Posts Tagged ‘writing’

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #8: Ideal Summer Vacation

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(
A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

ideal-summer-vacationWriting Idea #8: Ideal Summer Vacation

  • You can plan your ideal summer vacation any time of year. Grab a sheet of paper and write a full page of what your ideal summer vacation would be. For example:
    • Would you go to the ocean? (Look at ocean pictures and describe why it’s so calming to you.)
    • Or perhaps hike through a forest to a waterfall? (Describe the waterfall.)
    • Or maybe you just want to go to a lake and go swimming, build sand castles, and float on a big ol’ rafty thing that looks like a banana. (You can come up with other ideas, like traveling to Europe!)

I’m sure you can come up with some plans for your ideal summer vacation. This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Plan your ideal summer vacation. You can look at brochures from your local tourist office, or just make something up out of your head.
  • Write a full page description of your ideal summer vacation.
  • Read your description  into a video camera, and upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #7: Invention

Friday, February 15th, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(
A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

homeschooling-reluctant-writers-7Writing Idea #7: Invention

  • Go ahead and create a new invention that’s never been invented before. You can use building sets like K’nex, or Erector sets, or Robotic Legos, or anything you have around the house. Or you can use wood, pulleys, ropes, and things like that.
  • Watch the explanation of a fun invention. (“This is my invention. Let me show you how it works: I will pour water into this small bucket. The water will load down the bucket, pulling the middle bucket up. This will pull the string, making this rope free to move over the pulley. Gravity will then pull the last bucket down to land on these two wires. This will turn the light bulb on, completing the circuit.”)
  • Make sure you describe how your invention works in many paragraphs. You might want to invent something that’s useful to society. You could get a patent for it and earn bucket loads of money. Yeah…

This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Make an invention. Use materials from around your house.
  • Write a full page description of your invention.
  • Read your description  into a video camera, and show us how the invention works. Upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #6: Conversation with Yourself

Friday, February 8th, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(
A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

Writing Idea #6: Conversation with Yourself

homeschooling-reluctant-writers-6“What do you mean?” you say.

  • You can write a script of you talking to yourself. What you’re going to do is dress up in a costume (or have a hat or a certain hair style), and say something. You’re sitting on one side of the table, and you go ahead and say something.
  • Then you quickly stop the camera, and you go run to the other side of the table. Put on a different costume because you are a second character. And then respond to yourself. Oh, yeah.
  • As you go back and forth like that, you can film it. Take a look at how fun that can be. (Watch the conversation between a car mechanic and a race car driver.)
  • To make it easier to record, you can record all of one character’s lines first, and then record the other character’s lines second. Put it onto your computer and cut and paste it together into a conversation. Fabulous idea, huh?

This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Write a full page conversation between two characters that you will play.
  • Dress up as those characters.
  • Read your lines (or memorize your lines for better acting), and record it on a video camera. Upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #5: Write-A-Go-Round

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(
A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

Writing Idea #5: Write-A-Go-Round

  •  Grab a journal and line up some people.
  • Have the first person write one sentence and then pass it to the next person. The second person writes a sentence and then passes it to the third person.
  • You can do this in a circle or in a line, and go back and forth. Things can be quite hilarious.

homeschooling-reluctant-writers-5“Once upon a time, there was a giant who lived in a castle. The giant ate marshmallows. The marshmallows turned into balloons and floated away. The giant screamed, ‘Come back, marshmallows!’ He built a catapult and flung himself into the air…” (continue the story for a full page)

So you see, a Write-A-Go-Round would be a fabulous idea for a party or for any other time that you get together with other people. Make sure you have at least three people.

This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Write a full one-page Write-A-Go-Round story.
  • Dress up as a pirate.
  • Read your Write-A-Go-Round story  into a video camera and upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!