Choosing a Creative Writing Curriculum
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When you have a reluctant writer, it’s hard to find encouragement and material to help them. Over the years, I’ve spent money on books that seemed to only cause more problems for my writer. I’ve even searched the internet for free story starters and watched videos of creative writing teachers hoping to bring about more confidence in my son. Nothing has worked for us until now; Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals.
Several years ago, I encouraged my son to write a Bible story we had finished studying. It was good, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to write it. After remembering what a fellow teacher (high school English) told me about writing, I backed off from being persuasive. Her advice was simple – Stop forcing him and focus on the grammar part of writing. You can’t have good results if the young person does not have a good grasp on the grammar side of things. Once they have the grammar down, helping them get their thoughts on paper is easy to teach. This is just what I did. I used several methods of teaching grammar so things would not be like beating a dead horse, getting old, and going nowhere.
For some, my writer would be behind in writing. But I disagree. While he might struggle with getting his thoughts on paper, when he does, his grammar is superb. While I would love for him to write and write, and write, he is not going to be that kind of writer. He is like me – don’t beat around the bush, say what I want and be done with it.
When I ordered the book Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals, I was a little skeptical because of past failures. But once I read through the lessons, I knew this was a book for us. Writing fictional stories based on stories found in the Bible was a wonderful idea. There is no teaching of rewriting the stories to take away the importance of each one. But to write and expand on what the Bible already shares adding nothing weird to the lesson of the story.
While there are only eight lessons in the book with either a one week per lesson or two weeks per lesson, we lengthened the time in working on a lesson. We’ve done this so we can do a thorough research on the different Bible verse portions with different versions so we can see a comparison.
Each lesson contains these parts:
Another thing I love are the questions asked in each section. What, Who, Where, When, How, Why during the researching part of the story. Each question asked causes the writer to think a little more deeply about what is going on.
In the Rough section, you’ll find the Outline section with conflict, exposition, incitation, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution and denouement. The descriptions of setting, characters, events and thoughts and reactions.
There are seven stories assigned and the last one is the writer’s choice:
Jesus casts the demons into the pigs, The Passover at the Temple, The Birth of Jesus, Noah, Joseph, The Feeding of the 5,000, and Jonah.
The guidance from Rand Hummel in In Their Sandals is just like the guidance he gives to young people every day. He truly has a heart to reach young people for the Lord and this book is evident of his love for them.
I love the help and encouragement my son has received from this book. The methods taught will definitely be used in our final year of our home education journey.
Positive Action for Christ even offers a free downloadable Teacher's Resource for Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals so you can get an idea of what is being taught in the book if you're a little skeptical like I was in the beginning.
In Their Sandals Student Manual
By Positive Action for Christ
How can studying the Bible help students to become better writers?
God's a master storyteller, and the Bible is the best story of all. This study challenges to students to dig into the Bible, read it, meditate on it, and experience it as if you were a character. Students will tackle creative writing exercises that help them learn to communicate clearly and concisely as they learn about how God has chosen to reveal Himself.
Students will:
120 pages, softcover.
Non-reproducible; consumable workbook.
Middle school and High School / Grades 6-12.
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Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals
Several years ago, I encouraged my son to write a Bible story we had finished studying. It was good, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to write it. After remembering what a fellow teacher (high school English) told me about writing, I backed off from being persuasive. Her advice was simple – Stop forcing him and focus on the grammar part of writing. You can’t have good results if the young person does not have a good grasp on the grammar side of things. Once they have the grammar down, helping them get their thoughts on paper is easy to teach. This is just what I did. I used several methods of teaching grammar so things would not be like beating a dead horse, getting old, and going nowhere.
For some, my writer would be behind in writing. But I disagree. While he might struggle with getting his thoughts on paper, when he does, his grammar is superb. While I would love for him to write and write, and write, he is not going to be that kind of writer. He is like me – don’t beat around the bush, say what I want and be done with it.
When I ordered the book Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals, I was a little skeptical because of past failures. But once I read through the lessons, I knew this was a book for us. Writing fictional stories based on stories found in the Bible was a wonderful idea. There is no teaching of rewriting the stories to take away the importance of each one. But to write and expand on what the Bible already shares adding nothing weird to the lesson of the story.
While there are only eight lessons in the book with either a one week per lesson or two weeks per lesson, we lengthened the time in working on a lesson. We’ve done this so we can do a thorough research on the different Bible verse portions with different versions so we can see a comparison.
Each lesson contains these parts:
- Research - read and research the story in the Bible
- Rough – roughing out the structure of the story
- Write – the first rough draft
- Apply – a short Bible study to help the writer to open their heart to the Bible
- Revise – the second and/or final draft of the story
- Tools of Grammar – little grammar reminders
Another thing I love are the questions asked in each section. What, Who, Where, When, How, Why during the researching part of the story. Each question asked causes the writer to think a little more deeply about what is going on.
In the Rough section, you’ll find the Outline section with conflict, exposition, incitation, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution and denouement. The descriptions of setting, characters, events and thoughts and reactions.
During the write section, there is a reminder, to pray and ask the Lord to help the writer while writing. As I mentioned the Apply section being a Bible study; I love this. What better way to learn what God has to say about a story the writer is already researching to write about.
There are seven stories assigned and the last one is the writer’s choice:
Jesus casts the demons into the pigs, The Passover at the Temple, The Birth of Jesus, Noah, Joseph, The Feeding of the 5,000, and Jonah.
The guidance from Rand Hummel in In Their Sandals is just like the guidance he gives to young people every day. He truly has a heart to reach young people for the Lord and this book is evident of his love for them.
I love the help and encouragement my son has received from this book. The methods taught will definitely be used in our final year of our home education journey.
Positive Action for Christ even offers a free downloadable Teacher's Resource for Creative Writing That Puts You In Their Sandals so you can get an idea of what is being taught in the book if you're a little skeptical like I was in the beginning.
In Their Sandals Student Manual
By Positive Action for Christ
How can studying the Bible help students to become better writers?
God's a master storyteller, and the Bible is the best story of all. This study challenges to students to dig into the Bible, read it, meditate on it, and experience it as if you were a character. Students will tackle creative writing exercises that help them learn to communicate clearly and concisely as they learn about how God has chosen to reveal Himself.
Students will:
- Write eight stories based on events and characters from Scripture
- Read Scripture meditatively, with a mind to seek God's majesty in His Word, then share Him with others
- Research the historical and cultural context behind well-known Bible stories
- Approach writing systematically, with appropriate research, preparation, drafting, and revision
- Practice the disciplines of a good writer
- Build a basic literary vocabulary
- Understand the importance and use of certain grammar structures
120 pages, softcover.
Non-reproducible; consumable workbook.
Middle school and High School / Grades 6-12.
