Imagination / Writing Curriculum

My extemporaneous story telling was born of necessity. At the beginning of a backpack trip into the Colorado Mountains, our six-year-old son sat down 50 yards into a 12-mile trek. He declared he couldn’t possibly go further. I finally offered to tell him a story, he jumped to his feet and off we went. From then on, at the beginning of any hike, I would ask our children what kind of story they would like and begin a tale, whatever the topic. The mental distraction would keep them walking until we stopped for lunch or reached our ultimate destination.

The practice first expanded to birthday parties then, as kids spread the word, to schools, hospitals, libraries, and other venues. It was apparent that audiences of all ages became engrossed in the narrative just as my children did on backpack trips, even students who displayed difficulty with focusing in the classroom.

As electronic devices began to proliferate in the 21st Century, I became concerned that kids were losing the power of imagination because of the visual input from computers, cell phones, game devices, etc., an observation teachers wholeheartedly agreed with.

With this in mind, I developed and implemented a simple curriculum using my stories to stimulate the use of imagination and creative writing. The process involves changing the end of a story they have heard and asking the students to write their own new ending. The full curriculum concludes with most students being able to tell a story extemporaneously to the class when given a topic. Simple rubrics used to measure the students’ progress show remarkable success in categories such as problem solving, imagery, dialogue, and word count.

For high school students and above, the curriculum allows me to develop their understanding that improving problem solving and creativity will lead to increased success outside the classroom. Such areas include: athletics, college applications, job interviews and applications, interpersonal relationships, and resolving obstacles in the work place.