The teacher of elementary level gifted students discusses successful creative writing activities. Among the reasons for students to learn writing early in the educational program are that written expression complements oral communication, heightens awareness of ordinary experiences, and helps students become more appreciative of language. Activities found to be successful with first graders include creating stories and sentences based on a frame sentence provided by the teacher and telling stories as a group activity and then writing down each child's contribution on a large chart paper. Other activities are creative drama, brainstorming, playing with words, investigating word meanings, and analyzing song lyrics. Guidelines for an activity titled "What Can You Do with a Shoe?" (which involves brainstorming) are included. (SW)