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Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #9: Mysterious Picture

Friday, March 1st, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarggh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

homeschooling-reluctant-writers-14Writing Idea #9: Mysterious Picture

  •  Cut out pictures from magazines like National Geographic or any other magazine that might have a picture that gives you ideas on some story that might be behind it.
  • (Showing 1st picture) Here we have a picture of someone pulling something out of the water. What is it? What could it be? Has he been looking for it for years? Is it pirate treasure?
  • (Showing 2nd picture) And here we have people who haven’t seen each other for years. Why haven’t they seen each other for so long? Tell the story behind this picture.
  • (Showing 3rd picture) This woman is saying good-bye to someone. Who is she saying good-bye to? Is it her son? Why is he going away?
  • (Showing 4th picture) The people in this classroom are very upset. What are they upset about? How come? Are they going to cause a riot? What are they going to do next?
  • (Showing 5th picture) Why is this woman being pulled out of a car? Is there something wrong? Is she being kidnapped in that car? What’s going on here? What’s going to happen next? Is she going to fall?
  • (Showing 6th picture) And what’s this woman doing with a crocodile on her head? Did the crocodile just jump down on her head? Did she go hunting for it, and is she going to have it for dinner? She looks very brave. But what on earth is going to happen next?

So you see, any picture could have a story behind it that is interesting and exciting. You could even write a novel based on one picture.

This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaaarrrrggh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Write a full one-page story based on a magazine picture.
  • Dress up as a pirate, and read your story into a video camera. Upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

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Posted in Writing | No Comments »

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #8: Ideal Summer Vacation

Friday, February 22nd, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

ideal-summer-vacationWriting Idea #8: Ideal Summer Vacation

  • You can plan your ideal summer vacation any time of year. Grab a sheet of paper and write a full page of what your ideal summer vacation would be. For example:
    • Would you go to the ocean? (Look at ocean pictures and describe why it’s so calming to you.)
    • Or perhaps hike through a forest to a waterfall? (Describe the waterfall.)
    • Or maybe you just want to go to a lake and go swimming, build sand castles, and float on a big ol’ rafty thing that looks like a banana. (You can come up with other ideas, like traveling to Europe!)

I’m sure you can come up with some plans for your ideal summer vacation. This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Plan your ideal summer vacation. You can look at brochures from your local tourist office, or just make something up out of your head.
  • Write a full page description of your ideal summer vacation.
  • Read your description  into a video camera, and upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

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Posted in Writing | 4 Comments »

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #7: Invention

Friday, February 15th, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

homeschooling-reluctant-writers-7Writing Idea #7: Invention

  • Go ahead and create a new invention that’s never been invented before. You can use building sets like K’nex, or Erector sets, or Robotic Legos, or anything you have around the house. Or you can use wood, pulleys, ropes, and things like that.
  • Watch the explanation of a fun invention. (“This is my invention. Let me show you how it works: I will pour water into this small bucket. The water will load down the bucket, pulling the middle bucket up. This will pull the string, making this rope free to move over the pulley. Gravity will then pull the last bucket down to land on these two wires. This will turn the light bulb on, completing the circuit.”)
  • Make sure you describe how your invention works in many paragraphs. You might want to invent something that’s useful to society. You could get a patent for it and earn bucket loads of money. Yeah…

This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Make an invention. Use materials from around your house.
  • Write a full page description of your invention.
  • Read your description  into a video camera, and show us how the invention works. Upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

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Posted in Writing | No Comments »

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers #6: Conversation with Yourself

Friday, February 8th, 2013

Homeschooling Reluctant Writers
(A series of 10 fun writing assignments given by a pirate)

Aaaaarrggghh! This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans here to give you ideas for homeschooling reluctant writers.

Writing Idea #6: Conversation with Yourself

homeschooling-reluctant-writers-6“What do you mean?” you say.

  • You can write a script of you talking to yourself. What you’re going to do is dress up in a costume (or have a hat or a certain hair style), and say something. You’re sitting on one side of the table, and you go ahead and say something.
  • Then you quickly stop the camera, and you go run to the other side of the table. Put on a different costume because you are a second character. And then respond to yourself. Oh, yeah.
  • As you go back and forth like that, you can film it. Take a look at how fun that can be. (Watch the conversation between a car mechanic and a race car driver.)
  • To make it easier to record, you can record all of one character’s lines first, and then record the other character’s lines second. Put it onto your computer and cut and paste it together into a conversation. Fabulous idea, huh?

This is Dread Pirate Susan Evans, signing off. Aaaaarrggghhh!

Calling all homeschooled kids! I dare you to make a video response to this pirate video on YouTube:

  • Write a full page conversation between two characters that you will play.
  • Dress up as those characters.
  • Read your lines (or memorize your lines for better acting), and record it on a video camera. Upload it to YouTube.
  • Go to the above video on YouTube, and press “video response.”
  • I am automatically notified when someone posts a video response. After watching it, I will embed it right here on this page!

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Posted in Writing | 2 Comments »

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