How to Get Kids to Write Humorous Narratives

Children typically enjoy writing humorous narratives once they learn how.

Teaching children to write creatively allows them to use their imaginations and experiences. Children are natural storytellers so learning how to write to entertain is achievable and rewarding for them. Among the most entertaining and interesting assignments is writing humorous narratives. These pieces can be fiction or non-fiction. A successful instructor can guide children in coming up with funny stories to be enjoyed by all.

Instructions

1. Provide examples of humorous writings. For example, read to them from Louis Sachar's "Holes" or another funny children's work. These stories will inspire your kids to write their own funny pieces. Give your students a pre-writing task in which they imitate the style of a humorous author.

2. Discuss unique and funny characters. The kids will likely be familiar with many from books, cartoons and film. Give the kids a chance to explore these characters and their humorous nature by creating their own short pieces featuring one of them. For instance, they can write fan fiction regarding Spongebob Squarepants or Jim Carrey's persona from "The Mask."

3. Get students to identify humorous situations that can relate on paper to their readers. Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, advises that choosing a funny event is the most important part of creating a funny story. Ask the kids to brainstorm about funny things that have happened in their lives such as instances with their siblings, pets or friends. Show clips from "Funniest Home Videos" to help spark their recall.

4. Utilize funny prompts to get students to start the humorous narrative. For example, throw out topics such as "the day the evil schoolteacher fell into a bottomless hole on her way to class" or "how I had to chase my homework assignment after it grew legs and ran away." Encourage the kids to come up with and share their own humorous ideas.

5. Allow kids to brainstorm and prewrite for a set amount of time once they have their topic. Tell them to let their words flow naturally without worrying about grammar. Once finished, they will have the basis for their narrative.

6. Give concrete feedback once the kids finish a first draft. Write your comments directly on their papers so they can refer to them when they revise. Remember to praise where appropriate and tactfully instruct on what can be improved. The more specific and clear you are in your feedback, the better able they will be to improve their writing.

Tips & Warnings

• Provide a way for students to "publish" their writing such as gathering all the stories and making them into a book. Add a picture and short biography of each student writer as a preface to his own piece in the anthology.

References

• Wall Street Journal: Scott Adams: How to Write Like a Cartoonist