Creating Written Stories for Primary School Students Based on Personalized Mnemonics: The Case of One Lithuanian School

Abstract

Today, literacy is defined much more broadly, i.e., as the enabling ability to recognize, understand, interpret, create, and use various written materials in different contexts. Creative writing skills are developed in primary school, but it is difficult for students to express their thoughts in writing. This article presents how personalized creative writing prompts can help primary school students with different abilities improve their Lithuanian & General P narrative writing skills. Third-grade students (N = 14) from a private school in a large city participated in the study. An action research approach was applied, preceded by a diagnostic assessment of students’ creative writing skills, during which the essays were written without the aid of prompts. The experiences of each student were also described, as the children composed written narratives using prompts. After analysing the students’ work, progress was noted in all areas of text creation: from the use of vivid language elements in writing, the use of connecting words in sentences, to corrected spelling and punctuation errors.

1. Introduction

In today’s society, it is crucial to foster students’ creativity, imagination, and critical thinking, as they must make informed decisions in evolving situations. In education, creativity is recognized as a core competency. It requires engaging in the exploration, generation, creation, and evaluation of ideas, products, and solutions that have personal and social relevance, while sustaining a balanced relationship with oneself and the environment (Lietuvos bendrosios programos [Lithuanian framework programmes], 2022). Considerable attention is devoted to the development of creative abilities in Lithuanian language lessons, particularly in the context of teaching text composition. Creative writing is conceptualized as the capacity of students to employ their imagination in producing original and engaging texts. Simultaneously, these activities foster students’ academic literacy and additional competencies, encompassing cognitive, learning-to-learn, and cultural dimensions (Bal & Şahin, 2021). Contemporary definitions of literacy are notably broader, encompassing the capacity to recognize, comprehend, interpret, generate, and utilize diverse written materials across various contexts. Moreover, language variants are assessed not solely from a normative standpoint but also through a scientific lens. Literacy is thus regarded as both a learning process and an individualized developmental trajectory, marked by considerable variability (Vaicekauskienė et al., 2022). Empirical findings indicate that, at the initial stages of systematic instruction in written expression, students predominantly draw upon their pre-existing oral language resources. Nevertheless, limited spoken language vocabulary among children is likely to result in even more constrained written output. Accordingly, the implementation of personalized reference materials is essential for cultivating creative writing skills in early education. In this study, mnemonics that help with creative writing are defined as mnemonics for narrative structure, spelling and punctuation, choosing vivid sentence openings and appropriate words in a sentence, and using proverbs according to theme.

There is a lack of research on first language education (in our case, Lithuanian as a first language) that would show the benefits of personalized cheat sheets in the field of creative writing when children use them as a guide for their creative work. This work involves researching, observing, and analyzing students’ work, examining and comparing how the content of students’ creative writing changes when they use teacher-created, visually clear, and personally tailored cheat sheets to help develop their writing skills. In the early grades, students face challenges when completing creative writing assignments because they are just beginning to learn how to write. The integration of mnemonic devices into the educational process has the potential to support students, but a significant number of teachers are unfamiliar with the benefits of such mnemonics in creative writing because there is a lack of high-quality tools and training that allow teachers to try out and create such tools in practice.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. The Concept of Developing Creative Writing Skills in Primary School Pupils

Each student’s experience is unique, so learning a new subject is linked to existing knowledge (Liu et al., 2023; Ulu, 2019). For this reason, creative writing is a thought process in which the creator conveys an idea in writing based on their experience and tries to engage the reader, and such activity requires considerable intellectual ability and effort on the part of the child (Barton et al., 2024), when abilities are linked to a specific environment (Willemsen et al., 2020). In addition, creative writing can help students learn correct spelling and even facilitate language learning by increasing children’s motivation and engagement in the activity (Vicol et al., 2024). When teaching creative writing skills, it is necessary to select and apply appropriate strategies (Saylik, 2014). A smooth and effective educational process depends on the teacher’s original ideas, which are focused on the smooth and high-quality organization of the educational process (Širiakovienė et al., 2016). Putnam (2015), Bal and Şahin (2021), and Mróz and Ocetkiewicz (2021) take a broader view, pointing out that creative writing strengthens students’ cognitive and communication skills, provides opportunities to take on different roles, and develops not only literacy but also emotional intelligence and the ability to express thoughts in words. It is worth noting that there is a positive correlation between creativity and academic achievement (Razgatlioglu & Ulusoy, 2022; Willemsen et al., 2020). According to a study by Ulu (2019), primary school students are able to construct simple sentences, but their vocabulary is limited, especially among children who do not read or read very few books, making it difficult for them to reveal the purpose and theme of a text.

A person’s unique thinking, distinctive expression of ideas, and intellectual foundation are very important for creative writing (Demïrbaş & Şahïn, 2023). Creativity is defined as a process of exploration, thinking, and imagination based on critical thinking (Al Mukhallafi, 2022; Mróz & Ocetkiewicz, 2021). Tong (2024) emphasizes creativity, which encompasses seven principles of thinking: questioning, playfulness, engagement, resourcefulness, risk-taking, imagination, and determination. Therefore, it is important to develop these components in the educational process based on creative writing activities.

Creative writing is aided by content organization based on the use of various visual aids when creating a text creation plan (Al Mukhallafi, 2022; Mróz & Ocetkiewicz, 2021). Thus, writing a text requires first generating ideas and then writing down the thoughts in correct language. In addition, the narrative must be logical, understandable, and compelling so that the reader wants to read it. Based on this, Vicol et al. (2024) analyze creative writing as a way to help students develop writing skills and increase their motivation to learn languages. Furthermore, creative writing is not about expressing correct ideas and conveying facts and knowledge, but rather about freely and originally expressing the thoughts that lie in a person’s imagination (Barton et al., 2024; Göçen, 2019). In this way, writing skills are related to the overall development of a student’s linguistic literacy (see Figure 1).

The goal of text creation tasks is to enable students to write fluent, interesting, original, and creative texts (Göçen, 2019). In Lithuania, primary school students learn to write stories, descriptions, retellings, explanations, letters, and various informational texts (messages, invitations, announcements). The text should correspond to the topic or answer at least five key questions provided in the task (Lietuvos bendrosios programos [Lithuanian framework programmes], 2022). Thoughts should be linked by logical, coherent sentences, and students learn to use various aids, write coherent sentences, and express their thoughts using figurative expressions (

Table 1. The abilities of 3rd and 4th grade students in creating a written story (Lietuvos bendrosios programos [Lithuanian framework programmes], 2022).

Levels Area of Achievement	Threshold	Satisfactory	Basic	Higher
Ability to create a narrative in writing	Writes at least one part of the text according to the requirements of the task, the text is short, and the topic is often not developed. Uses simple, limited vocabulary; sentences may be incoherent or incomplete. Makes 10–12 mistakes from cases that have already been taught.	Creates a text or at least one part of it that meets the requirements of the task. Creates a title for the text that corresponds to the topic, but the topic is not developed. There may be leaps in thought, simple vocabulary and phrases are used, there are no sentence boundaries, and they are incoherent. Makes 6–9 mistakes from the cases they learned.	Creates text according to the structure of the narrative: beginning of the event, development of the event, end of the event. Creates text that corresponds to the topic. Presents events concisely and coherently, but there may be some shortcomings. Sentences and paragraphs are connected; the text is coherent. Various types of sentences are used, the vocabulary is more complex and richer, but there may be some repetitions. 3–5 errors from the cases studied.	The narrative is relevant to the topic and coherent. The text is consistent and logical, with dialogue inserted where appropriate. Sentences are well-developed and use figurative language. There may be 1–3 random spelling or punctuation errors.

Students in grades 3–4 must be able to create a logical, coherent narrative. Spelling and punctuation are very important in every text, but it is important to emphasize that students are only assessed on the spelling of the part of the content they have learned. One more complex skill that emerges in grades 3–4 is the creation of dialogue, its insertion into the appropriate part of the narrative, and the correct punctuation of direct speech.

).

2.2. Methods of Support for Developing Creative Writing Skills in Primary School Students

Various methods can be used to develop creative writing skills, but it is important to take into account the context of the specific class, as each student has achieved a different level of writing and has different experiences in expressing their thoughts in writing (Vicol et al., 2024). Therefore, support measures should be individualized and tailored to the needs of each student. The methods most commonly used in educational practice are mind maps, the creation of a clear and detailed plan, and the compilation of descriptions of the tools needed for creative writing (metaphors, examples of dialogue punctuation, words suitable for the beginning of a sentence, etc.) (Vicol et al., 2024). Developing creative writing skills in primary school students is a complex process that requires consistent work, student engagement, and motivation (Bukantienė et al., 2013).

The role of the teacher is very important in teaching primary school pupils to create written texts (Bukantienė et al., 2013; Vicol et al., 2024; Ulu, 2019). Every creative writing activity requires consistent and clear instructions, and the teacher should actively participate in these activities, provide feedback, create an appropriate and engaging context for new experiences, and encourage the development of this skill both in and outside of school (Bukantienė et al., 2013; Vicol et al., 2024; Ulu, 2019). Allocating additional time and providing positive feedback has a significant impact on the development and improvement in creative writing skills in primary school students (Bukantienė et al., 2013; Vicol et al., 2024; Ulu, 2019). Students should also be involved in the learning process by strengthening their strengths and assigning them various roles and responsibilities in areas where they excel: spelling rules, text structure, stylistics, and topic development (appropriate keywords for topic development) and other aspects, depending on the type of text being created, and they must also be given the opportunity to consult with each other throughout the text creation process (Ulu, 2019).

Extra time is one way to help students improve their creative writing skills. For example, time can be allocated during the preparation stage before the writing task, when the student thinks in advance and can write down their thoughts about what and how they would like to write (Bukantienė et al., 2013). In the following stage, after the initial draft is completed, the child can read their work to a classmate, teacher, or someone close. With their feedback, the student can then refine the essay. In addition to these approaches, another effective way to develop creative writing skills is to write a diary. This method encourages students not only to explore their thoughts but also to generate ideas, allowing them to freely and unrestrictedly apply and express their acquired knowledge in a safe environment. By writing a diary and reflecting on completed tasks, students can gain a deeper understanding of the learning material and deepen their knowledge (Acquisti et al., 2020; Berezan et al., 2023). Before incorporating this technique into the learning process, it is important to familiarize students with the instructions for using the tool. Finally, such activities can be encouraged not only by writing by hand, but also by filling out blogs on certain collaboration platforms (Alied et al., 2022). When applying the blog writing methodology, consider several key elements: the frequency of posts, the length of posts, and, most importantly, focusing attention on creative ideas, thoughts, and sharing experiences. Avoid focusing on technical matters, such as structure or academic style. By describing their experiences, feelings, and thoughts, students develop creativity. They also notice challenges, both academic and social. With teacher support, they can create a favorable learning environment and establish models to help avoid writing failures and increase motivation (Han, 2023; Ramadhanti, 2024). Students may practice journaling for periods ranging from two weeks to two months, depending on agreement and learning stages. Content development can involve selecting questions from a recommended list and answering them (Arni & Aziz, 2024). Another method is creating a dialogue with a friend in diary form. The text can be supplemented with illustrations or videos about the writing activity (Mathew et al., 2024). In the early years, it is recommended that diary writing activities be modified based on students’ abilities and experience. It is essential to foster positive early experiences, as negative ones can negatively impact a child’s self-esteem and writing development (Mathew et al., 2024). Journal writing activities help to view text creation activities from a different perspective, demonstrating that they can be an enjoyable activity (Arni & Aziz, 2024). Ramadhanti (2024) presents blog writing as an activity following text creation tasks, during which students answer questions related to their experiences and efforts. The use of this tool helps students not only to understand what helped them achieve their goal, but also to evaluate their thinking skills and efforts in completing the tasks.

In conclusion, it can be stated that writing diaries enhances students’ writing and thinking skills, boosts motivation and self-confidence when completing creative writing tasks, and fosters student–teacher collaboration, allowing teachers to form deeper connections with their students (Huang & Renandya, 2018). Writing in a diary and practicing writing texts on a daily basis increases creativity, improves creative writing results, facilitates adherence to structure (beginning, development, and conclusion), and helps students understand that to be a good writer, it is essential to be an attentive reader who reads and evaluates their own writing.

2.3. The Help and Benefits of Writing Mnemonics

Mnemonics provide students with freedom and independence, and their use improves students’ creative writing results, increasing their engagement and motivation when completing writing tasks (Assemakis, 2023). Creative writing skills can be developed using cheat sheets, which not only facilitate the teaching (and learning) process but also make it more playful and interesting. Mnemonics are also used to support students’ memory, as they present the content of the activity in an organized manner, following certain strategies that help recall existing information and acquire new information (Akinsola & Odeyemi, 2014).

Mnemonics can be employed in various ways when performing text creation tasks. They can help students with different abilities because they are easily differentiated. Mnemonics should be simple, clear, and contain specific information; they can be supplemented with colourful details that allow certain information to be noticed and remembered more quickly and effectively (Cioca & Nerișanu, 2020). There are several examples of mnemonics that can be widely applied in developing students’ creative writing skills (Jamik & Soeharno, 2020).

• Acrostic mnemonic—a specific word is used, in this case, it may be related to the type or theme of the text, where each letter represents a piece of important information that needs to be used when creating the story (the most important parts of the story, key words describing the characters).
• Keyword mnemonic—words with similar sounds and meanings are provided.
• Locus mnemonic—names of various places associated with children’s experiences are provided.
• Bland (2023) also identifies and highlights other aspects that could be used to create mnemonics for text creation tasks.
• Stylistic cohesion—various conjunctions, sentence starters, and other phrases that allow logical sentences to be combined into a coherent text.
• Characterization—various elements that help to create a vivid, attention-grabbing character.

When primary school pupils struggle to organize their thoughts and generate creative ideas, templates prepared by the teacher can be very helpful. These templates relate to the type of text and the technique that pupils will use, as they indicate what to write and how to write it, allowing students to summarise all their thoughts and discover the connections between them (Razgatlioglu & Ulusoy, 2022). Mnemonics can be easily adapted to students with different learning styles. During text creation activities, students should be provided with appropriate conditions that allow them to make decisions about vocabulary and text structure, but not all students are able to do this independently and using their imagination, Therefore, it is important to provide support tools from which children can choose words and writing strategies, thus enabling them to express their experiences, ideas, and feelings (Hsieh, 2024). Mnemonics can be created using word banks on various topics, allowing students to enhance their writing and expand their vocabulary. Word banks are lists of specific words or phrases related to a particular topic. It is useful to provide students with word banks containing synonyms, as these help to highlight the main idea of the text, attract the reader’s attention, and, at the same time, enable students to expand their vocabulary (Bland, 2023).

Digital technologies can help create modern mnemonics that aid in developing students’ creative writing skills (Demïrbaş & Şahïn, 2023; Göçen, 2019). One of the most popular digital methods is digital storytelling, as it is similar to the texts that students encounter every day when using social networks and watching television (Uslu & Uslu, 2021). The growing interest in digital stories shows that the elements they contain (sound, movement, image) activate students’ imagination by engaging all five senses. In addition, the creation of digital stories has a positive impact on students’ performance in text creation tasks (Demïrbaş & Şahïn, 2023). The students’ work showed original scenarios and increased motivation. Many children feel not only safer but also freer when creating stories in virtual spaces, and this learning process develops a range of other skills, such as information search, problem-solving, independence, and organization (Uslu & Uslu, 2021). Irwin (2020) takes a broader view, highlighting the CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure) story model, which helps students engage in activities because they themselves choose the appearance of the character, the plot, and the possible endings by applying different illustrations to each scenario. Uslu and Uslu’s (2021) study revealed that digital stories can be beneficial for students of varying abilities, as they willingly collaborate with one another, help solve problems that arise, and become more engaged in the learning process. Digital stories not only stimulate students’ imagination, but also help them reconnect with what they have already learned and improve their memory. By integrating sound, illustrations, or other digital tools, students with lower language skills not only improve their storytelling but also gain freedom and independence through experimentation (Alkhaldi, 2023; Uslu & Uslu, 2021). Students can apply elements from the stories they have read to their own narratives, making them feel more confident when creating their own texts. Various apps, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, can enhance both creative and academic writing skills if teachers provide positive feedback and clear instructions for their use (Alkhaldi, 2023). In a study conducted by Alkhaldi (2023), students who utilized various tools were able to enhance the structure of their sentences and texts, incorporating more vivid phrases and words. Digital learning tools are an inevitable part of education and can have a positive impact on students’ creative writing skills.

3. Developing Creative Writing Skills in Primary School Pupils Using Mnemonics: Empirical Research Methodology

Presentation of the research method.

• Qualitative research paradigm. Bryda and Costa (2023) argue that the variety of contemporary qualitative data analysis methods is very large, involving the analysis of interviews, texts, and visual material. In our study, an activity study was conducted several times in the same class, during which students wrote creative works using personalized mnemonics. The creation and application of personalized mnemonics in the educational process corresponds to the elements of developing transformative practical experience (Fantinelli et al., 2024). In the empirical part of the study, we present an analysis of creative writing works at different stages according to the cheat sheets used and certain words used in them. This study does not claim to cover the entire sample, but it reveals educational practices and shows certain details that are directly related to helping specific students and how that help can change specific student work (in this case, creative writing) and contribute to the growth of a student’s personal achievements in the field of creative writing. A qualitative thematic analysis of the content (Fantinelli et al., 2024; Mack et al., 2005; Saldana, 2010) of creative writing assignments was carried out, analysing and grouping the results of each student according to the personalized mnemonics.

Action research. Empirical research data were collected through qualitative action research and subsequent reflection on the data collected during the research (Carignan et al., 2016; Eden & Ackermann, 2018). This action research was conducted by the researcher (who is also a classroom teacher). The aim of the study was to enhance and improve the teaching and learning experiences of students, specifically in the context of text creation activities and skills, where children can utilize personalized mnemonics. It is important to note that both the researcher and the research participants are actively involved in the action research. All of them try out new experiences in practice by creating text using the developed aids, in our case, cheat sheets. The data are collected by the researcher himself, who participates in the activities, observes the students’ work, analyzes their previous work, and conducts semi-structured interviews.

Research questions.

• What are the benefits of using mnemonic devices to develop the storytelling skills of primary school students?
• What should be taken into account when preparing personalized mnemonics for developing the creative writing skills of primary school students?
• How much do spelling mnemonic devices help children reduce spelling errors when writing a story, compared to traditional teaching methods?

The objective of the study—to analyse the creative works of third-grade pupils (aged 9) prepared based on personalised mnemonics.

Research objectives:

• to theoretically substantiate the concept of developing creative writing skills with the help of aids;
• to examine the experience of developing the writing skills of third-grade students when using cheat sheets;
• to compare students’ creative writing skills and identify changes when writing without and with the use of cheat sheets.

Study participants. The sample of study participants is criterion-based (Patton, 2002; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Hesse-Biber, 2017). This approach was used to ensure that students selected could complete the tasks, propose new ideas, and effectively utilize the developed aid. Specifically, participants were chosen based on eligibility criteria prepared by the researcher:

• 3rd-grade students with higher creative writing skills in the Lithuanian language;
• 3rd-grade students with basic creative writing skills in Lithuanian;
• 3rd-grade students with satisfactory creative writing skills in Lithuanian;

The fourth group consisted of 3rd-grade students with special educational needs, who were included to assess the effectiveness of the aid for learners requiring tailored support. The work of these children is classified as threshold level. The children have arrived in Lithuania and are currently still learning the Lithuanian language, so they cannot express their thoughts as they would like to. In such cases, children in Lithuania are classified as having difficulties, but these are temporary and can be resolved.

Fourteen third-grade students were purposefully selected based on their academic abilities and competencies (Patton, 2002; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Hesse-Biber, 2017). Participants selected in this manner enable the collection of high-quality research data (Rupšienė, 2007). Based on the analysis of the participants’ previous work, support tools (personalized cheat sheets) were created to help improve the students’ writing skills.

Class context. Fourteen third-grade students (aged 8–9) from a private school in Lithuania’s largest city participated in the study. The children often learn in various urban spaces, travel to educational and cultural events, and participate in a weekly book club in class, so they have accumulated a lot of experience that can help them successfully complete creative writing tasks, as their vocabulary is constantly expanding through the use of new concepts and the development of literary language. Students have one lesson per week, during which they learn to write various types of texts. Most students have a positive attitude towards text creation tasks; they have no shortage of creative ideas and are able to independently apply the knowledge they have acquired. However, a few students face significant challenges when performing these tasks. They feel uncomfortable and anxious because they are often unable to express their thoughts fluently. Some students struggle to generate ideas for writing (lack of ideas) and to construct coherent sentences, while others lack the ability to apply spelling rules accurately, resulting in errors (Šarūnaitė, 2025).

When it comes to students’ creative writing skills before using personalized cheat sheets, we would like to present the situation in a little more detail. It has been observed that most students are familiar with the structure of a narrative and can distinguish between the introduction, body, and conclusion, as well as create a title that corresponds to the text’s theme. Students are able to independently apply many spelling rules; however, they lack the ability and skills to correctly write the genitive case of nouns, the present tense endings of verbs, proper nouns, and memorable spelling words. Additionally, there are punctuation errors in their work. The texts are rich in noun and verb synonyms and antonyms, but adjectives, adverbs, and other elements of figurative language are less common. There is also a lack of variety in connecting words, which would give the narrative coherence. Students still struggle to construct complex sentences. Most of the students’ narratives are short and lack coherence. In addition, some students’ work is not divided into sentences; for example, it is written in paragraphs consisting of a single sentence, lacks logic, and lacks punctuation, conjunctions, or connecting words to separate sentences. Some children in the class write essays of very high quality that meet the criteria for a higher level of assessment. These students usually have higher thinking skills and more cultural experience (Šarūnaitė, 2025).

3.1. A Description of the Research Process

The activity study was carried out in four stages (see Figure 2): planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. These stages not only made it possible to analyze the research problem but also to observe changes in students’ work and obtain detailed results.

Planning phase. The research problem was identified, and research parameters were established. Information from the analyzed literature guided the creation of a detailed research plan—a six-lesson cycle titled “I Create a Story.”

Activity stage. The research plan was implemented, and results were observed and recorded. Photographs documented all activities and tasks to ensure research value (Jakavonytė-Staškuvienė et al., 2025). After analyzing students’ work, a methodological aid (cheat sheet) was prepared to address different abilities and common spelling and punctuation errors.

The data in Figure 2 demonstrates that the activity was executed in a targeted manner. The specific needs of the class and the diverse creative writing abilities of the students were fully addressed. The same principle must be applied when teaching other students. The overall class context divides clearly into three groups: advanced language students, those acquainted with basic text creation rules, and those with weak language skills, limited vocabulary, and significant difficulties in speaking and writing fluently.

Figure 3 shows the stages of the research cycle, how personalized creative writing prompts were presented to students, and integrated into their activities:

Personalized mnemonics help students review and improve their work creatively and academically. These sheets contain key information students already know. This makes it easier for them to adapt the material and use it in their own writing. With this tool, students feel more at ease and less anxious about making mistakes or forgetting what they have learned. Children become more motivated to participate in creative writing tasks. The cheat sheets organize all learning material clearly, emphasizing important points. Each student can use the information according to their abilities and knowledge. The cheat sheets were given to children in Lithuanian. Their content has been translated into English in this article.

Five mnemonics were designed to enhance students’ creative writing works. Two two-story structures prompt the identification of story parts and what to describe in each. One outline offered supporting questions for students with special educational needs and those with basic or satisfactory creative writing skills. The mnemonics helped students maintain coherence, consistency, and clarity (see Figure 4).

Three of the eight mnemonics were prepared based on the most common spelling and punctuation mistakes made by students when performing creative writing tasks (see Figure 5). It is noticeable that most spelling and punctuation mistakes are found in the work of students with lower abilities. These students paid the most attention to working with cheat sheets designed to correct grammatical errors, as their ability to independently notice errors has not yet been developed or is only just developing, and they often need additional tools and the help of a teacher. The mnemonic for memorable spelling was designed to help students notice and correct mistakes in these words. The highlighted letters and syllables draw students’ attention to the complex spelling cases in the provided words. This mnemonic sheet not only helped students correctly separate conjunctions with commas, but also taught them to use conjunctions to connect sentences and create expanded sentences. By observing different types of sentences and their punctuation, students become more confident in crafting various sentences that enliven and convey the emotion of the story to the reader. The purpose of the spelling cheat sheet was to help students notice how certain words and their endings are spelled (see Figure 5).

The mnemonic of different sentence starts helps develop the ability to create coherent, logical sentences without using the same words (see Figure 6). The participants in the study are able to explain the concepts of figurative language elements in their own words and provide examples, but they have not yet developed the skill of independently supplementing texts with them. It is essential to note that students with higher learning abilities can use this memory aid independently (see Figure 6).

The mnemonics in Figure 6 were intended for students with higher creative writing skills who are already able to write texts independently. These mnemonics were designed to help students make their texts more vivid by using literary language words that are lacking in the spoken language of children of this age.

In stories, proverbs help to write a suitable conclusion that reflects what the character has learned by overcoming a challenge or solving a problem they have encountered. The proverbs in the cheat sheet are presented according to the most relevant themes of the stories created by the students (see Figure 7).

We would like to point out that the proverb list in Figure 7 is important for students, as a significant number of children are unfamiliar with proverbs and do not actively use them in their everyday speech. Without the mnemonics, they are unable to select them for specific text content. The list not only enables them to select the appropriate proverb for a specific creative writing assignment, but also gives children the opportunity to enrich their language and use proverbs more often by reading all of them.

Observation stage. Since the author of the study led activities for the students and observed how they fared in creating creative writing pieces using different mnemonics, she recorded moments of their activities by filling out observation protocols while the children were creating. In addition, the students’ work was analyzed after the activities to ensure that the research data was as objective as possible. In addition, after completing creative writing activities, students were asked to answer questions related to the writing activities (

Table 2. Interview questions and their justification.

Questions for Students	Background to the Questions
How did you feel while doing this task?	The aim here is to observe how students feel when creating a text with the help of a supplementary aid, and what thoughts and emotions arise. The aim is to find out how the respondents feel (Rupšienė, 2007).
How did you do with the task? Why?	These questions are intended to encourage participants to reflect on the entire creative process and what they did while performing the tasks (Rupšienė, 2007).
What challenges did you face while writing the text?	The aim of this question is to find out what difficulties students encounter when writing creative works, even when using cheat sheets. The aim is to anticipate changes for future activities and ways to improve the tool. Questions of this type allow for an analysis of the participant’s relationship with the place and environment (Bryman, 2008).
How did the cheat sheet help you while writing the text?	These questions aim to find out what the research participant thinks about the research question, to note the suitability of the tool and its use during creative writing (Rupšienė, 2007). The question helps to stay focused on the research goal and keep it at the centre of the interview (Gaižauskaitė & Valavičienė, 2016).
How could you improve your text if you were to write it again?	The question aims to find out whether students have noticed the help provided by the cheat sheets and would like to include even more elements in their text.

).

Reflection stage. After the educational process, the mnemonics were reviewed and further refined so that students could use them even more smoothly when writing their next creative work.

3.2. Research Ethics

The study was conducted in accordance with the following principles of research ethics: integrity, objectivity, caution, openness, respect, confidentiality, responsibility, legality, and data protection (Aluwihare-Samaranayake, 2012; Žydžiūnaitė, 2018). The participants in the study will be given pseudonyms (other names are mentioned in the paper). The parents of the students were informed about the idea and the course of the study, and agreed to allow their children to participate in the study and for the researchers to analyze their written work. The study was conducted in Lithuanian. All data presented in the study are real, ensuring the principles of academic integrity. The study was approved by the Didactics Research Cluster of Vytautas Magnus University at its meeting in January 2025 at its meeting No. DTK2025-01. The parents of each student who participated in the study were informed about the objectives and procedure of the study and signed a consent form for the analysis of their children’s work and the presentation of data in accordance with ethical principles.

4. Analysis of Empirical Research Results

4.1. Analysis of Diagnostic Research Data

During the diagnostic test, students were given a creative writing assignment. The children had to create/continue a story based on the provided beginning. At the beginning of the activity, the students discussed the structural parts of the story. The students created the story in a free form, without any prompts. The data collected from the stories created by the students was systematized and analyzed in terms of the disclosure of the theme and the coherence of the text, but most attention was paid to the analysis of grammar, punctuation errors, and linguistic richness (use of figurative language elements: synonyms, antonyms, comparisons, diminutives, figurative expressions).

Most of the students’ stories were short and lacked coherence, logic, and punctuation, as well as conjunctions and connecting words to separate sentences. These errors are due to the limited number of creative writing lessons (one lesson per week) and the students’ limited text creation skills. In the third grade, there is one text creation lesson per week, and there are six types of texts that students must learn to create (narrative, description, explanation, retelling, informational text (message, invitation, advertisement), letter). Table 1 shows the results of the stories created by children during the diagnostic study (see

Table 3. Analysis of diagnostic research data.

Research Participants	Elements of Figurative Language	Punctuation Mistakes	Common Grammar Mistakes	Connecting Words
Ugnė	Comparison (triušis buvo pūkuotas, kaip šuo su kailiu [the rabbit was fluffy, like a dog with fur]). There is a lack of synonyms (character names are repeated many times).	No errors were found.	Includes dialogue between characters (Jis pasakė: „Ar tu gali man padėti?” [He said, “Can you help me?”])	Kartą, staiga [Once, suddenly]
Mantas	None.	Separation of conjunctions.	Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case, spelling of adverb endings.	Kartą, tada [Once, then]
Vincentas	None.	Punctuation in direct and interrogative sentences, punctuation of conjunctions.	Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case, capitalization of sentences.	Tada, kartą [Then, once]
Ona	Application of synonyms (vaikų vardai, vaikai, jis, ji, mergaitė, žmonės [children’s names, children, he, she, girl, people])	Separation of conjunctions.	Spelling of the galininkas and kilmininkas cases of nouns.	Kartą, tada, galiausiai [Once, then, finally]
Saulius	None.	Separation of conjunctions.	Spelling at the beginning of a sentence, spelling of the galininkas and kilmininkas cases of nouns, spelling of present tense verb endings.	Kartą [Once]
Monika	None.	Separation of conjunctions, punctuation of exclamatory, interrogative, and direct sentences.	Spelling at the beginning of a sentence, spelling of present tense verb endings.	Kartą, staiga, tada [Once, suddenly, then]
Ugnė	None.	Separation of conjunctions.	No errors were found.	Vėliau, tada [Later, then]
Arnas	None.	Separation of conjunctions.	No errors were found.	Kartą, po dešimties minučių [Once, after ten minutes]
Lukas	Diminutives (spynelė [small locket]). Comparison (Tas kambarys buvo be išėjimo, bet su labai daug knygų kaip bibliotekoje [That room had no exit, but it had a lot of books, like a library]).	No errors were found.	No errors were found.	Kartą, pasirodo [Once, it turns out]
Justas	None.	Separation of conjunctions (bet, nes, o, kad [but, because, oh, that]).	Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case. Spelling of present tense verb endings.	Kartą, pirma, paskui, tada [Once, first, then]
Miglė	None.	Separation of conjunctions (bet [but]).	Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case. Spelling of prefixes (yšokome [yšokome]). Memorable spelling words (negryžo, negryš [did not return, will not return]).	Kartą, tada, paskui [Once, then, afterwards]
Austėja	None.	Separation of conjunctions (kad [that]).	Spelling of adverb endings. Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case.	Kartą [Once]
Ignas	None.	No errors were found.	Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case.	Kartą, tada [Once, then]
Saulė	None.	Separation of conjunctions, punctuation of exclamatory, interrogative, and direct sentences.	Spelling of adverb endings Spelling of noun endings in the Galininkas, Kilmininkas and Vietininkas cases. Spelling of present tense verb endings.	Vieną kartą [One upon a time]

).

Table 3 shows that almost all students in the class are familiar with the structure of a story, can distinguish between the introduction, the main part, and the conclusion, and can write a title for the story. Only a few students encountered challenges: Mantas found it difficult to create the ending of the story, Ignas could not distinguish the introduction from the exposition, and when reading Saulė’s story, it was difficult to understand the text, even though the exposition parts were distinguished, but each part lacked coherence and clarity. During the diagnostic stage, it was noticed that the students lacked the skills to use synonyms for nouns and verbs, the same words were often repeated, and there were errors in punctuation that were already known (before conjunctions such as ‘o’, ‘bet’, ‘kad’, ‘tačiau’, and ‘nes’). Children did not use commas when they should have. Sometimes students forget how to distinguish between exclamatory and interrogative sentences. Figurative language elements (synonyms, comparisons, diminutives, idioms) are very rarely used independently by students, as only 3 students did so. The texts are rich in various nouns and verbs, but adjectives and adverbs are rare. There is also a lack of variety in connecting words that would add coherence to the narrative, as students still struggle to construct complex sentences. Connecting words and sentence beginnings are repetitive (once, then, one time, afterwards). All students included the words once, then, and seven students managed to supplement their stories with more varied phrases.

Students with special educational needs found it difficult to reveal the theme of the story and create a coherent text due to insufficient text writing and creation skills. The work of these students contained many spelling mistakes, including incorrectly written words that answered questions about the genitive, dative, and locative cases of nouns, as well as incorrectly formed present tense verb endings. There is a lack of variety in sentence beginnings and connecting words, as well as a limited vocabulary. These students encounter difficulties when performing various grammar tasks in Lithuanian language lessons and rarely read books. The ability to work independently and perform tasks of this type has not yet been fully developed, but is still in the process of formation, and students often require personal assistance from the teacher. A particularly gifted student did not achieve exceptional results in this task, despite the interesting theme and plot of the story. The text lacked vivid language elements and a more varied and broader vocabulary. He managed to apply his knowledge of the spelling of more complex words (galvodavęs, pamatę, etc.) and punctuation (he distinguished subordinate clauses) very well.

Students with special educational needs found it difficult to reveal the theme of the story and create a coherent text due to insufficient text writing and creation skills. The work of these students contained many spelling mistakes, including incorrectly written words that addressed questions about the genitive, dative, and locative cases of nouns, as well as incorrectly formed present tense verb endings. There is a lack of variety in sentence beginnings and connecting words, as well as a limited vocabulary. These students encounter difficulties when performing various grammar tasks in Lithuanian language lessons and rarely read books. The ability to work independently and perform tasks of this type has not yet been developed. Examining the students’ creative writing skills and identifying their weaknesses, cheat sheets were prepared for students at different learning levels: students with special learning needs (exceptionally gifted and those with learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia, dysgraphia), the majority of students in the class with dominant creative writing skills (average learning abilities—basic level), and students at the higher and threshold/satisfactory levels. Using cheat sheets, students are encouraged to carefully reread their written text several times, try to spot mistakes, and include more varied sentence starters and connecting words. While editing the text, they should reveal the theme and main idea of the story by using proverbs and figurative expressions.

For students who struggle with creative writing, the cheat sheets are individualized, as they require assistance with the structure of the story. The cheat sheets provide sentence starters and references on what and how to write in a particular part of the story. These children also needed additional spelling and punctuation rule prompts that were more detailed and clearer, with word endings highlighted to make it easier to see the correct spelling of word endings. The sentence starters were shortened to a few words.

4.2. Analysis of the Results from the First Stage of the Study, During Which Mnemonics Were Used in Creative Writing Tasks

During the first stage, students created texts based on a given story beginning and then refined them using personalized mnemonics. The main focus was on analyzing the students’ stories based on how they used different mnemonics when writing their stories (see

Table 4. The results of the first stage of the study, when mnemonics are used.

Research Participants	A collection of Figurative Language and/or Proverbs Used	Punctuation Mnemonics Used in the Sentence	Applied Spelling Mnemonics	Applied Sentence Openings Mnemonics
Ugnė	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	+	+	-
Mantas	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	-	-	-
Vincentas	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	Commas were used to delimit the conjunctions.	Sentences began to be written with a capital letter. Corrected the endings of the Galininkas case of the noun. Correct spelling of nasal letters.	Po kelių akimirkų… [A few moments later…]
Ona	Comparison (buvo tamsu lyg į akį durk [it was dark as pitch]), antonyms (pasirodė ne tamsi, o spalvota gėlė [appeared not dark, but colorful flower]), phraseological expression (užmetėme akį, mums širdis į kulnus nusirito [we took a look, our hearts sank]).	Commas were used to delimit the conjunctions.	Corrected the endings of the Galininkas case of the noun.	Staigiai… Vėliau… Netikėtai… [Suddenly… Later… Unexpectedly…]
Saulius	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	Commas were used to delimit the conjunctions.	Sentences written correctly. Corrected the endings of the Galininkas case of the noun.	-
Monika	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	Appropriate punctuation was used to distinguish direct, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences.	Failed to notice and correct spelling and punctuation errors.	-
Ugnė	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	Commas were used to delimit the conjunctions.	+	Vieną kartą… Vėliau… Staiga… Galiausiai… [Once… Later… Suddenly… Finally…]
Arnas	Diminutive (raktelis [small key]).	Commas were used to delimit the conjunctions.	+	-
Lukas	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	+	+	Kitą kartą… Staiga… [Next time… Suddenly…]
Justas	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	Commas were used to delimit the conjunctions.	Spelling of present tense endings of verbs (apsirengėme, atsisveikinome, išsigandome [We got dressed, said goodbye, and got scared]). Corrected the endings of the Galininkas case of the noun.	Staiga… Pirmiausia… Vieną kartą… [Suddenly… First of all… Once…]
Miglė	Proverb (žmogus be draugų yra, kaip medis be šakų [A person without friends is like a tree without branches]).	-	Correctly spelled memorable words and nouns in the Galininkas case.	Vieną kartą… Vėliau… Galiausiai… [Once… Later… Finally…]
Austėja	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	-	Correctly spelled nouns in the Galininkas case.	-
Ignas	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	+	Corrected the endings of the Galininkas case of the noun.	Vieną kartą… Galiausiai… [Once… Finally…]
Saulė	The mnemonic could not be utilized by the participant in a manner consistent with his/her cognitive abilities.	Punctuation mistakes remained uncorrected.	Not all mistakes were noticed and corrected. Only a few cases of spelling errors in the Galininkas case of nouns were corrected.	-

).

The results presented in Table 4 show that essentially all students corrected their work using cheat sheets; some of the children managed to correct all spelling mistakes, while others corrected at least some of the mistakes. We can also see that children with higher-level writing skills made purposeful use of proverbs and figurative expressions (these cheat sheets were intended for children with these skills). In addition, the study showed that after improving their writing skills with the help of personalized cheat sheets, the students’ stories became more coherent and interesting, with a greater use of adjectives and adverbs. Most of the study participants managed to create a more coherent text, revealing the theme and main idea of the story in a more purposeful way. The greatest progress was made in noticing and correcting punctuation and spelling mistakes. The punctuation cheat sheet was already known to the students and used during the educational process. There is a noticeable trend that it is much easier to apply frequently used mnemonics in practical tasks when the student has developed the ability to use the cheat sheet properly. Students with special educational needs required additional assistance in creating written texts using reference guides, as their narratives remained largely unchanged, with only a few simple spelling errors corrected and one or two new conjunctions added. The results show that the mnemonics had a positive effect on the story improvement task.

4.3. Analysis of the Results of the Second Stage of the Study, in Which Mnemonics Were Used During Creative Writing Tasks

After completing the first creative writing improvement activity using mnemonics, the story creation process was repeated. During the second stage, students used mnemonics to create a story on a free topic and refined their work with the aid of these aids. This time, the students were tasked with creating a story on a topic of their choice. The students were given the following criteria for the task:

• story structure;
• revelation of the theme;
• clarity and coherence of the text;
• correct spelling and punctuation.

During this activity, students who had difficulties were given the opportunity to work individually in another, quieter room with a student assistant. They had more time and more supporting questions for each part of the text creation process, and could consult with the teacher if necessary.

The free topic made it easier for students to create a text using mnemonics, as the stories contained a wider variety of sentence beginnings, and students with higher abilities supplemented the text with elements of figurative language (metaphors, similes) (see

Table 5. Results of the second stage of the study, in which mnemonics were used.

Research Participants	A Collection of Figurative Language and/or Proverbs Used	Punctuation Mnemonics Used in the Sentence	Applied Spelling Mnemonics	Applied Sentence Openings Mnemonics
Ugnė	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	+	Spelling of nouns in the Galininkas case (not all cases were successfully corrected).	Po kiek laiko… [After some time…]
Mantas	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	Errors were corrected with the support of the teacher and the use of mnemonics.	Errors were corrected with the support of the teacher and the use of mnemonics.	Vieną pavasario dieną, vėliau, po kurio laiko, tuo metu, netikėtai, galiausiai… [One spring day, later, after some time, at that moment, unexpectedly, finally…]
Vincentas	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	Errors were corrected with the support of the teacher and the use of mnemonics.	Errors were corrected with the support of the teacher and the use of mnemonics.	Vieną niūrų žiemos rytą, vėliau, po kelių akimirkų, po dvidešimt keturių valandų… [One gloomy winter morning, later, after a few moments, after twenty-four hours…]
Ona	Phraseology (idiom) (net širdis į kulnus nusirito, iš laimės širdis spurdėjo [even my heart skipped a beat, my heart was pounding with happiness]).	+	The errors were successfully corrected.	-
Saulius	The participant did not possess this memory aid.		The spelling of the Galininkas case endings of nouns has been corrected.	Seniai, seniai, tada… [Long, long ago, then…]
Monika	Synonym for the word matė—regėjusi [saw—has seen]. Deminutyvai (mergytės [little girls]).	The errors were successfully corrected.	The errors were successfully corrected.	Po kelių minučių… [After a few minutes…]
Ugnė	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	+	+	Buvo vasara, dabar, staiga, po trijų mėnesių… [It was summer, and now, suddenly, after three months…]
Arnas	Proverb (už pinigus negalima nusipirkti draugo [You can’t buy a friend with money]). Comparison (raudonas, kaip burokas, greitas, kaip vėjas, lengvas, kaip plunksna [red as a beet, fast as the wind, light as a feather]). Phraseology (idiom) (širdis į kulnus nusirito, širdis iš džiaugsmo šokinėjo [my heart sank, my heart leapt with joy]).	+	Changed the numerals and wrote them correctly.	Išaušo ilgai laukta diena, tą dieną… [The long-awaited day dawned, that day…]
Lukas	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	+	+	-
Justas	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	The errors were successfully corrected.	+	Kartą, vieną kartą, tada, vieną rudens dieną… [Once, just once, then, one autumn day…]
Kaja	Phraseology (idiom) (širdis iš džiaugsmo šokinėjo [my heart sank, my heart leapt with joy]).	+	+	-
Austėja	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	-	+	-
Ignas	Metaphor (kojos nukrito [legs fell off]).	-	The errors were successfully corrected.	Vieną kartą [Once upon a time]
Saulė	The participant did not possess this memory aid.	Errors were corrected with the support of the teacher and the use of mnemonics.	Errors were corrected with the support of the teacher and the use of mnemonics.	Vieną pavasario dieną, staiga, paskui, tada, vėliau… [One spring day, suddenly, then, later…]

).

The data presented in Table 5 indicate that the students were more successful in implementing this activity, as evidenced by their stories, which featured more varied sentence beginnings and more coherent and interesting texts. Half of the children included more varied sentence openings, connecting words, and used proverbs, metaphors, and comparisons more often. The developed skill of using mnemonics enabled students at a satisfactory level to notice and correct some of their grammatical errors, while basic-level students improved their stories not only grammatically, but also by adding more varied and interesting words and changing certain details, which allowed them to reveal the topic in more detail. The results reveal that cheat sheets allow students to feel freer and more confident in noticing and correcting errors in their own texts. Although spelling errors persisted, six children corrected their mistakes using cheat sheets. The results reveal that integrating additional educational activities and cheat sheets into the educational process is beneficial, as none of the students’ work was worse than during the diagnostic test.

5. Discussion

The results of the study revealed that mnemonics have a positive effect on the development of students’ creative writing skills when they are used to create stories. Smith (2022) argues that improving writing skills with the aid of various tools can enhance other cognitive functions, such as reading skills. An analysis of scientific literature conducted by Matulaitienė (2021) states that metacognition has a positive and beneficial effect on language learning when students learn to use and adapt learning strategies and tools appropriately. By using cheat sheets, students can identify and correct mistakes, as metacognitive tools increase student motivation, enhance learning competence, and enable students to notice and control mistakes independently (Matulaitienė, 2021). When creating texts with the help of cheat sheets, students became more independent in noticing mistakes. Students with learning difficulties in creative writing felt more confident (Mangion & Riebel, 2023). According to Vicol et al. (2024), the assistance and feedback received from the teacher, along with the created aids, encouraged students with different abilities to reflect on the writing process and the texts they had created, leading to the creation of longer and more original texts. The stories created by the students changed, more varied elements of figurative language were used, and the number of grammatical errors decreased when the cheat sheets were used more than once. Similarly, Mathura and Zulu (2021) found in their study that the cheat sheets improved sentence structure, made thoughts more creative and logical, and significantly decreased the number of grammatical errors in the stories created by students when the cheat sheets were individually tailored to the mistakes made and the challenges encountered. The children’s answers to interview questions show that the cheat sheets helped them perform the creative writing task better. Most of the students felt calm, creative, interested, and inspired by their imagination and other circumstances: “As if I were a writer, my story was about the forest, and I know quite a lot about the forests of Kazlų Rūda, so I tried to imagine it,” “I just wrote and tried to imagine how everything would look. I write, but it’s as if I’m not writing, I’m just imagining.”

Mnemonics not only improve learning outcomes by allowing information to be retrieved from long-term memory but also increase student motivation. However, their use should be evaluated critically and responsibly so that students are not deprived of the opportunity to develop independent learning by finding the most convenient learning strategies (Harrison et al., 2021; Izquierdo-Sanchis et al., 2025; Mangion & Riebel, 2023). Various visual aids, such as mnemonics, help banks improve students’ writing skills and reduce the stress and anxiety they feel about their lack of certain knowledge and skills. Chicho and Zrary (2022) note that the use of visual aids in the educational process helps students better understand the task, reduces the stress they feel, allows them to engage in the creative process, and act independently, as the learning environment becomes more comfortable and familiar to them. The material presented on the cards (mnemonics) strengthens the development of students’ cognitive abilities and helps to fill in the gaps from previous activities (Paldy et al., 2025). This idea is confirmed by the data obtained from student interviews during our research. The majority of students said that the cheat sheets provided help that they could have gotten from the teacher, and some were helped by the goal of creating the most interesting story possible for readers: “I did well because I usually don’t find it difficult to come up with different stories and make them unexpected,” “I did well because I looked at the idioms and found a very good one,” “The idioms helped me the most, they helped a lot. I just thought about it and was able to make descriptions that would make it easier for people to understand what I wrote,” “It helped me because I already knew it, but I forgot a little about the conjunctions where I needed to put commas, so I looked at their punctuation and also used the beginning of the sentence for the introduction,” “I would change the beginning and use more interesting words.”

The visually presented, easily understandable, and usable learning material in mnemonics activates cognitive processes, helps to memorize information more effectively, and increases not only engagement but also motivation to achieve better results (Paldy et al., 2025). Kusumawardhani (2020) points out that presenting information in different ways on mnemonics helps students of different levels to independently complete writing tasks, ensuring that they are written grammatically correctly and the content of the text is relevant to the topic. Additionally, the cheat sheets encourage each learner to track their own personal learning progress (Izquierdo-Sanchis et al., 2025; Mangion & Riebel, 2023). It is important that students systematically and authentically develop their writing skills and understand that these skills are essential for their future lives (Lewis, 2024).

6. Conclusions

Creative writing skills encompass various aspects of text creation, including idea generation, plot development, the use of figurative language, expressing thoughts in sentences, and applying correct spelling and punctuation rules. All of these areas are interrelated. Various aids (mind maps, diaries, interactive games) can be used to facilitate text creation activities, but it is very important to take into account the context of the class and to adapt individualized aids, such as different cheat sheets.

The results of the study reveal that students need to develop the skill of using support tools appropriately in order to successfully complete the task and improve the text they have created. The inclusion of mnemonics in the learning process can facilitate students’ independent work, increase their motivation to complete creative writing tasks, and enhance the quality of their existing work. The study noted progress in all areas of text creation (from the use of figurative language elements in writing to corrected spelling and punctuation errors). There was a significant improvement in students’ ability to use a wider range of connecting words and to correct spelling mistakes. In addition, the study focused on developing the text creation skills of students with difficulties. It was noted that these students need individual help from the teacher and personalized cheat sheets with additional information. The children had recently arrived in Lithuania from other countries, so they needed additional help with the Lithuanian language during the study.

After analyzing all the data from the activity study, it can be concluded that students found it easier to write a story on a topic of their own choice because they chose a topic that aligned with their knowledge and experience. The students already knew what they wanted to write about, and the cheat sheets helped them create a coherent and authentic story. The children were able to use elements of figurative language and more varied sentence openings, and made fewer spelling and punctuation mistakes than when writing a text based on a topic provided by the teacher. More frequent use of personalized mnemonics shows that students are acquiring the skill of using additional aids, resulting in an increase in the expression of their work through means such as epithets or the deliberate use of words with figurative meanings.

Limitations of the Study

The data presented in our study comes from students at a private school in a large Lithuanian city who were taught to write creative works based on descriptions of their experiences and context. This is important for the development of evidence-based, innovative learning practices that provide timely, targeted, and personalized learning support in a specific area of educational content. However, the data from this study are insufficient for application to the entire population. To apply the data to the entire student population, a larger sample study covering schools in various locations would be necessary. This would enable the examination of the impact of personalized prompts on creative writing for all students and the identification of the most appropriate prompts for standardization. A detailed description of the study’s context and the presentation of personalized prompts could help other teachers individualize ways of helping students learn to write stories in various languages.