Because students often struggle to create vivid imagery out of thin air, they frequently fall back on clichés or stare blankly at a white page. However, using a concrete visual prompt, such as a photograph of a girl splashing under a backyard sprinkler, can instantly unlock their imagination. This image helps student to tap into their own memories, stretch their vocabulary, and express themselves through poetry.
Category: Photography
Visual Prompts to Teach Plot Structure: Ocean Bubble
This week’s teacher-student collaborative writing went to the beach. I shared an image of a giant translucent bubble sitting on the edge of the shoreline. The photo serves as launchpad for another creative writing journey designed by my third and fourth-grade students. I was hoping to engage these reluctant writers with a magical image that they could use as a blueprint for storytelling. My intention was for students to learn to see narrative structure not as a rigid set of rules, but as an expanding world of possibilities.
Visual Prompts to Enhance Student Writing
To help students keep up their writing skills, I often create a collection of visual prompts to spark their imaginations and help them write. I create stories with them, and we share what we have created back and forth all summer long. Besides giving students practice writing, they also get practice reading and critiquing what I have written. This summer writing project becomes an important collaboration where both student and teacher take risks, think creatively, and revise their work based on mutual feedback.
Inner Peace at the Garden Shop
While trying to recover and relax, I took a short journey to a local garden shop. I love this place; it always brings me solace. I forgot to take my camera with me, so I took pictures with my little flip phone. I just snapped images that appealed to me. I love that they arrange pots and flowers by color. It was such a good way to unwind without worrying about my tummy troubles. There are rows and rows of flowering plants outside, and rows and rows of garden pots inside.
Somehow: Thoughts on Life, Love, & Anne Lamott
A book in blue with a heart-shaped cloud caught my eye. It was "Somehow: Thoughts of Love" by Anne Lamott. Anne Lamott. She is one of my favorite authors – funny and irreverent. Two of my favorite books are: "Bird by Bird" and "Help, Thanks, Wow!" I am amazed by the skill with which Anne strings her ideas together. She talks about real-life tragedies and triumphs with such insight. Her faith is unquestionable.
Working in the Wonder Studio: Setting the Stage
This month, it is the 3rd grade’s turn in the Wonder Studio. I usually have a packed crowd waiting to create, but this group is a little reticent, and I have had only 3 to 6 students come to form. However, what they lack in volume, they make up for in collaborative creativity.
Reveling in Winter White: Cloud Dancer
This morning, the snow called for me to breathe, slow my pace, and put my mind in order. It opened up a space for me to write and wonder, to dream and create. I definitely have a deficit in those areas. I don’t think I have attention deficit; I think I have intention deficit. I get so involved in so many day-to-day comings and goings that I forget what is most important to me. Thank goodness, nature has a way of reminding me, bringing back, pulling me into its healing sphere.
Taking Wing: Bird Research & Poetry in 2nd Grade
As the students wrapped up their science studies, I offered to read some of my own bird poems to demonstrate how they could transform their research into creative writing. Becky and I envisioned this as a dynamic way to bridge scientific inquiry with creative writing, transforming our students into "poetic scientists."
Mapping the Imagination
Much of my preparation for writing takes place in action. I walk in the various woods nearby my house, and as I walk, words come into my head and form a description of what I’m seeing. Each step takes on a cadence, and the words sort themselves out into a rhythm.
Secret Escape: Forest Bathing in October
Lately, I’ve taken my camera with me to the woods to record the passing of the seasons and to meditate as I walk. My pace is slow. I scan my surroundings. I listen for the wind, the birds and insects. I came across a charm of goldfinches last week. What a golden treasure they were! I scout out small hidden places. I walk in wonder.
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 