文章にスパイスを効かせよう: 若くて才能のある作家のためのクリエイティブライティングエクササイズ (9～13 歳)

In this ongoing class, learners will be introduced to a variety of techniques that writers use to spice up their writing.
Each half-hour class is packed full of writing exercises based on a 'theme of the week'.
The 'theme of the week' could be a picture prompt, a word prompt, a character prompt, a writing technique, or an aspect of writing.
The themes (picture, word, or character) vary from week to week as do the exercises featured in each class.

Sample exercises could include: 
Exclamations, or other types of sentences.
Adjectives or other parts of speech.
Exaggeration, Similes, and Metaphors, or other rhetorical devices
Alliteration, or other patterns in sound.
Colour, or other visual sensory stimuli.
Time of day, or other devices related to time.
Hesitation, or other idiolectic features.
And much more.
Each class focuses on just ONE of these features - we will learn its features, its effect, and will explore its use in detail in a short, focused piece of writing designed to maximise attention on this one feature.

Classes start on time and students are directed to the chosen learning platform for the session as they log in.
A prompt is given and a few sample approaches are discussed.
This will typically take up the first 10 minutes of a class.
By this time, students will have been set up with tools they can use to generate their own work, which they will work on in a supervised way for the next 15 minutes.
This leaves 5 minutes for discussion, pointers on how to further improve, and general review.

My teaching style is structured, but improvisational. I may draw on things that have inspired me during the week, in my working day, and may riff on students' ideas and interests to create new content on the spot. Where this happens, classes will still take the basic structure outlined above, providing a creative mix between a fixed form and a flexible approach to content.

Photo by Lauri Cortesi on Unsplash