CREATIVE WRITING
NAVIGATING FACT AND FICTION
activity to accompany “The One and Only Ivan”
CREATIVE WRITING – NAVIGATING FACT AND FICTION
Concept:
Students will work together to compare & contrast fictional literature with real-world events, engage in a
classroom group writing activity to practice their quick thinking, writing, and problem solving skills, and practice
public speaking/presentation by reading their creative piece aloud.
Objectives:

Students will discuss the differences between what they’ve read, so far, about “The One & Only Ivan” and
compare/contrast this with real world events

Students will understand ‘anthropomorphism’ and it’s use &
purpose in creative writing
Time needed:
40-60 minutes

Students will review the organizational structure of a story.
Materials needed:

Students will write an imaginative narrative story with classmates
using anthropomorphism
Writing paper
The Real Ivan Powerpoint
access to Youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9lmhBYB11U)
Common Core Standards
th
4 Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.4.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.4.4,
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.4, CCSS.ELALITERACY.L.4.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.5,
th
5 Grade: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4, CCSS.ELA-, CCSS.ELALITERACY.RF.5.3LITERACY.RL.5.6, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4,
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.1, CCSS.ELALITERACY.L.5.2, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4
PROCEDURES
Prep: Set up PowerPoint presentation and ask students to take out a piece of scratch paper
 (5 minutes) ‘The Real Ivan’ Powerpoint Presentation
 (5 minutes) Class discussion: How does the fictional story of “the One and Only Ivan” differ from the actual events?
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Fictional characters added to drive the story: Stella & Ruby, Julia, Bob the dog
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How do we know exactly what Ivan was thinking? Well, we can’t know…that brings up an interesting tool
used in writing fiction about animals! Anthropomorphism.
 (5 minutes) What IS anthropomorphism?
5500 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 | ph 206.548.2500 fax 206.548.1536 | www.zoo.org
o
Watch Zootopia! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9lmhBYB11U – 2 minutes
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Ask students to take notes so that they can answer the question in their own words: “What is
anthropomorphism?”

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Anthropomorphism is when a writer gives human traits, ambitions, emotions or entire behavior
to animals, non-human beings, natural phenomena or objects. (‘Personification’ can be used
interchangeably with this term.)

The curious cat quietly danced to the other side of the room, hoping that she would be
able to surprise & catch the silly mouse.

The clever mouse saw the clumsy cat coming and scurried to safety before the cat could
pounce. The cat was disappointed! The mouse was relieved.

The wind was angry today. The ocean was wild and reckless in the storm.

The turnips were sad that they could not joyfully bask in the sun like the flowers.
Why is anthropomorphism used?

It helps the reader connect with and understand the characters and plots of fictional stories. Just
like in ‘The One and Only Ivan.’
 (10 minutes) The One and Only Ivan excerpt: reading activity
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While you read the attached story, ask students to write down the anthropomorphic words that they
hear: impatient, enjoy, grumpy, unconvinced, doubtful

Optional: ask students to volunteer to read 2-3 sentences out loud for the class
 (20-40 minutes) Round table Creative Writing Activity*
“Now it’s your turn to write a fictional story as a team- using anthropomorphism to engage the reader with emotion.”
o
o
Review the organization structure of a story by modeling the 3 main parts of a story.
“In a fictional story, a beginning introduces a character and the problem or goal. The actions a character
takes to solve this problem are the middle of the story. Finally, an ending tells how the problem was
solved. Here is an example of the organization or structure that may be very familiar to most of you:

Beginning-problem:

Middle-events:

Ending:
Distribute the Story Map Organizer or ask students to separate a piece of lined/writing paper into
horizontal thirds & write their name on the back.
“Today you are going to practice writing and getting as much of a short story written as possible. You will
be ‘writing for stamina/speed.”

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**Teacher may choose to model this activity with a volunteer group to demonstrate procedure
and sequencing. “In this first session, you will only compose the beginning of your story. First,
you will introduce an ANIMAL character. Maybe you’d like to write about a cat, dog, fox, dolphin,
bear, gorilla…it’s up to you! Then, create a problem or goal for the character. Next, you’ll pass
your paper to the left where that student will be writing the middle of your story, while you write
the middle of the story passed to you by the student on your right. Finally, you’ll pass that paper
to the left once more- where the person to your left will write the ending of THAT story, while
you finish the story of the paper that was passed to you from the person on your right. (Of
course, be mindful of our classroom expectations of respect and responsibility). At the very end,
pass your papers to the right until your original story comes back to you. Ready?

“Write the beginning in the first block of your story page. Remember to introduce an animal
character and a problem for that character to solve. You have 4 minutes.”
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After exactly four minutes, call out: “Time’s up. Move your papers to your left”

Then explain: “You now have a new story in front of you. Before we start, please write your
name on the back of the sheet underneath the name of the previous student. <wait a
moment for students to do this> Your job is to write the middle part of this new story,
making sure to use anthropomorphism. How does the animal character feel about the
problem? What do they do to start solving the problem?
You have a minute to read the beginning of this story, and four minutes to write the middle
event(s). This may seem impossible, but do the best you can. Ready, Go!”

After the time allotted, the papers again move to the left. “Before we start, please write
your name on the back of this page under the names of the previous students. <wait a
moment for students to do this> You now have one minute to read and three minutes to
end the story before you with a solution scene. This may seem impossible, but do the best
you can.”
o

Often students will beg for a little more time on this last section. It’s up to you 
Now, ask students to pass their papers to the right until they are holding their original story.
Share the results! Short practice sessions like this develop only a paragraph or two. Yet,
students get the pen moving on paper. Sometimes the short write leads to more elaborate
writing or sparks ideas for other students.
*http://www.pps.k12.or.us/files/curriculum/G4Imagined2014.pdf
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Short Story Organizer/ student worksheet
Beginning: Introduction
1) Introduce & describe your animal character. 2)What problem do they have to solve?
Middle: Actions
1) How does the animal FEEL about the problem? 2) How do they start to solve the problem?
Ending: Wrap-up
1) How is the problem solved? 2) How does the animal feel once the problem is solved?
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Excerpt from ‘The One and Only Ivan’ (note: animals are ‘speaking to each other’- all anthropomorphism)
“Ivan, tell me another joke, please!” Ruby begs (speaking) after the two-o’clock show.
“I think I may have run out of jokes,” I admit.
“A story, then,” Ruby says. “Aunt Stella’s sleeping. And there’s nothing to do.”
I tap my chin. I’m trying hard to think. But when I gaze up at the food court skylight, I’m mesmerized by the elephantcolored clouds galloping past. Ruby taps her foot impatiently.
“I know! I’ll tell you a story,” she says. “A real live true one.”
“Good idea,” I say. “What’s it about?”
“It’s about me.” Ruby lowers her voice. “It’s about me and how I fell into a hole. A big hole. Humans dug it.”
Bob pricks his ears and joins me by the window. “I always enjoy a good digging story,” he says.
“It was a big hole full of water near a village,” Ruby says. “I don’t know why humans made it.”
“Sometimes you just need to dig for the sake of digging,” Bob reflects.
“We were looking for food,” Ruby says, “my family and I. But I wandered off and got lost and went too close to the village.”
Ruby looks at me, eyes wide. “I was so scared when I fell into that hole.”
“Of course you were,” I say. “I would have been scared too.”
“Me too,” Bob admits. “And I like holes.”
“The hole was huge.” Ruby pokes her trunk between the bars and makes a circle in the air. (describing the size of the hole)
“And guess what?” She doesn’t wait for an answer. “The water was all the way up to my neck and I was sure I was going to
die.” I shudder.
“What happened then?” I ask.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Bob says darkly. “They captured her and put her in a box and shipped her off and here she is.
Just like they did with Stella.”
He pauses to scratch an ear. “Humans. Rats have bigger hearts. Roaches have kinder souls. Flies have—”
“No, Bob!” Ruby interrupts. “You’re wrong. These humans helped me. When they saw I was trapped, they grabbed ropes
and they made loops around my neck and my tummy. The whole entire village helped, even little kids and grandmas
and grandpas, and they all pulled and pulled and…” Ruby stops.
Her lashes are wet, and I know she must be remembering all the terrible feelings from that day. “… and they saved me,”
she finishes in a whisper.
Bob blinks. “They saved you?” he repeats.
“When I was finally out, everyone cheered,” Ruby says. “And the children fed me fruit. And then all those humans led me
back to my family. It took the whole day to find them.”
“No way,” Bob says, still doubtful. “It’s true,” Ruby says. “Every word.” “Of course it’s true,” I say.
“I’ve heard rescue stories like that before.” It’s Stella’s voice. She sounds weary. Slowly she makes her way over to Ruby.
“Humans can surprise you sometimes. An unpredictable species, Homo sapiens.” Bob still looks unconvinced.
“But Ruby’s here now,” he points out. “If humans are so swell, who did that to her?” I send Bob a grumpy look. Sometimes
he doesn’t know when to keep quiet.
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