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WRITING FROM PICTURES

By Mary Emma Allen

Many youngsters think in pictures when developing a story or poem. Often the young writers I teach like to draw pictures or use photos as a prompt to begin a piece of writing.

These pictures/illustrations may not necessarily accompany the story or article. They can be used to start the flow of ideas and stimulate the story writing.

Since I've generally thought of my stories in terms of words, whether in my head or on paper, I find it interesting that young and adult writers I teach like to draw pictures or use photos as a prompt to begin a piece of writing.

If you find you or your students have trouble deciding what to write, have a file of photos to use; or ask them to draw/sketch something. One boy told me he simply doodled. Then as the pencil lines began to resemble something in his imagination, he could write about it.

Different Ways to Use Pictures

*Assign a topic to draw/write about. The students have the option of beginning to write; or they can start out with pictures.

*You can let them draw anything they want. Then write a story or poem about it.

*Have a file of pictures that youngsters can pull from and get ideas for writing.

*Encourage youngsters to start their own file of pictures they cut from magazines, take themselves, have from family trips.

*If a youngster still has trouble coming up with a story, have them tell you about the picture...what it brings to mind, what feelings it evokes, what the people in it are doing.

Good With Pre-Schoolers

When a child is too young to write, a good idea is having them draw or paint pictures. The picture itself may not look like much of anything, but usually the child can tell you what it represents.

The teachers at my grandson's pre-school did this frequently with him. Alex loved to paint. The pictures he brought home might have his story about dinosaurs, dragons, cats, and dogs or the people in his life. He told his teacher about the picture and she wrote it down.

"My own story," Alex called it.

My Vacation

Writing about your summer vacation when you returned to school was a common topic for my teachers to assign. How much easier and how much more fun it would have been if I had used pictures my parents took when we traveled to visit our aunt and uncle in another state, to visit a family friend in the city (to us farm children, this was an exciting adventure), or the Sunday School picnic at a nearby lake.

For some youngsters, it's difficult to put their thoughts into words, even about a trip. So if they have pictures as prompts, it really can help to get them writing stories, poems, reports, and news stories.

(c)2002 Mary Emma Allen

Mary Emma Allen writes for children and adults and teaches workshops in classrooms, at conferences, and online. Her book, "Tales of Adventure & Discovery" is accompanied by a coloring book she illustrated. Visit her web site: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/jetent/mea; e-mail: me.allen@juno.com

WRITING POEMS OF WINTER
By Mary Emma Allen

Youngsters usually enjoy writing poetry, but adults often shy away from teaching them. When you work with simple poems, often unrhymed poems, and then progress to more complex ones, you and your students become excited about this type of writing.

I'll present a variety of poems developed around one topic. In this case: WINTER.

However, you can vary this to include many topics. You can use the child's name, name of the month, a place, an animal, your family. This technique shows the young writers it's fun to write poetry, and that it doesn't need to be difficult. Writing poetry comes more easily to some people than others, particularly when it involves rhyming poetry.

My grandfather, mother, and granddaughter write or have written rhyming poetry with little difficulty. This is something I have to work at. So I was delighted, years ago, when I discovered that not all poetry had to be rhyming.

Some poetry doesn't even have rhythm, although that helps to keep it flowing.

*READING poetry to young writers, and having them read poetry aloud helps them develop an appreciation.

*WRITING poetry without criticism at first enables them to feel they can do it.

*KEEPING a poetry journal can help them develop an interest in poetry and let them realize poetry can be fun.

*DRAWING pictures often helps youngsters come up with ideas for poetry. Or they can illustrate their poems after they've written them.

WINTER
Freezing
Snow
Icicles
Mittens
Boots
Sleds
Skating
Skiing
Fun!

(These often are called skinny, tall or list poems, using words that relate to your topic. When the student has become more adept, the words lead to a meaning or almost tell a story, rather than simply being random.)

WINTER
Wonderland of snowy flakes
Icicles hanging from the roof
North wind blowing swift and fierce
Temperatures falling...oh, so cold
Ear muffs, mittens keep us warm
Running through the drifts

(In this acrostic poem, we use the letters from Winter to begin each phrase or word picture. Each line has to begin with a letter of the word in the title and relate to that word. These poems can tell a story, paint a picture, express a mood. They may consist of one word per line or a phrase.)

WINTER

Cold
Frosty breath
Soft white flakes
Falling from the sky
Covering the trees
Icicles hang

(Sometimes called shape poems and sometimes lantern poems, these progress from one word or syllable about the title to four or five words/syllables. They, too, can be descriptive, express a mood, or describe a scene. Or for beginning poets, you may simply use random words and syllables about winter.

In the poem above, you count the number of words; in the two poems below I used a progression of syllables.)

WINTER

Ice
Skating
On a pond
Children having fun
Crack-the-whip
Hockey
Fun

WINTER

White
Snowman
Children play
Dance around him
Sing a song
Sun shines
Melt

REFERENCE BOOKS for further study:
*How to Write Poetry by Paul B. Janeczko. (Scholastic Guides)
*The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young
*Poetry of your favorite poets:
One of mine is Robert Lewis Stevenson's collections

(c)2002 Mary Emma Allen

(Mary Emma Allen writes for children and adults and teaches poetry and writing workshops for all ages. She also has developed poetry packets to encourage teachers and homeschooling parents when they work with young writers. Visit her web site: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/jetent/mea;
E-mail: me.allen@juno.com)

DEVELOPING A PRINT OR E-BOOK, By Mary Emma Allen

When I taught a "Writer & the Internet" workshop at a high school and mentioned e-book publishing, the teacher asked me about producing the school literary magazine online. So we brainstormed the possibility of developing a class and/or school literary project online which could be offered as a free e-book. It also could be printed off as a regular book.

What Would Be Involved?

*Students would perfect their work, whether poetry, short stories, or non-fiction pieces.

*The corrected final draft would be the students' best work. It should be
stressed to the students that an editor will accept only work that is correct grammatically, accurately researched, and written well. Approach this project as though it were one being submitted to an official publisher.

*They might want to use illustrations for some of the work. I've seen student produced literary journals with lovely art work. Some illustrations might accompany the written work; others can be individual art work which really doesn't relate to a particular story or poem, but to the general theme of the book...These can be scanned into the book.

*Some literary journals also use photos taken by the students. So the possibility exists of including photos in a print or e-book as well. It all depends on how elaborate you want to make this work.

Designing the Book

Some schools have web design classes. If so, perhaps designing the e-book, or helping the language arts class design it, could be one of their projects. Some of the students involved in my "Writer & the Internet" workshop also were taking a design class and had been creating their own web sites.

If the school doesn't have this type of course, the computer class teacher may know about setting up e-books or at least can point you in the direction of a program that will assist you.

Getting Permission

Since these are students, you generally will need written permission from their parents to post their work online in an e-book. The school also probably has guidelines for this.

Parents may choose not to have the student's full name used for an online project.

Options Other Than E-Books

Because the students generally are underage young people, your school may not want to get involved publishing an e-book. In this case you can design and produce a book on the computer but publish a print version. With today's print programs, you can write and design a really nice book (like my husband does for the ones I self-publish).

By making the literary journal a print book, you don't have the concerns about the students' work being available throughout the world online.

Projects for Homeschoolers

Home schooled youngsters also can produce books, either print or e-books, which would be enjoyable learning projects. These can contain the work of one student or the whole family.

*Develop a Family Book - It might contain poetry, stories, or research of various types. My 9-year old granddaughter has been writing poetry in school and illustrating each poem. I've began writing some poetry with her as a project she and I can do together.

Next I'm planning to create a book of our poetry accompanied by our illustrations. It probably will be a book just for our family, but one which I also can show students and teachers when I'm giving writing workshops in schools.

*A Book of Family History is another idea, which could involve genealogy research and looking up information about the various parts of the country where one's ancestors lived. This could be combined with a social studies or history project as students learn what their ancestors' lives were like in various eras.

This project also might be offered on a family web site. Some of the genealogy sites require a site code, so you can restrict who enters to download your free e-book.

You'll find numerous ideas for print and e-books once you begin brainstorming. With today's computer printing programs, and the advent of e-books, producing books becomes a very practical idea. It also can provide a great deal of enjoyment as well as a sense of accomplishment.

(c)2001 Mary Emma Allen

(Mary Emma Allen is a children's writer/illustrator, columnist, travel writer, and book author. Her book, When We Become the Parent to Our Parents," chronicles her mother's journey through Alzheimer's. Her children's anthology, "Tales of Adventure & Discovery" with accompanying coloring book encourages youngsters in reading and writing. Visit her web site: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/jetent/mea; E-mail: me.allen@juno.com)