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Tips, Updates and NewsIF I WERE GOD..
“Stranded” By a 6th Grade Student
This poem was written in my creative writing class by a young girl with Asperger's. She's in the 6th grade, and wishes to remain anonymous. She looks away when I talk, never says a word, and walks out of the room at random intervals without warning. I often wonder...
Turning Truth into Art
I'm sitting at a coffee bar sipping some kind of latte, figuring out what to say. It's Thursday night, October. My kids are at home sleeping, probably next to my wife. I keep holding the clear glass up to catch the light, watching the color change. My old friend Paul...
Writing is Power
Writing gives children an experience of their unique power. It gives them an experience of knowing what their special qualities are, and in the process their writing improves. They develop an appreciation for reading. They pay more attention to words and new...
Start Having Fun Writing
If you teach writing to students at the 1st - 12th grade levels, you may: ·Want to make writing more fun for your students ·Wish you could make writing process workshops more productive and simple ·Wonder how to challenge your best writing students and motivate your...
Movies in Mind
Before there were movies, there were books to create movies in our imagination. Learning to write is really a matter of learning to see. The more visual the writing, the more the reader sees pictures popping into their head, and the more they want to read.
Don’t Think, See
I am in the 2nd grade in Korea. I am playing with my friend in the playground. There are some trees around us, some apartments too. There are no structures to play with. Just a large pile of sand. I have a small red bag. My friend has a blue backpack. We are so...
She Became a Zombie
A quiet little 4th grade Korean girl wrote this in a creative writing class I'm teaching in the Beverly Hills School District. Still waters run deep. "A girl took a test. She messed up. So she left the room, fell down from the third floor, and a few days later she...
Next Live Event: Sunday Story Salon @ Book Soup January 27th 3-4pm
CELEBRATE THE LOVE OF WRITING & PERFORMING SEE the MAGIC Word Up Kids is back at Book Soup again this month with our Sunday Story Salon. This legendary independent bookseller on the Sunset Strip will host our celebration of young writers, alongside published...
Crispus Attucks: Creative Writing Exercise
I just walked out of my house. I see men, British soldiers, wearing stiff red coats and holding guns up to protesters. I hear screaming. Men are telling civilians to line up so they can shoot them. One man, Crispus Attucks, scream at them and says, “No, I will not die today!” The wind is hard off the Boston Harbor. The soldiers’ guns big as redwood trees. Crispus Attucks holds a penny in his hand. Does gunpowder have a smell? He stands six feet tall, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows. I know the British Soldiers will kill Crispus Attucks.
“Pppeeewwwww.” I hear the sound of a bullet flying through the air. ” Thump!” Crispus Attucks lays crumpled, a candy wrapper, revolution has begun.
Meet Craig
“Art of Writing” improves
kids’ writing skills. But it’s not
just about becoming a better
“writer.” It’s about students finding
a voice of their own, maybe even a
voice that speaks for many others.
This curriculum teaches kids simple
skills for expressing themselves
with clarity and conviction.
Learn the craft of creative writing.
Now is the perfect time to start. EMAIL: craig@wordupkids.com
PHONE: (310) 456-4770
MAIL: 169 N. Clark Drive Suite D, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
