Creative+Writing

Plans for Creative Writing:(Bliske +? New staff member) SourceURL:file://localhost/Volumes/HomeDir/Users/CBLISKE/Documents/Creative%20syllabus.doc We will do some or all of the following: Activities: Family Fued idea

 1)short stories 2) Reporting news Picture descriptions

 3)student bio or captions

 4)play(s)

 5)epilogues art reviews modernize a folktale into SBob/ Ph&Fb

 6)comics diary entries

 7) song/movie/book review 8) Children’s picture book 9) Ballad or sonnet 10) Expose’ xtranormal story 11) Letter writing 12) Still Life description 13) your choice

Imagine a selection of sentences written by your 6th-8th graders as part of a short (two paragraph) creative writing assignment entitled "Still Life: **An Old Work Shoe":** •"...A slothful bootlace curls, loops and winds dronishly through the rusty, metal holes, creating a clustered, knotted look..." •"...Its worn, brass eyelets rusting, the dreary shoe tugs toothlessly at a besmirched, spurious lace..." •"...Descending and submerging, a criss-cross patterned sole sinks into the damp, boggy soil..." •"...A seam, ravelling and slipping, arches around the worn and dusty surface...a mucky, sweat-blemished shoe tongue cowers between two mountains of uplifting leather..." •"...A silver, dulled hook, its metal oxidizing, holds out its ends to clasp on to ancient, threadbare laces..." These sentences were crafted by my own regular Middle School students (grades 6-8) who were half-way through a 9-36 week curriculum that developed voice and fluency at the same time that it developed sentence construction skills. As "regular" (not HONORS) students, they were as reluctant to write and as under-skilled as the majority of our public school students are nowadays. Sentences like these are emblematic of a dramatically heightened student awareness of the precision and descriptive power of language. And this awareness and skill can be developed in ALL your students; even those who come to class with the most elementary writing skills. Using the same step-by-step, mastery learning approach that I have used with over 5,000 students, teachers guide their middle school classes through a seamless series of concrete, easily teachable lessons that lead to sentence construction proficiency. No textbooks are required; no handouts are distributed. Regardless of background or preparation, middle school teachers now have the opportunity to guide students beyond the limited entry level language patterns that they brought with them when they entered the classroom. I invite all teachers of writing--whether novices or experts--to join me on this instructional journey.

**Start of 9 weeks:** **Exploration of the different writing genres** **Each student team will be asked to find and rave about the qualities of the writing sample they have found. Because writing quality is subjective, we will try to use the sharing of the found samples as a guide for the writing we will do as the quarter progresses.**

**The raves reviews will be shared on Google docs to the entire class.**

**For an “A” Each student will asked to review 7 different samples of writing. Then they will PLAN 7 pieces of writing to complete over the course of the class. They will need to submit 3 finished pieces for each month’s newsletter (6 total) and 2 student bios for an end of the year compilation.**

**For an “B” Each student will asked to review 7 different samples of writing. Then they will PLAN 7 pieces of writing to complete over the course of the class. They will need to submit 2 finished pieces for each month’s newsletter (4 total) and 2 student bios for an end of the year compilation.**

**For an “C” Each student will asked to review 7 different samples of writing. Then they will PLAN 7 pieces of writing to complete over the course of the class. They will need to submit at least 1 finished pieces for each month’s newsletter (3 total) and 2 student bios for an end of the year compilation.**

**For an “D” Each student will asked to review 7 different samples of writing. Then they will PLAN 7 pieces of writing to complete over the course of the class. They will need to submit 1 finished pieces for each month’s newsletter (2 total) and 2 student bios for an end of the year compilation.**

Classes need to feel fun, so the period should kick off with an activity that draws attention to the fun of writing or oral language.

Creative Captions for pictures or comics

Mind reading games like Match Game

Questions only improv games

What are you doing improv
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