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Writing Prompts: Put the Pieces Together

in Featured Resources, TeachingBooks in Action, Tips for Using TeachingBooks.net

Author-Inspired Writing Prompts

Whether you’re back in the classroom, teaching virtually, or something in between, here are some ideas to get students in the “write” mood.  Take advantage of the voices of published authors and illustrators in these original source selections, designed to guide every writer through the creative process.

Explore other posts in this Writing Prompts Series!

Make it Flow
Play with Words
Consider Author Voice
Determine Character Voice
Inspire New Ideas

Put the Pieces Together

Encourage students to take their new ideas and organize them into a story.  Learn about the creative approaches these authors and illustrators have to organizing details.  Does a story always start at the beginning?

Read the author interview with Blue Balliet for Chasing Vermeer and discover how outlines structure and create components for a good mystery.
Discover how a story can be organized in this peek into the studio of David Weisner.
See the original pen and paper draft of Kevin Henkes’ Kitten’s First Moon to demonstrate his work of creating a story.
Listen to Jerry Craft talk about creating New Kid in this Meet-the-Author Recording. Practice building layers for your own story or graphic novel spread just like Jerry.
Consider what it means to meld a variety of ideas into a single story with this Meet-the-Author Recording from Jen Wang on The Prince and the Dressmaker.
Explore other titles with Meet-the-Author Recordings for more inspiration.

What’s working for you?

How are you using TeachingBooks to inspire and teach writing? Leave your ideas in a comment below!

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