Extreme Writing

The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn

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The Adventures of Mark TwainHuckleberry Finn tells, in his own voice, of the life of his author Mark Twain, a.k.a Samuel Clemens.
Robert Burleigh and Barry Blitt, Atheneum Books, ©2011, 978-0-689-83041-9

A Story with Modern Expression

Huck Finn was written in the language of a back country boy in the 1800’s USA. Ask students to write any story in which they use common 21st century expressions to show how people “really talk”. First brainstorm the possible expressions students could consider: OMG, BFF, having a rush, goofing off, being gross, or lame, or awesome, or sweet, or cool. Something could rock, or suck. Things happen 24/7. There are zits. Things rock or rule.

Then ask students to write a very brief story in that “voice” as in the opening of Huck Finn. Something less that 200 words is fine. The objective is try out the “voice” of the 21st century.

Bad Luck Superstitions

Huck Finn said that Mark Twain’s luck turned bad like after “killing a spider”. Ask students to brainstorm bad luck superstitions they have heard of. They should be able to come up with:

  • Step on a crack, break your mother’s back
  • Break a mirror – 7 years bad luck
  • Walk under a ladder
  • Cross the path of a black cat
  • A shiver means a goose walked over your grave
  • Open an umbrella inside brings bad luck
  • If you spill salt, toss it over your left shoulder or you’ll have bad luck

Students might enjoy writing a story about a character who frequently but inadvertently breaks bad luck superstitions and what happens to him or her, if anything.

For 10 creative writing ideas, click The Adventures of Mark Twain to download.

School For Bandits

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School_For_Bandits_PB_CoverRalph Raccoon is too polite and too nice. His parents have to send him to Bandit School to learn to be a proper bad raccoon. How does Ralph use his “niceness” to succeed?

Hannah Shaw, Alfred A. Knopf, ©2011, 978-0-375-96768-9

Synonym Study

There are many synonyms for people who take things that don’t belong to them. Students might find: pirate, thief, robber, buccaneer, brigand, cheat, crook, con artist, rustler, looter, pilfereer, shoplifter, gangster, highwayman, raider, racketeer, etc. This could also be a good brainstorming activity to build vocabulary.

Once they have a list, ask them to define each one in such a way that people could read the list of definitions and know what each word was being referred to.

School-For-Bandits-bad-listThe Being Bad Alphabet

Ralph Raccoon hasn’t been bad enough so he has to brainstorm 26 words (one for each letter of the alphabet) that are ways of being bad. A could be for aggravating, B for bragging, C for cursing, and so on. X and Z are notoriously hard—encourage students to use two words if necessary to get them in. Examples: eXtra Noisy or Zealously irritating.

This can be an individual activity or a brainstorming activity to build vocabulary.

For 6 creative writing ideas, click School For Bandits to download.

Kamishibai Man

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kamishibaiIn the country, in modern Japan, a little old couple lives quietly. The man says he misses his “rounds” (we don’t know what they are) and his wife makes him some candies so he can go into town on his bicycle and repeat what he used to do. He bicycles through busy streets to where the park used to be and sets up a little theatre. He recalls to himself what it was like to entertain crowds of children with his Japanese tales until television came. Coming out of his reminiscence he sees a crowd has gathered to hear these traditional tales and he gives out the candy his wife made.

Allen Say, Houghton Mifflin, ©2005, ISBN 13:  978-0-618-47954-2

Make Your Own Kamishibai Man

Students could work in teams to design a story in 12–16 frames that acts as a kamishibai tale—either one students have created themselves, or one of the traditional Japanese tales.

If you don’t have time for illustration (as we never do), used picture books telling the story can be taken apart and mounted on card. If you raise the theatre, the English version the students have written can be printed on the back of the mounted pages, and then the story would be told in the style of an illustrated Reader’s Theatre.

There is lots of information at here and kamishibai stories may also be purchased online (ready to go).

Traditional Japanese Tales

The book mentions 4 traditional Japanese folktales that the kamishibai might have told:

  • Peach Boy
  • Inch Boy
  • Bamboo Princess
  • The Old Man Who Made Cherry Tree Bloom

Students could tell these stories (and other Japanese tales) as kamishibai or simply as part of oral skills development and general cultural knowledge.

For 4 writing ideas, click Kamishibai Man to download.

Miss Alaineus

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miss-alaineusSage is home sick, but she is trying to continue with her vocabulary homework. It goes awry when she mistakes miscellaneous for Miss Alaineus. Her mother is holding a box with spaghetti hair on it when she mentions she needs “miscellaneous things” from which Sage concludes she is the woman on the box. When she defines it that way, the whole class laughs. Sage is devastated until she ends as Miss Alaineus, Queen of All Miscellaneous Things at the Vocabulary Parade. This book is full of charming puns and built in word definitions.

Debra Frasier, Harcourt, ©2000, ISBN 0-15-202163-9

Clever Langauge

This book is a terrific writing model for students. Sage, our storyteller, enjoys defining words and regularly halts her sentences to define a word.  The word is in bold, and the definition is in italics.

“I thought she was an ancestor, an ancient relative long dead, who had left us…”

“ Impossible,” I told her.  Impossible:  not capable of happening.”

“I was devastated:  wasted ravaged.  Ruined:  destroyed.  Finished:  brought to an end.”

For the most part, Sage creates her own definitions.  Students could write their own clever stories using this strategy—to write in the first person and to stop the story to define a word.  This is also an opportunity to encourage the development and use of an extensive vocabulary.

The A-Z Vocabulary Challenge

In the borders of the book are sentences relating to the plot, but emphasizing the letters of the alphabet in order:

  • B “What did I tell you?  This berserk bacteria has bulldozed me badly. Help!”
  • D “I am defective and delirious, and so I will dwindle away.” (The author has a cold at the time.)

After students have written a simple story, ask them to change and add to it until it has 24 sentences.  Then ask them to place 3 A words (using fresh verbs, adjectives, etc.) into the first sentence; 3 B words in the second…skipping X and Z (hence 24 sentences).

For 9 writing ideas, click Miss Alaineus to download.