I will start with a short piece of fiction. Once upon a time Scatterbrained Mom went to a co-op planning meeting. All the moms were chattering about what to teach and what they wanted taught for the upcoming fall semester. Scatterbrained Mom usually had a lot of ideas. She might even share her ideas once in awhile with the […]
What’s for Breakfast? Cooking Class
I know. I know. A cooking class with kids sounds stressful, right? Well, it doesn't have to be. I decided to limit this class to six students per hour and to teach it twice (so that 12 students total would be able to benefit). Keeping the class size small made this class great. This was […]
Pet Pals
Younger kids are fascinated by animals, and our little students loved this class about pets. The teacher chose one animal to be the star of the show each week, and made sure that animal made a guest appearance. She started the class each morning reading a book about that day's animal (sometimes fiction, sometimes nonfiction). […]
Creative Cupcakes
My friend, Nikki (famous for teaching Caring Quilts), constructed this cake decorating class. It was the perfect class for Nikki to teach because she is a master cake decorator. Her students had so much fun, and they made some impressive cupcakes throughout the semester including these: Fishbowl Cupcakes Snowmen Cupcakes Flower Cupcakes And my favorite, […]
5 Days of Creative Co-op Classes
It's time to prepare for fall co-op, and I'm going to spend five days sharing ideas for creative classes! When we decided to turn our little Five in a Row co-op into something different, a place with class options and multiple classes in one morning, we knew a few things. We wanted to keep it […]
Revision Lesson Plan
After seven other creative writing lessons, it was time to take a deep dive into revision. We’ve been discussing revision every week as we review the homework assignments at the beginning of class. These students were eager to see the good and the bad each week; they wanted to improve, and they listened to the […]
Writing Fractured Fairy Tales
Since we’ve covered some short story basics, this week students receive instructions for their big writing projects: fractured fairy tales. Fractured Fairy Tales Creative Writing Lesson Plan 1. We briefly discussed setting and plot. 2. We watched some short fractured fairy tales. You can find various options on YouTube. My favorites are from the Rocky […]
Point of View Lesson Plan
In the last creative writing lesson, we focused on character and conflict. Short story writing continues to be the focus in this lesson as we examine point of view. Point of View Lesson Plan 1.Homework highlights: read and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly from homework assignments. 2. Read “Point of View” by […]
Writing Strong Characters and Conflicts
When I first began crafting these creative writing lessons, it was difficult. I would only have nine weeks with my students. Just nine chances to promote a love for writing, to stretch their brains, and to pour into their creative writing cups. Fill them up but don’t drown them. I determined I would spend the […]
Creative Writing Lesson: Capturing Images
We’ve mastered metaphor, studied sensory details, and improved our ability to show. In this fourth creative writing lesson, students learned how to capture images. We had some poetic moments. I love poetic moments. Creative Writing Lesson Plan: Capturing Images 1. Discuss homework assignments from lesson two. We look at the good, the bad, and the […]
Write by Showing Not Telling
Showing vs. Telling in Writing In this third creative writing lesson, I used the Showing vs. Telling lesson plan to teach my students the difference between the two. A good writer doesn’t create a great tale by telling. A good writer grabs his blank paper canvas and dips his paintbrush in red, blue, and yellow. […]
Writing with Sensory Details
The second creative writing lesson introduces students to writing with sensory details. We spent the second lesson learning about sensory details and why it’s important to include them in our writing. Writing with Sensory Details Sensory details? Who cares? Writing with sensory details is a topic that is relevant to your students. Sights, sounds, smells–these […]
Creative Writing Lesson One: Cliché and Metaphor
This first creative writing lesson introduces cliché and metaphor. Creative writers need to understand these two terms. Learning About Cliché A cliché is easy to write. It requires little thinking on the part of the writer. It requires little thinking on the part of the reader. I want my students to consider this as we […]
Eight Free Creative Writing Lessons
I know I throw around the word favorite all the time. But this is the truth: teaching creative writing lessons is my favorite. I have taught creative writing enrichment for summer school students. I have taught creative writing in various homeschool settings and co-ops. I have taught big students and little students. And I love […]
Creative Homeschool Co-op Class: Caring Quilts
I did not teach this class. I repeat: I did not teach this class. It was taught at our co-op, but (yes, one more time), I did not teach this class. I’m only posting it for those quilters out there who might benefit from the ideas and structure. All of these ideas belong to my […]
Think! Team Building Challenge
Are you tired of ho-hum co-op classes? Do you need a creative class? A challenging class? A class that teaches team work? This class does all three of those–it is one of my favorites! Think! Team Building Challenge teaches kids to learn from failure, promotes creative thinking and problem solving, and helps them learn to work […]
Into the Wardrobe
I had a small but smart group for Into the Wardrobe. We were truth seekers and critical thinkers as we read through the classic book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis. My lesson plans for this class are somewhat shaky, but here they are. They were really just notes for me, but […]
Cooking Art
Fantastic books + fun food = one of my favorite classes ever. Cooking Art. You'll find the syllabus below. Click on it to read through the course description, target age, outline of classes, and supplies needed. I don't see the materials fee on this class, but I charged $12 per student for the food. My […]
Lego Building Club
I try super-uper-duper hard each semester to insure that every child in our homeschool co-op has a reason to be excited about co-op. I work even harder to make sure my own kiddos will enjoy their classes. I was already teaching my max, but I tossed the idea into the hat for a LEGO Building […]
Let’s Make a Mess!
Let's Make a Mess! Yes, that was the name of the preschool art class my friend and I co-taught at our homeschool co-op. Did the class live up to it's name? I'll let you decide. The inspiration for this class was a direct result of Mary Ann Kohl's book, The Big Messy Art Book. You will […]