I've been fortunate in my teaching career to have had some wonderful professional development in how to teach children to write. The one thing that all my varied training has had in common is this: Step 1 is always to get kids to face a blank page with confidence. So try this listing activity.
Tell students that you're going to ask them to make some lists in their notebook. You'll tell them what to make a list of, and it's likely you'll move on to the next list before they're finished with the one they're working on. That's okay. This will be quick paced and students should move on with you - ready or not.
First directions to the class - Write down all the places you've ever been. Everything counts so whether you've been to your friend's house next door or traveled to another country, write it down. Have you been to the grocery store? ...to the beach? ...to the movies? ...to Grandma's house? Then say, "Ready, Set, Go!" This sets the tone. You don't want them to think too much. They should just write.
When most kids have 4-6 items on their list, move on.
Next list: Write down all the pizza toppings you can think of. You don't have to like them. I promise not to make you eat them. Go!
Next: Write down all the objects you've held in your hand over the past 2 days.
By now the kids should have the idea. Hopefully they're having fun with it. It should also be getting easier for them and their lists should be getting a bit longer.
Last list: Write down just the first names of all the kids you remember from kindergarten. (Even if your students are in 5th or 6th grade, ask them to think back to kindergarten.) Tell them that if they get a name wrong or someone from their 2nd grade class ends up on this list, it doesn't matter. Just make the list.
Now, ask the kids to look back at all their lists and put a star next to anything they wrote down that reminds them of a funny story. Then instruct them to choose something they starred and tell a story about it to the person sitting next to them. Give them a few minutes. It's okay if they don't finish telling their story. Then say, "Switch." Now the partners switch roles so that the speaker becomes the listener.
Look out over the class and take a moment to enjoy the energy and animated conversation amongst your students. Then, call for everyone's attention. Acknowledge the fact that they probably didn't finish telling their stories. Now ask them to go to the next clean page in their notebook and write. They might write down the story they were telling, they may choose something else from their list, or they may write about something that their partner's story reminded them of. Some kids will take off with this and will not be able to spill that story onto the page fast enough.
For those students who feel that they have nothing good to write about, ask them to extract the most boring story from their list and tell just a short part of it as though it's happening in slow motion. After you help them to talk through it a bit, they should be fine.
The best thing about this activity is that it not only generates a lot of excitement on the day you do it. It also leaves the kids with a handful of starred items in their notebooks that they can write another story about on another day. Don't forget to set aside some time for your young writers to share their work aloud. Have fun.
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