Creative Writing Lesson Plan
Story Creation Magic: Character, Setting, and Plot
Creative Writing lesson plan, level: Elementary
Creative Writing lesson Plan materials required:
- Top hat
- Magic wand
- 1-3 pictures of famous heroes or book characters
- 1-3 pictures of exotic or fun places (i.e. castles, tropical beaches, amusement park, or planets)
- 1-3 pictures that illustrate real or imaginary problems/challenges that children or grownups might face (i.e. doing homework, wizards dueling, a sporting competition, flying to the moon, etc.)
- A piece of paper for each student with the words "Character", "Setting" and "Plot" numbered down the left side of the paper.
- The children's picture book- BRAVE LITTLE MONSTER by Ken Baker, illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes
Activity Time for Lesson Plan: 20-30 minutes
Creative Writing Lesson Plan Concepts Taught: Story creation using characters, setting, and plot
Beforehand, the teacher places the
pictures inside
of the top hat. With the hat sitting upside down on a table in front of
the class, the teacher explains that
creating stories is like magic. When you write a story, it lets you
magically become the hero that saves the day. The teacher then taps the
brim of the hat with the magic wand and then pulls out one or more of
the character/hero pictures from the hat. The teacher shows the
picture(s) to the class and explains who it is a picture of if they
don't already know. The teacher continues to say that not only do
stories let you magically become the book's hero, but when you write
stories you can choose to become whatever hero you want. These heroes
are the story's main characters.
The teacher taps the hat again and pulls out a picture of one or more
of the fun or exotic places, and then explains that stories can
magically whisk you away to far away places. These places are called
the story's setting. When you write a story you can transport yourself
and your reader to any place or setting that you want. You can let your
readers feel like they have really traveled to that place or setting by
describing what it looks like, or even how it smells, feels (i.e. warm,
cold, windy, etc), sounds, or tastes (i.e. salt water) like.
The teacher than asks the class if a character and setting are all that
you need for
writing a story. After the responses die down, the teacher states that
most stories start with a problem or challenge that the hero must
resolve. The teacher taps the hat again and pulls out a picture of one
or more of the challenges/problems. The teacher explains that a story's
problem can be any kind of problem; an ordinary everyday problem or an
extraordinary problem. It just needs to make the story interesting and
somewhat believable. The main part of the story will be the hero trying
to solve the problem-this is known as the plot. The hero won't usually
solve the problem on the first couple of tries, but the story usually
ends when the hero finally solves the problem. The teacher explains
that the initial problem, the journey the character takes to try to
solve the problem, and the ultimate resolution of the problem all
comprise the story's plot (Note: for younger grades, you can simplify
this section by not talking about "plot" and just referring to it as
the story's problem).
The teacher then hands out the pieces of paper and asks the children to
try to identify and write down the character, setting, and plot in the
book
Brave Little Monster as it is read to the
class (more
information on Brave Little Monster).
As an optional activity, the teacher can lead the class in a
spontaneous story creation exercise. The teacher asks the class to
suggest a hero. After the hero is decided on, ask for a setting. After
that, ask for a potential problem. With the problem decided on, ask the
class for ways for the main character to solve the problem. For the
first two suggestions, narrate how the hero tries to solve the problem
with those suggestions and then make up reasons why they don't work.
Select a third suggestion and narrate how it ultimately solves the
problem.
To print this lesson plan: Download a printer-friendly PDF version of the Creative Writing lesson plan
Note: I do author visits to schools where I give students an entertaining 30-40 minutes presentation that explores the story creation process in greater detail.
