What Do You See?

I created this painting in a fun art class I took this year. The painting is abstract, but when I look at it now I see a dog with a black nose, two red eyes, and a red dot on its forehead.

When we look at images, we all see something different. I see a dog. Someone else may see a swirling storm, a party with colorful streamers, or a creature from the deep bringing its head to the surface.

What do you see? Let your imagination loose. Write a story about what YOU see in this picture.

Shoes

Shoes travel with us wherever we go. If only they could talk!

Write about a pair of shoes that have been important in your life. Maybe they're the shoes you wore when you scored the winning soccer goal. Or the ballet slippers you practiced in so often they fell apart. Or the flip-flops you wore to the beach with your grandparents. Or the ugly brown shoes you had to wear the first day of school. Or your favorite pair of high tops that someone stole.

Or make up a story about shoes. Try writing about a pair of shoes in a first-person "I" voice, from the shoes' point of view. Here's the start of a story:

The day Jake and I started school together, I know he was embarrassed to be wearing me--the ugliest pair of shoes in the entire 6th grade. See, Jake's dad was out of work, and his mom found me in the thrift shop. I was all they could afford. If only I could speak! I was longing to tell Jake that I may be be the ugliest shoes in the 6th grade, but I have magical powers.

The 5 Senses with Color

Here's a fun prompt using our 5 senses to make our writing come alive.

Presenting........ the 5 senses!

1. sight

2. taste

3. smell

4. hearing (sound)

5. touch (feel)

What is your favorite color? Maybe it's green, or blue, or something exotic like periwinkle or blood-red.

On a sheet of paper, or in your writer's notebook, write down your favorite color.

Now think about the 5 senses. What does your color look like? Taste like? Smell like? Sound like? Feel like?

Here's an example for the color yellow.

Yellow looks like the skirt my mom wears in the summer.

Yellow tastes like ripe bananas in a big bowl.

Yellow smells like the lead in pencils.

Yellow sounds like the sun crossing the sky.

Yellow feels like a cool drink of lemonade down my throat.

What does YOUR favorite color look, taste, smell, sound, and feel like? Use your imagination and have fun!

Welcome to Fall Writing!

Hope you all had a great summer! Here's a Yellow Pencil prompt to get us going for fall.

Write about someone who is very different from you. If you are nine years old, write about someone who is eighty-nine. If you are a human (I hope so!), write about a squirrel. If you live in the desert, write about someone who lives on an island. If you are a girl, write about a boy. If you are tall, write about someone who is short.

Have fun writing about someone different from you!

The Writer's Summer Survival Kit

Summer is a great time for writing!

Here's what you need for your Writer's Summer Survival Kit:

1. A notebook you can carry around with you.

2. A bunch of pens and pencils in different colors. Write in a color that suits your mood!

3. Scotch tape.

4. Your 5 senses: We experience the world through our senses. Write in your notebook what you see, smell, touch, hear, and taste during the summer. (Yes, licking ice cream can be a writing assignment!)

5. A writing prompt for days when your brain is on vacation. Here are a few:

• Tape a ticket stub into your notebook. Write a scene where a character you make up goes to that event.

• Write a sentence that is one page long. (Commas, colons, semicolons, and dashes are OK. No periods.)

• Pick a pen color that suits your mood. Write a scene where your character is in the opposite mood.

• Write a paragraph of description. Use sounds, alliteration (when words begin with the same letter), repetition, rhythm, and silly words.

• Write a poem about your favorite cereal (taste), your friend’s cell phone ring (hearing), your pet’s breath (smell), a stone on the beach (touch), your face in the morning (sight).

Take your Writer's Summer Survival Kit to the beach, library, pet store, playground....everywhere. Have fun writing this summer!

Object X

In the Young Writers workshops that I teach, everyone loves this exercise. Especially since it involves Hershey's Kisses! It's all about using your 5 senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste.

Before you start this exercise, get a Hershey's Kiss. Any kind will do. Make sure you're not allergic to chocolate.

Now for the fun part. Pretend you're a space alien visiting Earth. You discover a strange object (your Hershey's kiss), which you name Object X. You speak English, but there are three words you don't understand: Hershey's, kiss, and chocolate. You must write a "report" back to your planet (in English), using all 5 of your senses, to describe Object X. Remember, you can't use the words Hershey's, kiss, or chocolate.

In your "report," include:

1. Sight. What does Object X look like? Is it dull, shiny, red, purple? What shape is it? Try to use descriptive words instead of words like "nice" or "pretty."

2. Touch. What does Object X feel like? Is it sharp, smooth, slippery, wet, dry, cold, warm, rough, smooth?

3. Hearing. What does Object X sound like? Hold it up to your ear. Do you hear anything? What if you move it a bit next to your ear?

4. Smell. Remove the outer wrapping of Object X. What does it smell like? Does it smell sour, sweet, stale, curdled? Does the smell remind you of something?

5. Taste. (The best part.) Put Object X in your mouth. Do not chew or swallow. What does Object X taste like? Does it taste like rotten bananas or malted milk? (Remember you don't know the word for chocolate. Be creative describing the taste of Object X.)

Okay, you can swallow now.

When you're finished writing your "report," give Object X a new name. Have fun naming Object X in your own unique way.

For extra fun, write a poem about Object X using your descriptions from your 5 senses. Draw an outline of Object X and write your poem inside the outline.

Good-bye, space alien. Hope you enjoyed Object X!

The French Poodle, the Tennis Racket, and the Taco

What do a French poodle, a tennis racket, and a taco have in common? Nothing! That's what makes this writing exercise fun.

Write a story. Make sure you include:

• A French poodle
• A tennis racket
• A taco

What does your poodle look like? Does it have pink fur? White? Black? How big is the tennis racket? Is it an old racket with broken strings? How about the taco? Does it have cheese, lettuce, and hamburger, or something unusual like ice cream?

What will happen in your story? Maybe the French poodle always wanted to take tennis lessons, but he can't afford a racket. He goes to a restaurant and orders a taco, which turns out to be a magical taco....

That's just one idea. Use your imagination and write the story of "The French Poodle, the Tennis Racket, and the Taco."