Two story prompts on a page, each one introduced by a short line in bold with a green rule beside it and followed by ruled writing lines. The prompts ask for something specific rather than for a piece about Christmas, which is the difference between a child starting and a child staring at the page.
The prompts ask for a decision
The ones that come up are built around a choice or a situation: a parcel arrives addressed to a name nobody knows, a snowman you built last winter knocks at the door, you may invite one person to Christmas dinner, write to someone who will be on their own. Each gives a child something to answer rather than a subject to cover.
Two to a page is deliberate. A prompt with four lines under it produces four lines of writing. These get most of a page each, which is enough for a piece with a beginning and an end, and a child only has to choose between two.
Draw and write
The Sheet control switches to Draw and write, which replaces the two prompts with a single instruction, a large empty picture box and ruled lines underneath. The instruction names the picture, for example drawing your Christmas dinner and then writing who is sitting round the table.
That layout is for a child who thinks by drawing first. Getting the picture down takes the pressure off the blank lines, and most children then write about what they have drawn rather than about nothing.
Line height
Wide lines are the default and are right for a child in their first years of writing, where letter size is still settling. Narrow fits more writing on the page and suits a confident writer who would otherwise run out of room halfway through.
Each line is drawn as a pair, a dashed midline above a solid baseline, so a child who still needs the guide has it and one who does not can ignore it.
Questions
- How many writing prompts are on the sheet?
- Two, each with a block of ruled lines under it. A child picks one and writes on the lines below it, which gives most of a page for the piece rather than a few lines.
- Are the prompts different every time?
- Yes. A new pair is drawn from the bank whenever the page loads or Regenerate is pressed, so a class can be given different prompts without anyone printing the same sheet twice.
- Is there a version for younger children?
- Yes. Set Sheet to Draw and write and the page becomes one instruction, a large picture box and ruled lines underneath, so the drawing comes first and the writing follows from it.
- Can I change the size of the lines?
- Yes. The Line height control switches between Wide and Narrow. Wide suits a child whose handwriting is still large; Narrow fits more writing on the page for a confident writer.