Children's Books

Where's the Cake Now? by T.T. Khing

Leaf by Stephen Michael King

Tuesday by David Weisner

These are 3 of my new favorite children's books. All three tell amazingly complex stories without a single word, which makes them great for a writing assignment.

Using these three books, and other pictures books with no words, have students write the words to the story. This could be a single isolated writing activity to have on hand for a cancelled field trip or to allow for some creative writing in the midst of a research paper or to add excitement to the unit described here.

You could leave it at that or give a bit more direction, depending on the needs of the class, the amount of time available, the amount creativity you'd like to employ, and all the other if, ands, and buts of education.

Here are some ideas to give more direction if needed.

*Before beginning, discuss how some pictures books use the pictures to retell the story that the words are saying, while others use the picture to add depth and meaning to the words, such as highlighting irony or adding emotion to the characters' spoken words. Challenge students to not just rewrite the story the pictures tell but to use the written words to add irony.

*Have the students practice writing to different audiences. Have them rewrite the story for an adult, for an infant, for a 5th grader, or for themselves. Discuss the different needs of the audience in each situation.

*Practice writing dialog by having students rewrite the story entirely as dialog.

*Best yet, just say "You have 1 class period to create a final draft of this story. Write the words to the story." And leave it at that. Sometimes kids will surprise you.