Sigmund Brouwer, the writer in residence at the Preeceville School, shared some valuable writing strategies and stories with grades 3, 4, and 6 students during his visit to the Preeceville School on October 24.
In Grade 4, he shared some tips on writing “hook sentences,” which include the who, what, when, where, and most importantly, the grabber.
The grabber is the part that catches the reader’s attention, making him or her laugh, cry, wonder, or cringe, he said. In writing hook sentences, writers have to think about their audience and how they want their audience to feel.
He suggested students have conversations with their families about their experiences – the craziest, silliest, grossest stories their parents and grandparents have!
With Grade 3, Sigmund spoke about the alphabet being a set of symbols that create meaning and control thoughts. Putting these symbols together creates words and words create stories and stories engage people, he said. Writing is a delivery system to take stories out of the students’ heads and put them onto paper to share with others.
The Grade 6 students collected some of Brouwer’s background information through a quick question-and-answer period.
Brouwer spoke with them about why words matter and how words are cool, sharing lots of examples. Word choice is second to the story, even before spelling, he said, adding that he wants the students to consider how they use words to convey clear messages.
In all grades, he emphasized the value of description and how it helps readers to visualize the story and “messes with” their emotions/minds.
He also talked about being appropriate for one’s audience.
"We look forward to his next visit, when he plans to speak with the Grade 3 class again because those students are the focus of the Story Ninja program, well as the grades 7 and 9 classes," said Leslea Hanson, teacher. The Grades 4, 7, and 9 classes are also participating in a provincial writing assessment this year, of which narrative writing is a component.
