Rain - It rained in Galveston County today! For some people, rain is no big deal, but with this epic drought we've experienced even the kids are thrilled when it is raining. Today's rain day, also fell on my anual writing marathon day.
I love days like today. The rain started early this morning and allowed me a day filled with writing. To help improve the quality of my personal writing, I find that using outside influences like weather help me build on the mood.
For example, today my writing time was filled with describing sounds of water hitting pavement, or waves splashing in Galveston Bay. As a writing instructor, I found that allowing the students to experience an event while they are writing really helps their descriptive abilities. Here are a few ideas I've used with good results.
- Listen to recordings of thunder or clapping
- Watch videos of ocean waves or of babies crying
- Show multiple images of rainbows or sunsets
- Dogs barking or cats meowing brings a good result when looking for animal characters
- Sound of aluminum foil crackling in their hands
- Smell a piece of sour candy
I would play recordings over and over again, having students write down reactions or details of the sounds. Using the images I would have students label details and make sure they included many of those details in their writing. These small details really help pull the imagery out of a reluctant writer and of course once they've encountered success, they'll continue without the added stimulus.
My writing today took on new depths. Loving the break in the summer heat and drought, I took every opportunity to write outside as I spent the day writing.
#BookADay
I've talked about my desire to read 100 books this year. (I'm at 65 books right now!) Since most of my books are young adult books I decided to add in a few picture books as well as a couple of adult novels. I decided to take part in the Twitter
#BookADay challenge. (Not sure if this is a real challenge or more like a reminder we should be reading) Essentially, after reading a book, you tweet about it using the hashtag above. It's a great way to make sure you are reading some of the wonderful literature available. Follow this link to see what others are reading for their
#BookADay.
You can follow me on
Twitter here.
Rain Rain Come to Stay - Come again some other day!
Hope you enjoy my rainy day!!
Doris
4 comments:
It rained in Brazoria County today, too. And it rained for a long, long time. Yippee!
Deb it is so nice to get rain. Of course we are so far behind I'm not sure when we'll catch up. I hate to say it, but a nice tropical storm would do us some good.
Thanks for stopping in!
Doris
Your writing students must luv your class.
Tea,
I think I loved the class as much as the kids enjoyed some of the odd things I did! Now I focus on training teachers to use technology and write a more creative curriculum.
Thanks for stopping in!
Doris
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