Sharing Our Worlds

Junior - 8 Young - 8

In our last session before Christmas, we enjoyed a winter-themed morning together, sharing word-games and warmth as the fairy lights danced on the Christmas tree.

We began with a game of ‘Two Truths & a Lie’ quizzing each other on what we do or don’t love about the festive season. From bauble-nibbling cats and Christmas carols to extra sleep and decorating homes, we found out more about each other!

Next, we warmed up our pens and minds with a winter word search, working in pairs or alone to find a backwards blizzard or hidden chilly word or two!

We then had a very playful time responding to text and wintery images with ‘Story Sentence Starters’ - unusual prompts to invite imaginative storytelling. The group created some brilliant story-sentences that left us all wanting to know more about what they created:
What happened after you found nothing in your stocking?
Where did the snowman in the swimming pool go? Will you ever go back to help the elves in their secret workshop?

Then, after a quick snack break to refuel, we made our audience area and then those who wanted to shared their writing by the light of the Christmas tree.

Lana read out Olivia’s description of an unusual giraffe (from the creatures created at the beginning of term), Lana told us about her Electronic Elephant Apocalypse, Rebecca gave a wonderfully animated sharing of her story-sentences made in the session. Tess read out a moving poem that she had written to help her as she mourned the Queen and Rafsan shared his celebratory platinum Jubilee poem along with a touching and fun tale of how life for one man improved by planting a seed…

We also said a fond ‘farewell for now’ to facilitator Beth in this last session with the group. Beth is taking sometime to focus on novel-writing.

Our Young Writers also had a sharing at the end to celebrate with each other what they’ve accomplished this term.

But first, some final creative creations of the term.

Story dice were rolled to start us all off on a story. The prompt images were a bird, a flower, a plate and utensils, a poo, a banana, and flowers.

For a few minutes we allowed these images to guide us in the start of our stories before passing the paper onto the next person. Then began a series of continuing the plot whilst trying to work around words pulled from the battery we made at Hands On Humanity Day.

Words included nil, hacker, turquoise, horse, and zest

We had multiple stories with bird protagonists, lots of sport (thanks to the word nil), a unitoot, and technologically able birds and animals/

With everyone having contributed to all the stories, it was time to more on to another activity. The game Chancery is one of creativity and deception, and our Young Writers love to be competitive. Having been given a definition of an obscure word, it was then their task to come up with false definitions to fool the other team into chasing the wrong word-meaning.

Do you know the right definition for eugenol? Could it be an oil found in cloves and used in perfumes? Or a type of hand moisturiser. Perhaps it is derived from equatorial countries, a plant used in paracetamol and antibiotics. Have you ever found the eugenol flower only found in America? Or have you ever suffered with it, eugenol being a medical condition where hives appear around the napel and underarms?*

Can you find the answer? What about for sequacious? Is sequacious a rotten food, a flat tyre, being in possession of a lot of sequins, owning many countries or a person lacking independence or originality of thought?**

After a brilliant sharing, we played one final quick-fire answer the question round. The question was what made that noise? Varying from me, to a range of animals, to vivid imaginings of activities, we threw out a whole lot of ideas to end the session as creatively as the whole term has been.

I want to take a moment to reflect and celebrate what both groups have accomplished this term. Junior Writers worked collaboratively to create and populate a whole island with wonder. Young Writers created their own worlds with fleshed out characters to exist in them. What started as nothing ten weeks ago is now something they can proudly share and I encourage any adults at home to ask your writer what they’ve made.

*Answer is Eugenol means an oil found in cloves and used in perfumes.
** Sequacious means a person lacking independence or originality of thought.

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Sharing Our Worlds