The Writing Tree is an activity designed to promote daily creative writing, keeping a writing journal, and impromptu writing practice.

Directions

1. Locate a small plastic tree, miniature Christmas tree, or actual bare branches.
2. Place the tree in your classroom in a conspicuous yet sheltered place.
3. On the branches hang shapes on which you have written story starters. I like to change the shapes each month. Below is a sampling of the shapes I use and their corresponding month.

   • January= mittens
   • February= hearts
   • March= kites
   • April= raindrops
   • May= flowers
   • June/August= smiling sun
   • September= school bus
   • October= autumn leaves
   • November= pumpkins
   • December= Christmas trees

   
   
4. Some possible story starters are:
   

   • You are the first elementary school student to be elected President of the United States. Write your inaugural address.
   • It is raining very hard. You are one of the many millions of raindrops tumbling through the sky. Tell of your experience.
   • What if everything you touched turned green?
   • If you could plan the perfect party, what would it be like?
   • You have just discovered a huge bone in your back yard as you were digging a garden for your mother. How did it get there, and from what kind of animal did it come?
   • You have won a school contest. The first prize is that you are to be your classroom teacher for the week. What activities will you plan? How will you handle discipline problems?
   • Choose a familiar children's song. Write new lyrics for the melody. Keep the original rhythm and rhyme patterns.
   • What holidays would a peanut celebrate?
   • Think of a current moral issue. Give your opinion.

5. Select a student to choose one of the shapes. Have him/her read the topic to the class.
6. Allow the students to write silently for 10-15 minutes.
7. You may want to have several students share their thoughts and writing at this time, or you may simply want them to put their journals away.

Once a week, I have my students go through their journals and select an entry for editing and proofreading. They meet in cooperative groups for peer conferencing. After several sessions, their pieces are ready for publishing. I try to give them different venues for completing their final work. Sometimes they make pop-up books, sometimes they simply write their work on looseleaf paper including a symbolic border. Variety adds interest!