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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]who cares? It's not an important skill. As a writer, i don't know why they emphasize creative writing so much now. [/quote]

I disagree.  These are children. Generating stories is a fundamental human capacity.  Everything is not about a specific skill that you will use in a job--especially in elementary school.   Children in ES also learn to write letters, to write reports on topics using sources, to write poetry and other forms.  Generating a fiction story helps kids think about life and stories.

Help DC map out a story on a topic of interest to him.  He might think it has to come out sentence-by-sentence which is very hard vs. developing an interesting set of ideas and then writing a story that fleshes them out.  Start with his interests or fiction books he enjoyed reading.  Talk through simple story structure-- plot--what is the problem, how is it resolved;  characters--what are they like, what do they want, what problems are they facing in this story and how do they respond.

Say he likes sports, have him think of some of the problems, interesting situations he has faced or thinks others have faced while playing sports (e.g. desire to cheat when no one is looking, not being as good as everyone else, losing a big game, whatever).  Then map out a primary character who is facing that problem and how they might think or act and what would happen to them.  Or start with a premise--if he likes marine biology, what would a civilization of creatures in a tide pool be like--what tensions would they face, what personalities might there be, what big events might shape their experience (a wave brings new creatures in and upsets their lives).   The point is in writing a story the possibilities are wide open and it's important to learn how to make choices when the possibilities are wide open, but it's hard.  So help him learn to make choices that will interest him.  [/quote]

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