In the windy sky late in the afternoon, a red scary dragon was looking down on the desert. This dragon was calmly flying for food and enjoying the view. Just then he saw a mouse and he swooped down for the mouse with his claws that were sharp. A huge wind broke his control but then the wind stopped. The dragon had lost his confidence. The dragon late at night went away.
Gordon (aged 9)
Tag Archives: creative writing
The Dark Dragon – by Gordon (aged 9)
Filed under creative writing, Learning, Short Story
Golden Lady Beetle – by Bethany (aged 12)
The golden lady beetle woke up in her nest early in the morning. The lady beetle was so colourful that you won’t even see her because she blends in with beautiful flowers. She sleeps peacefully in her nest. She sucks all the nectar out of the flowers. The golden beetle enjoys her days from morning to night.
by Bethany (aged 12)
Filed under creative writing, Posts, Short Story
The Sleep-over – by Oscar (aged 7)
On Tuesday afternoon Finlay’s best friend Oscar, who he met at pre-school, is coming over to have a sleep-over. In the sleep-over they are going to sleep with torches in a tent in the backyard. When Oscar and Finlay are asleep thousands of wild bats fly over them. Once Oscar asked Finlay if he has wild pigs or cats and he said, “I’ve got wild cats.” On Wednesday morning Oscar’s sleep-over will be over.
Oscar (aged 7)
Oscar has begun to work with more complex sentences. He is working on ways of combining three concepts or phrases into one sentence without using the conjunctive ‘and’. For example, in the the sentence about bats he started with these sentences:
- When Oscar and Finlay are asleep the bats will fly over them.
- The bats are wild.
- There are thousands of bats.
and combined them together into a sentence which used adjectives.
In the first sentence, however, he combined these sentences:
- On Tuesday afternoon a boy named Oscar was having a sleep-over with his best friend Finlay.
- They have been friends since pre-school.
This time he created a complex sentence with a main clause and a subordinate clause in the middle. The subordinate clause, which could be left out of the sentence, is marked by commas on both sides.
Filed under creative writing, Posts, Short Story
The Battleship – by Gordon (aged 9)
Early in the morning when it was still dark, an American battleship came whooshing through the stormy waves. It was really dark. It was coming for World War Two. Many people died in the battleships but many survived. Three years later, when it was early in the morning, the war stopped.
Gordon (aged 9)
This is Gordon’s first writing exercise with us and I think he has done very well. Like all boys his age he was anxious about putting words to paper but discovered he enjoyed telling a story others would read.
Filed under creative writing, Posts, Short Story
The Dragon Fly – by Dardo (aged 7)
At midnight we met a dragon fly in a gum tree. He could turn people into ants. He was a mean dragon fly who took over their kingdoms. He moved in an lived there. That is the story of the dragon fly in the gum tree.
Dardo, aged 7
It would appear our seven year old students are battling it out for who can write the most stories. It was only the beginning of the year these young lads showed a complete terror of putting their thoughts on paper, or even bringing them out into the real world. They were afraid people would not enjoy them; would find them silly; would laugh at their efforts; say they couldn’t spell; etc. All this going on in the head of a seven year old, is it any wonder boys do not like to write?
Yes, some of these stories are silly, peculiar or may not make sense but writers call upon their experience when they put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards). We are asking our young students to use their imagination to replace their experience just as long as they over come their fear and begin to write. Can you imagine what a writer will be like in years to come when he can build his imagination upon his experience.
Filed under creative writing, Learning, Short Story
The Journey – by Oscar (aged 7)
One upon a time there was a prince and princess but one day, in the green land, the king and queen said “You have to go on a journey.” They were a little scared because they had never gone on an adventure before. After six hours walking they arrived at a dark forest where a magic gorilla held fire flames in his hands to light the way. Beyond the trees there was a field of flowering fly traps with a strong smell which scared them so they ran and ran. They found a cave where a wizard told them “you have ended the journey.”
By Oscar (aged 7)
Filed under creative writing, Short Story
A Shark Escapes by Dardo (aged 7)
Each day the shark looks for shelter from a big twister. In the blue water this makes a whirlpool so the shark has to swim away quickly. His favourite place to hide is amongst the rock caves. There he swims around having fun and otherwise he stayed in the one spot. It is fun to be a shark because the blue water is very deep.
By Dardo (aged 7)
Filed under creative writing, Posts, Short Story
Cows in Winter by Dionara (aged 6)
The cows in the North Pole in winter feel cold. They like the snowing days. The blue sky high above was cloudy. All day and night the poor cows shiver.
Dionara aged 6.
Some of you may be wondering how it is that our students produce the stories that are published on this site. Well, here is our process. We hand the children a foolscap page, a pencil and some motivation. Presently they are looking at the paintings on our walls and choosing that as their subject matter. In this case Dionara chose a cow (actually the photograph is just the ears and horns of a cow) in a hot stock yard. I guess in her mind she would prefer the cow to be cooler than it was. Then we encourage them to expand on that thought. There is nothing elaborate and at times it requires some coaxing to bring the story out.
The goal is to practise using their imagination, word sounding skills and hands and fingers to form the letters with a pencil (keyboards do not help with fine motor skills at this stage). We fix up the spelling for the publication but encourage them to have a go at sounding the words and writing the letters for those sounds. Most of all it has to be fun!
Filed under creative writing, Learning, Posts, Short Story
The Day Rosie Ran Into The Bush by Oscar (aged 7)
On Oscar’s birthday your cat ran into a bush where there were spiders and paddy melons. The cat was a Chinese cat who was brown and furry under the belly. Rosie the cat saw a paddy melon and so she ran into a home. In the house lived a family named The Clays and Mr Clay got a wet mop and swept the cat outside. Next time Oscar has a birthday the cat won’t run into the bush.
By Oscar – aged 7
Year two in school and what a year of change is expected in our children. One year ago they were flat out possessing the manual dexterity to control a pencil to write the alphabet. One year on and they have to learn to formulate letters into words while constructing sentences into a story they are hearing in their head. How difficult is this?
As adults we, thankfully, have no memory of these difficult years but if you want to put this process into perspective learning to write a short story is about as difficult as learning to approach an intersection in a manually driven car. Think about this process for a minute – approach the intersection; foot off the accelerator and onto the brake to slow down; revs falling in the motor and now I have to change gear; still slowing and have to do it again; check the intersection as you approach ….. well you get the idea.
We all learn how to drive and eventually we all learn how to write, it just takes time and confidence with a few mistakes along the way. Time we have, the confidence we gain from those around us.
Filed under creative writing, Learning, Posts, Short Story
Spider Monkey by Dardo (aged 7)
At night in the big Amazon forest the spider monkey hunted. He went looking for a praying mantis to eat for lunch. He found one but it was too big to catch for his lunch. It was scary to catch so he went on looking with his tummy rumbling.
The end.
Dardo – Aged 7
“It’s alright, I don’t need you to watch me,” said young Dardo the day he sat down to write his story. Dardo used to have a lot of trouble writing and it was very frustrating for him. Now he loves it as he is choosing quite complex words and getting very close to the correct spelling as he sounds out the words he has chosen and writes them at the same time. Off and running with his new creative skills Dardo is progressing in leaps and bounds writing great little stories that no longer need a translator to understand. Well Done Mister Dardo.
Filed under creative writing, Learning, Posts, Short Story
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