Tip #128 from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents (McKinley, Trombly) - Family Chain Story


Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.

                                                           

#128

Family Chain Story

 

Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future.

~Charles Kettering

 

Your family’s imagination is the only limit to this activity! All it takes to begin is a piece of paper, a pencil and some creativity. You can begin (or let your child start) by writing a sentence on the paper. This will be the beginning sentence to a story so you might want to discuss a variety of ways to begin a story, perhaps by reading the first few sentences of a wide variety of books.

Now, post this paper somewhere for all to see such as the message center (Idea #6). Everyone else in the family has the challenge of adding one sentence at a time to the story. As long as everyone takes turns, the next person can add to it whenever it is convenient. Each new person has the opportunity (with her new sentence) to continue in the direction of the story so far or alter it as long as the new sentence fits into the context. The story may be serious, may get silly, may be true or made up. It doesn’t matter. The idea is to have fun while practicing creative writing skills together.

This activity could also take place all at once with the whole family sitting around the table. The paper would just be passed around while each family member added his own idea right away.

Don’t forget to read the whole story together when it is ended—if it ever ends! Everyone will delight to hear how their idea was perceived and added to by the others in the family. Chances are, it will create a few good laughs, too!

   


     Cindy McKinley Alder                                            Patti Trombly

 

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