Finding Eureka: Ideation Techniques for Every Writing Student
Although writing prompts are useful in helping children come up with ideas to write, they still need to learn the skill of generating concepts on their own. Otherwise, your worksheets will be a psychological crutch of some sort, and they might find it challenging to write without it. And definitely, there will be lots of times when they won’t have any of it. Don’t leave them stuck at the pit of a writer’s block. Teach your class these ideation techniques and help them be good writers even without writing prompts.
Freewriting
This exercise involves merely putting down on paper everything that comes to mind. The principle is to keep the pen moving until the timer ends. A Writing student does not need to worry about proper grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and whatnot. It doesn’t even matter if the whole thing makes no sense. Let them freely write about blue dinosaurs in outer space or their boring commute home. The only rule is to keep scribbling. When the timer stops, ask the students to read what they wrote and find ideas worth using in their story later, like a character or particular plot device.
You can also do this in groups, with pupils exchanging their work with teammates. A different pair of eyes can help in pinpointing exciting stuff. Your students will love freewriting because there are less pressure and more leeway for thinking. Plus, they might enjoy their raw, unedited thoughts captured on paper.
Listing
In freewriting, your students will be on dear-diary mode with no second thoughts. In the listing, your class will have to think more intentionally. What they must list are elements of the task they’re given. For instance, if the writing assignment is a work of fiction, they have to identify the characters, setting, conflict, and resolution in bullet points. If it’s a work of nonfiction, say, an opinion piece, they have to list down facts, arguments, and questions.
With this ideation technique, it will be easier for them to make a storyboard or an outline later. They have to group ideas or put them in a sequence. Of course, all these will only be possible if they have some knowledge already on the task you gave them. So do this exercise after discussing your writing lessons. Some pre-writing worksheets have storyboard and outline templates. Use these after your listing activity.
Cluster Mapping
In this technique, students will put the central idea in the middle of their paper, and from there, think of concepts related to it. A younger writing student might need some prodding and leading questions. So for instance, your main idea is dinosaurs, ask them questions like “What do dinosaurs eat?” or “Where do dinosaurs live?” The answers they have can be part of their stories later. So the more words they connect, the more ideas they can use in their writing. Give them ample time to do cluster mapping.
In the end, you can facilitate your students’ thinking with these ideation techniques. Don’t leave them relying on prompts. Instead, instil the discipline and art of generating ideas.
