How to teach your child to write a novel: Lesson 5: Setting

Junior Secret Noveling Club

You are reading part six of a ten part series that shows you how to teach your elementary-age child to write a novel, and in the process become a wiser, more thoughtful reader of books written by others. Check out the preparation, the genre lesson, the hero lesson, the villain lesson, the conflict lesson, and then come back here for lesson five, Setting.

Greeting:

Start your meeting, say your oath, and send your secret handshake around the table. Ask the kids if they have gone to any cool places this week. Ask what they remember seeing on these trips, if they saw anything unexpected.

Warm-up :

Game: Have each child make a list of objects present in a physical location that everyone knows. Then one by one, give them a chance to read their list while the rest of the kids try to guess the location. Encourage them to be as specific as possible to lead the other players to a very specific answer. For example, saying “slide, swings, jungle gym” would make others guess “playground” but not a specific playground. Saying “twirly slide, leaning tree, bug jungle gym” might lead your guessers to the right answer. Think of a commonly known location (Sarah’s back yard, the co-op common room, Benny’s room, etc) and try to find one object you could mention that would lead everyone straight to the answer.

Setting discussion:

Sometimes if you ask a new writer what her setting is, she might say “the castle” or “the woods” or “a cave.” She might think she’s telling you everything you need to visualize her scene, but actually we need much more information! A setting consists of five elements:

Place (the castle, Chicago, the woods)

Location (the dining room, the top of the Sears tower, beside the old oak tree)

Objects (a vase of tulips, a pair of binoculars, a ring of mushrooms)

Time (morning, midnight, dusk)

Weather (stormy, clear sky, hot)

Sometimes the setting is just what the place looks like, helping the reader picture the action going on. Sometimes, however, it gets really interesting, and the setting can influence the plot. Try to think of a scene in a book you’ve read and ask yourself how the scene would be different if it took place in a different setting, or if certain objects were missing, or if it happened at a different time of day or in different weather.

Examples; (use examples from stories your students are engaged with): Alice in Wonderland, Hogwarts, tribal lands in Warriors.

The best way to use setting is to present problems or obstacles for the characters, and also give them opportunities and advantages. Before you just describe a generic cave or castle or kitchen, think about how you can make your story more interesting by manipulating all the elements of setting to create your scene.

Activity:

Paint your setting, without including any characters in the painting. Include as many elements as you can. Now fill out your setting worksheets, one for each of five settings. Get your badge!

Here is your link to the setting worksheet. You'll need to print out a full sheet for each child, as they will each need four: Settings Worksheet.

Homework:

Go to three different locations and write down information from all five of your senses.