There’s a Nightmare in My…

Are you familiar with Writing Fix?  It is an amazing collection of writing activities that are easy to implement.  Not only do Writing Fix writing ideas come with graphic organizers and student samples, they use children’s literature as a starting point.  If you haven’t checked this site out yet, click on the graphic below.

I recently had my kids write their own nightmare stories based on Mercer Mayer’s There’s a Nightmare in My Closet.  I got the idea from this activity from Writing Fix.  I started off by showing a video I found on YouTube with Billy Crystal reading the book.

After the video, we brainstorm a list of the different things we have been scared of.  I included some of my own childhood fears which the kids got a kick out of.  I then showed the class the student writing samples from Writing Fix.  At this point, I turned them loose to start writing and they were definitely enthusiastic about this project.
When they were finished with their writing, they created their own monsters by coloring on coffee filters with markers.  I sprayed the coffee filters with water and the colors bled together which gave us some interesting effects.  Once the filters were dry, the kids added details.

Here are some of the more interesting stories that were written.

The Monster in My Potty

The Monster in My Desk

Ghost in My Attic

Here are some nightmares that I just HAD to share!



I’d like to hear about your favorite writing activities.  Leave me a comment about which picture book is your favorite to use as a springboard for writing.

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