A new spin on a 'writing assignment'

Insert brick wall here! Ever have one of those moments where you just can't seem to get through? Nah, I'm sure I'm the only one :)  My ten-year-old (Ice Princess) has ADHD and while I agree that many kids are "labeled" to get them to behave, I have found that these children's minds are truly unique! I have been both fascinated and frustrated with trying to not only understand how she thinks, but more importantly, how to teach her?!?  Sequencing is very difficult for these kiddos, so math and writing are often very challenging. We started off our year beta testing the WriteShop Jr. Book F. I love this curriculum and even more so, love the writer, Kim Kautzer. She has been so understanding and encouraging on this journey (Thanks Kim!)  After many struggles, we decided to try something out of the box: I sat down on the patio with my munchkins and gave them a verbal story prompt "Pretend you were on a walk in the woods with Mom and Dad, and got distracted. Then, when you looked up, we were gone!" Then I told them to work together to finish the story and then act it out for me.  They did so great! They found shelter in a cave (under the trampoline), woke a sleeping bear, (a.k.a. Cowgirl)

 ...ran for their lives, found shelter, built a campfire...

and eventually found tire tracks that led them back to our cabin. It was such a blast to see them really become part of a story. Now we can approach each new writing assignment with a renewed enthusiasm and the creativity seems to be coming a little more freely!