Creative Writing Lesson Plan - Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson

Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson

I love exploring the outdoors, so when I saw Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson, I had to check it out. In this story, a boy and a bear adventure in the forest. But what happens when they meet each other?! Eek! No, it's okay. They become friends because it's a story for children (of course, with my dark-humour-filled brain, it'd be kind of funny if the cheerful story suddenly took a terrible turn... no, bad Dara. Be quiet, brain). This book has beautiful illustrations, and I think it does a good job of encouraging kids to explore the forest with an open mind and with all of their senses.

Cale Atkinson uses a unique format for Explorers of the Wild. At the start, the boy and the bear have their own separate adventure. The boy's adventure is shown on the left page, and the bear's adventure is shown on the right. In the middle of the story, the two characters meet each other and their adventures join together. Cool, eh? So below is a lesson plan that uses Cale Atkinson's story as inspiration for creative writing.

ENGAGE

-Read Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson. Do students notice that the story is about two different characters meeting each other?

EXPLORE

-Have the students work in pairs.

-As a pair, the students will choose a setting: a forest, the ocean, space, cotton candy land, dragon world, whatever. But the rule is, they are not allowed to talk about characters. Only setting.

-Separate the pair.

-On his own, the student makes up a character. This character is going to explore the setting alone. The student can draw the character and describe the character with words. Then he writes (and possibly illustrates) four or five short paragraphs showing his character exploring the setting.

-When everyone is finished, ask the pairs to come back together and share what they've written so far.

-Ask the pairs to write a paragraph where their two characters meet. How does the meeting go? Do they get along? What happens?

-Finish the story as a pair, with the two characters interacting until the end. The students can put their finished story together in the style of Explorers of the Wild.

EXPLAIN

-If they want, pairs can read their story to the group.

-Point out that interesting situations can come from two different characters meeting each other. Often, when students are learning to write, their characters are similar to one another. Highlight how fascinating a story can be when characters have different personalities and viewpoints.

EXTEND

-Read your favourite book that highlights unique characters.

-Students could write a scene where they invent two very different characters locked in a room or stuck in some type of space. What do they talk about?

Awesome! I hope this gives you some good lesson plan ideas, and I hope it inspires you to check out Explores of the Wild, by Cale Atkinson, a fellow Canadian!

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