What Teaching Writing to Grade 3s has Taught Me

At the end of April, I had the opportunity to speak to two Grade 3 classes about writing. They are working on their own storytelling unit and the teachers were kind enough to invite me over as a guest speaker to talk about process and how to work through writer's block.

While this is the third year I've met with these teachers' classes, I've found there is always something new to learn when I lead a workshops; even if that lesson is from being unable to teach a lesson at all.

The Foundations of Story

As part of their unit, the teachers introduce the basics of story structure. It's a useful framework for anyone of any age looking to write their first story, and provides the students with an outline for creating their own story. It goes as follows:

Somebody

Wanted

But

So

Then

This is the most basic foundation of any narrative. It's especially obvious in structures like Hero's Journey, but even the most obscure or absurd novels will have these components at their core. Somebody (the main character) has a goal they want to achieve but something is stopping them from getting so they have to make a plan or to then get what they want.

The layer that is missing, that they will learn as they get older, is the intrinsic motivation and character growth needed to make their 'somebody' relatable and believable. I like to break it down into what my character wants, versus what my character needs. That need is what they will ultimately have to resolve to get what they want, which may take on a very different shape after they've undergone that character growth. The Save the Cat! books are really great for breaking this down if you're ever interest in going deep into story structure.

Overcoming Writer's Block

It was really engaging to hear the students' ideas for their stories, and it also gave us something to anchor their potential writer's block in. Sometimes writer's block happens because we're not sure what to do with our story, and that is usually because one of these five things isn't quite right yet.

We talked about the strategies they can use to work through the sticky parts or when they don't feel like writing, including:

• Going for a walk

• Writing the story out of order

• Brainstorming with a friend

• Asking ourselves, "How can I make this worse for my character?"

That last one was by far their favourite, and we spent a bit of time coming up with our own story as a group and adding plot beats to keep making it worse for our characters. They fully embraced that activity, and also added some of their own solutions to writer's block such as working on a hobby, reading, or screaming your frustration into a pillow. As a professional, I fully approve of all of these strategies.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

When giving presentations, just like in our stories, we sometimes have to pivot and go with the flow more than we may be prepared to do. While one of the classes was very ready to learn, I had quite the opposite experience with the other. It was right after lunch, nearing the end of the day, and they had a substitute teacher.

All factors combined to make a very dysregulated class. While I try very hard to make my presentations interactive where possible, one posed question sent the class into a spiral of shouted tangents and questions that had nothing to do with the original query and quickly set our train very much off the rails.

I tried to get us back on track, but it was quickly apparent that that was not going to happen. So I pivoted. They had latched onto mythology so that became the dominant part of the conversation. Though it was more about them telling me all their favourite kinds of mythology and testing me on whether I had heard of X creature or not, it was also captivating to see that they were truly engrossed in storytelling. It was just not in the way I had planned.

But I also didn't anticipate a group of eight year olds being super excited by the demons I had created in Demons at the Doorstep. As a collective, they were adamant that I read them the description of the monsters. And as soon as I agreed, the mood shifted. "Let us get comfortable!" one student shouted, and suddenly the class that could not sit still were lying on the carpet or with their head on the desk, ready to listen.

That is the power of stories, and why we love them. Creativity is one of those magical things that make humans special, and the expression of creativity can connect us even when we are on completely different wavelengths.

The students of both classes were so excited to share the stories that they loved with me, and they were equally encouraging of me to share my story with them. And if there is even just one student in the group that feels motivated or inspired to keep writing after their assignment is over, then I couldn't be happier.