Oh my, where does the summer time go? I can't believe this summer has whisked away so quickly. We celebrated the literacy fun run in May with root beer and carrot cake as a tribute to Beverly Cleary's childhood favorites. More stories came in after the run and after a busy time of my youngest son graduating and moving forward from his childhood I finally had time to type the last of the stories. But then lavender season began.(It's a big undertaking for me this year.) I hope you have found time for writing this summer.
Meet Wesley, my son who helped judge this year's story contest winners (He is wearing the hat, not the wig). He is an English major in college and he wrote many fun stories while growing up. He even entered a story in the county fair one year and won the BIGGEST ribbon for Best In Show story across all ages, chosen by the judges.
Wesley shares a strategy for writing.
How do you begin to write a summer story?
Write a list of summer activities and choose one to be the topic of your story. Maybe choose a fun topic out of a hat!
Once you have your idea of what you want to write, spend some time with it. Take a small notebook with you to write your ideas in. Put them in your pocket and go on a walk outside. Think about them for a few minutes, hours or a couple of days.
Next, get your ideas down on paper. Sit down to write. You might be in a park, in your backyard or on your porch. Writing outside is fun to do in the summer.
Write how it all began then add the fun in the middle and last make a good ending.
Check out the great stories below by kids who entered our contest this year. Practice your writing and get ready for next year's contest.
I am always amazed as a teacher with creative stories from kids and even with the same topic there are always new stories written every year! If you don't have any ideas. You can use our contest prompts and see what story you can come up with.
There is a new sign on the Beverly Cleary Story Path. If you are in Yamhill County then come take the Beverly Cleary Literary Walking Tour and the Ribsy Story Path into Jane Heinrich's Park. It has several writing prompts on signs for stories. All are connected to the stories written by Beverly Cleary. How did she write so many fun stories? Come take a walk and find out! Bring a notepad and a pencil and you can write down your own story too!
Why not take a look at the winning stories below to get you going on writing something fun of your own. One thing students always seem to say when it is time to write a story is "I don't have anything to write about," and so they have a hard time getting started. This is one reason why I started a writing contest for kids because it gives them something to write about. Not to mention some way cool prizes! Beverly Cleary won a contest for writing a story in the summer when she was young. You can do it too! Maybe you'll end up as a writer and with a really cool story to share.
Find or offer some writing prompts to help kids choose what to write about. Do they like owls or skateboards? Gives them a goal or a jumping off point to their writing. Check out your county fair to see if you can enter a story there? There also might be a story contest in a children's magazines. Look online or in your public library. Or make up your own story contest in your neighborhood or house. Create a topic, a deadline, and come up with a fun prize. Let people know when you will read them together. I think eating pie is nice and sharing stories.
Our very cool story contest winners!
First Place Yamhill County
Second Place Yamhill County
Third Place Yamhill County
First Place Outside Yamhill County
Second Place Outside Yamhill County
Third Place Outside Yamhill County
Woohoo! These are fantastic summer stories! I hope you enjoyed reading. What about writing a story for your county fair? Check it out!
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