CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE 4 - Playmate

At the beginning of the story, we see a little boy and his best friend a toy robot.   One year later and the boy has grown tired of his little friend.  Although the robot tries to please the boy, it seems like he cannot do anything right and the boy begins to ‘mistreat’ him.  
 
One night, the boy has a nightmare and in the dream he is saved by his little robot friend.  It is then that he realises that perhaps he isn’t so bad after all.

Your challenge (pick from below) - 

• The opening quote is attributed to the creator of Toy Story.  Are the children able to draw any similarities?
• Discuss the moral/meaning of the story.
• Write dialogue for the characters.
• Map the boy/robot’s thoughts and emotions through the different stages of the film.
• Retell the story in 1st or 3rd person – decide how to signify the dream sequence.
• Write a story about the robot going on his own adventure. 

CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE 5 - Light

A short, three and a half minutes, film about a young inventor called Charly and her robot assistant Bob-e.  The opening of the film sees Charly try and fail to produce a new eco-friendly generator.  It takes many attempts and a little help from Bob-E in order to get the machine running.

Your challenge (pick from below) - 

• Track the characters' feelings through the story and use 'show, don't tell' to describe them.
• Describe Bob-e.
• Design own robot helper.  Do they have any special features/tools.
• Write dialogue between Charly and Bob-e
• Create a diary/journal in role of Charly
• Write a news report detailing the events from the point of view of someone who witnessed it but doesn't know about Charly. 
• Create a formal letter of complaint about Charly and her 'strange' helper from one of her neighbours. 

CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE 6

Jimmy loves his tree house.  It holds many special memories for him.  When Jimmy has to move to the city with his family it's a sad day for the both of them.  Tree House decides to do something about it.  

Your challenge (pick from below) - 

• Setting descriptions showing the differences between the city and the countryside. 
• Diary in role of Jimmy detailing the events in the story. 
• Internal monologue for the tree house. 
• Design you own tree house.
  • Explain how to build a 'good' tree house. 
  • Give instructions for building a tree house. 
• Construct a tree house. 

CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE 7 - the one for all

‘From day dot, young Geoff had a curious and unshakeable love for beans.’ 
 
It is only fitting then, that when Geoff grows up, he gets a job at the Heinz baked beans factory.   As ‘Head of Innovation,’ it is Geoff’s job to create new products in the laboratory.  Young and single Geoff realises that a tin of baked beans can be too large for one person and he designs ‘the one for one,’ a tin of beans just right for one person to have as a snack.
 
One day, Geoff notices a beautiful colleague who works in the Department of Spaghetti, he realises he may need to share his beans so he designs a larger can – ‘The one for two.’  Two soon becomes four, with the introduction of little twin beans and then Geoff realises that he needs ‘The one for all’ tin of beans. 

Your challenge (pick from below) - 

• Write Geoff’s biography
• Retell Geoff’s story
• Write journal entries in the role of Geoff
• Write dialogue between Geoff and his wife
• Create advertising jingles for the new Bean range
• Design, explain and advertise a new ‘bean can size’ or bean invention
• Create advertising for beans or other food products

CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE 8 - the wishgranter

Do you know who lives below wishing wells?  In this short animation, we find out that beneath each well lives a small creature.  A mythical granter of wishes. 

This Wishgranter is quite apathetic but when a wish for love becomes stuck in the well mechanism then the Wishgranter springs into action.  Although not everything goes to plan, all is well in the end!

Your challenge (pick from below) - 

• Retell the story from various points of view. 
  • The Wishgranter
  • The Money wisher
  • Either of the love wishers
• Write diary entries for the various characters
• Discuss what you would wish for and why.  
• Write an explanation about how wishes are granted. 
• Create thought bubbles for the people making the wishes. 
• Write dialogue for the two characters at the end. 
• Explain what is needed in a Wishgranter's toolbox. 
• Create a persuasive film review and trailer.

CREATIVE WRITING CHALLENGE 9 - the legend of the crabbe phare

The Crabe Phare is a colossal crustacean who lives at the bottom of the ocean. When this mammoth creature rises from the deep, he doesn't have destruction on his mind.  Instead, he wants to collect and preserve ships to add to his underwater collection. 

The huge creature is not the monster of the story: it is the humans. The message of this story is one about the effect that humans have on the natural world.  A powerful message told stylishly with a touch of humour. 

Your challenge (pick from below) - 

• Synonyms and antonyms for big and monster. 
• Description of the creature. 
  • Can children change these to make the monster sound fierce and or friendly?
• Retell the story in the 1st person as the crab or as a visitor.
• Create a Guinness World of Records entry for the Crabe using examples from the latest book. 
• Create a news report about events in the story. 
• Create a persuasive piece asking humans to leave the crab alone. 

Book Review

Have you a read a good book lately?  Write a book review to help encourage other people to read the same book.  Your review should include:

A brief introduction to what the book is about – but don’t spoil the story!

The name of the book and the author.

What makes the book so great?

Who you think would enjoy the book – e.g. is it for anyone, children only, people who love animals.

Diary Entry

Pick an event or day recently that you would like to write about.  It doesn’t have to be a school day — it could be something from the weekend.  Write a diary entry talking about the day – you could include talking through the day in chronological order, describing what you did and how it made you feel.

Letter Writing

Write a letter to your teacher, an old friend or a family member that you haven’t seen recently to let them know about your recent time off school during the Christmas Holidays.  You could talk about what you got up to and say what your favourite day was and why you liked it so much.