LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Imaginative writing

This plan addresses emerging writing skills by engaging the student's interest in creating original drawings. This plan is for special-needs students, non-readers with limited writing skills, and reluctant learners.

A lesson plan for grades K–1 English Language Arts

By Ann Franklin

Learn more

Related pages

  • The very hungry teacher: After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle students will use the writing process to write their own version of a Very Hungry story. They will use a flow map for pre-writing. Students will write a rough draft that will be revised and edited with a partner and a teacher.
  • Exciting narrative endings: This lesson emphasizes the importance of a strong ending for a narrative essay and teaches students specific items to include in their endings.
  • Slow motion replay: Students will learn to use slow motion replay of a moment in a narrative to make it easier for the reader to feel that he or she is actually experiencing the event.

Related topics

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

The text of this page is copyright ©2008. See terms of use. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print.

This lesson is designed to help special-needs students, students with limited writing skills, and reluctant learners practice reading and writing by developing stories based on pictures the students draw. It was developed for a home-bound setting and is written to be conducted one-on-one with a student. However, it could be easily adapted for use in the classroom.

If this lesson is done regularly, it’s helpful to keep each student’s work in a notebook or binder. This allows students, teachers, and parents to see skill development over time.

Learning outcomes

The student will:

  • create an original drawing based on his or her own ideas
  • use this drawing as a basis for creating a story
  • practice writing, including writing sentences and punctuation, by copying a simple written story

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

Varies.

Materials/resources

  • Paper: plain white and notebook paper
  • Pencils
  • Crayons
  • Colored pencils
  • File folder peel off labels
  • Plastic sheet protectors
  • Binder (for each student)
  • For teacher reference, student work samples are available. Three samples are included, one from the beginning of the school year, one from the middle, and one from the end.

Pre-activities

The student will need basic graphic skills and basic letter recognition.

Activities

  1. With the student, brainstorm ideas of the student finds interesting.
  2. Have the student choose one of the brainstormed ideas and use it as the starting point to draw and color an original picture.
  3. Discuss with the student possible stories that correspond to the picture.
  4. Have the student dictate his or her story to you or to someone else who can write it down. Be sure to leave ample space between the lines so the student has room to copy the sentences. Have the student select a title for the story.
  5. Have the student copy the story word by word below each written line. As the student writes, ask questions to help him or her watch for correct spelling, capitalization, spacing, etc.
  6. Write the title on a file folder label and attach it to the picture. Put the picture and story into a sheet protector (one story and one picture in each sheet protector) and help the student put the story into his or her notebook or binder.

Assessment

Assess how well students:

  • copy sentences, observing punctuation and capitalization rules.
  • self-correct when prompted by questioning.
  • meet all criteria more consistently over time.
  • self-correct from simple repetitive practice.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 1

  • Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective 5.03: Write all upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, using correct letter formation.

Kindergarten

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies to read and write.
    • Objective 1.02: Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:
      • demonstrate understanding that spoken language is a sequence of identifiable speech sounds.
      • demonstrate understanding that the sequence of letters in the written word represents the sequence of sounds in the spoken word.
      • demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and rimes).
    • Objective 1.04: Read or begin to read.
      • Read or attempt to read own dictated story.
      • Attempt to read/reads simple patterned text, decodable text, and/or predictable texts using letter-sound knowledge and pictures to construct meaning.

  • Common Core State Standards

    • English Language Arts (2010)

      • Reading: Foundational Skills

        • K.RFS.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. K.RFS.1.1 Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page. K.RFS.1.2 Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of...
        • Grade 1
          • 1.RFS.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. 1.RFS.1.1 Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation).

      • Writing

        • Kindergarten
          • K.W.3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.