Dinosaur Story Writing
Are you greeted with groans at story writing time? Or perhaps you have have an enthusiastic writer who wants to write more? In this class students will listen to a dinosaur story followed by a brief discussion of the different genres of writing; creative writing, narratives, descriptive writing, greetings cards and more! Then we will complete a story related writing activity. I will follow this schedule and post notes in the classroom for necessary supplies. Supplies are also listed here in the weekly class description. Your child should always have a few pieces of paper and something to write with because… this is a writing class.
 
1. Week of 8/14 or 9/18  Creative Writing, “If Dinosaurs Lived In My Town” by Marianne Plumridge. Can you imagine if you shared your town with dinosaurs? You’d find crossing guards, baseball players and even friends! Writing activity: Write and illustrate a creative story about dinosaurs living in your town. Students will practice using their imaginations to write their story. Supplies: Printed writing paper (see attached page 3) or blank paper, pencil, crayons

2. Week of 8/21 or 9/25  Pop-Up Story Retelling, “Rumble! Roar! Dinosaur” by Matthew Reinhart. Students  will meet all kinds of dinosaurs and learn how to pronounce their names. The story has a dinosaur pop-up, pull tab or lift the flap on every page. Writing activity:  Write a dinosaur story with at least one pop-up. Students will learn how to make a pop up for their story. Supplies: 1 piece of construction paper for the book cover (can also use unlined copy paper), 3 or 4 pieces of white copy paper, pencil, crayons, scissors, ruler, glue stick

3. Week of 8/28 or 10/2 Narrative Writing, “Mad Scientist Academy, The Dinosaur Disaster” by Matthew McElligott. Welcome to Mad Scientist Academy! Students will listen to the story in cartoon/comic book fashion with speech balloons. Writing Activity: Write a narrative comic to summarize the story, including speech balloons, a setting, story sequence and conclusion. Supplies: Printed comic graphic organizer, pencils, colored pencils or crayons

4. Week of 9/4 or 10/9 Story Writing With Verbs, “I am Allosaurus” by Timothy J. Bradley. Students will identify and write verbs while  following the life of a newly hatched Allosaurus. Writing Activity: Create an Allosaurus shape book with sentences and blanks to fill in verbs. Supplies:  Allosaurus papers printed BEFORE class (see attached pages 6 and 7. You can print more pages to make the story longer), pencils, scissors, crayons. 

5. Week of 9/11 or 10/16 Descriptive Writing, “Squeak the Dinosaur” by Marcus Donnely. Students will listen to the story and imagine what it would be like to find a dinosaur egg like the boy did in the story. Writing Activity: Prompt: If I found a dinosaur egg in my backyard… Supplies: Printed writing paper (see attached page 4) , pencils, crayons or colored pencils, construction paper

6. Week of 9/18 or 10/23 LAST CLASS- Greeting Cards, “How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday”  by Jane Nolen and Mark Teague. Learners will listen to the different dinosaur behaviors and decide how dinosaurs celebrate a birthday. Writing Activity: Make a dinosaur themed birthday card. Supplies: colored construction paper, white copy paper, pencils, crayons, scissors

After the last class of each session, I will start the stories over again. Your child is welcome to repeat the classes or take any they might have missed. I look forward to writing with your learner.

Are you ready to read and write? Let's go!