writing a story of one s own. While you are reading and when you are done, talk about the different parts of the story, asking questions such as:

5 o o o o o o What is the beginning of the story? The middle? The end? Who are the characters? What do you like about them? Where does the story take place? Is there a problem that occurs in the story? If so, how does it get resolved? What do you think about the ending? Is there a connection, either in words or pictures, between the ending and the beginning of the story? Now talk about how the child might make a story that is similar to one of them. For example, if the book he or she especially enjoyed was a story about the first day of school, ask the child to write a story about her first day of school. Or if the story was a fairy tale, suggest that the child write his or her own version. Use the questions you have asked in the previous step as a guide to help the child plan the story. For example, you might ask the child what will happen at the beginning, middle, and end of his or her story or where the story will take place. If your child is having difficulty deciding on a story topic: An example story starter might be One day I woke up and discovered that my dog could speak to me. The child then writes about what might happen next. You ll find examples of story starters for kids at the links below, where each story started is printable and comes with an illustration. The Story Starter Junior - and Chateau Meddybemps - You might also: Suggest three unrelated things for example, a train, a princess, and a basketball and encourage a child to write a story that includes all of them. Help a child write about favourite family stories or events, like a funny story that s been passed down from generation to generation, or a memorable vacation. Once the child has chosen a topic, help him or her create a storyboard. These help writers put the events of a story in order using pictures. They work kind of like a comic strip. You can make a storyboard by having a child draw a series of pictures of the main events in the story on sticky notes and then asking him or her to arrange the pictures in order. Talk about the order and whether it makes sense since you are using sticky notes, the child can move them around. Once the child has picked a final order for the story ask him or her to write several sentences or even a paragraph for each picture that tells that part of the story. Ask him or her to read you the story. Then ask if there are any changes they would like to make. After the child has had a chance to read the story aloud and make some changes to it, have him or her write a final version of the story that is illustrated and turned into a book, complete with a title, a cover, and the name of the author. Keep this book with other favourite stories and encourage the child to read it to you.

6 3. PHOTO BOOKS Children enjoy writing books based on photos that they ve been involved in taking. For example, if your child has a favourite toy, take photos of the toy in a number of different settings around the school. When the photos have been printed, arrange the photos in order and write captions about each one on a sticky note. For younger children, you can help them write captions to the photographs and write what they dictate. For older children, encourage them to use the photos as starting points for a longer story. This can be used as a basis of a story book about the toy s adventures. Maybe a costume could be put on the toy eg. a pirate costume etc.

7 BOOKS Look at My Book: How Kids Can Write & Illustrate Terrific Books Paperback January 1, 2005 by Loreen Leedy (Author, Illustrator) In no time at all kids can be off on a literary adventure that they can create as they go along. With the help of some spunky and humorous characters, Loreen Leedy tells kids everything they need to do to become authors, illustrators, editors, and designers of their own fantastic books. She provides step-by-step instructions as well as tips for incorporating the wildest and most original ideas. This innovative book will inspire young authors and give them the practical information they need to reach new heights of creativity. The Usborne Write Your Own Story Book A fantastic write-in book that helps children learn to write their own stories. Includes lots of different writing activities including a fictional school journal, writing a comic strip, and forming a story around a picture. Packed with writing tips and a 'story writing toolkit' to inspire budding authors. Concealed spiral binding that allows the book to open flat but doesn't get in the way as you write. A truly creative book that is bound to inspire the JK Rowlings and Jacqueline Wilsons of the future. tbk magazine A writing workshop in book form.

8 STORY STARTER WORKSHEETS Here are a couple of examples of sheets available on the following site:

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10 ONLINE RESOURCES html This is an online comic strip creator. This site has templates for creating your own comic book, including templates for the title page Ten tips on how to write your best story ever! A simple online approach to writing a short piece. More ideas! Free illustrated story starters!