25 Creative Writing / Project ideas:

  1. News reporting. Build a TV station out of a large box (washer or refrigerator) and decorate it. Then pick a story and write a news report and become a TV news anchor and tell about it on “Channel 2 Evening Breaking News.”

 

  1. Write a rap song about one of the stories. One person sings it and the rest of the group makes the music.

 

  1. Pick a story. Rewrite the story with you as the main character.  Would you react the same as the original character? How would the story change with you as the main character?

 

  1. Take the main character and change it from a man to a woman (or a woman to a man) and rewrite the story. How did it change the story? Was the story possible now? Did it end the same way?

 

  1. Draw a map of one of the stories. Did the characters travel far? Compare that to your life. Do you travel farther? Shorter?

 

  1. Pick a favorite character from the book and write a letter to him/her describing how your lives are different.

 

  1. Pick your favorite story in the book and rewrite it as if it happened now.

 

  1. Group work. Write and act out a short play based on a story from the book. Video the play and show it to the class.

 

  1. Write a list of challenges you think your character had to face. Would he/she have the same challenges if the character lived today?

 

  1. Complete a chart of how you spend your day: hours sleeping, school, chores, etc. Now make a chart for a character in the book. Compare and contrast the charts.

 

  1. Research your community laws. Do you think they were the same as back then? How have they changed and why?

 

  1. Pick a story and identify the location, the character, and what happened to the character. Change them to write a new story.

 

  1. Make a cartoon to tell one of the stories in the book.

 

  1. Research possible recipes from the era of your favorite story.  Draw the steps in the recipe; can you recreate it at home? How is it different?

 

  1. Think about your favorite character. How did he/she travel? How does that differ from you? How would their lives be different if they had modern day means of transportation available?

 

  1. Compare your favorite character’s family to yours. Dress? Home? Draw a picture of your character, and then draw yourself. Compare and contrast. How would the lives of your pet be different now and then? What about living conditions, etc.?

 

  1. Make a word search with vocabulary from the book. Give it to a friend to complete.

 

  1. Research games that your character would play. Can you play them today? Teach your group the game. Was it fun?

 

  1. Pick a character you admire and explain why you respect him/her.

 

  1. Which character was brave? Why? Compare yourself to the character.

 

  1. In a group of 4, give each person a number from 1- 4. Take turns writing a story. #1 sets the scene, #2 adds characters, #3 adds plot, and #4 completes the story. Take turns illustrating the story.

 

  1.  Pick one modern convenience (car, phone, TV, computer, etc.) you could not live without and explain why.

 

  1.  Research songs of the era of the book or story.  Can you write one that relates to your life? What instruments would you use?

 

  1. Write about your family, and a family in the book.  How are they the same or different?

 

  1. Read a chapter but cover up the last two paragraphs and make up your own ending. Then compare how the author ended the story to how you ended it.