January 26-February 1

Creative Writing

Monday:
Finish peer editing picture stories
Submit revised story
Read together
Anton Chekhov's short story, "Difficult People"
Complete exercise to show recognition of
plot, character development, dialogue, and tone.

Tuesday:
Begin Tiny Short Story exercise

Thursday:
Peer edit short story
Revise and submit

Friday:
Hero's Journey
by Bonnie Becker
In groups, outline the
Hero's Journey of a favorite movie

Creative Writing  January 19-23

Monday/Tuesday
No class 


Thursday
Grammatical Nominalization
Do exercise to 'tighten' writing

Friday
Model Peer editing on Google Docs
Peer edit picture stories

Creative Writing January 14-18

Creative Writing  January 14-18

Monday
No class - Course Fairs

Tuesday

Last few 2-Voice Poem presentations

Make sure your poem is in your notebook and send to me on google docs.

Complete correcting run-on's exerciseFinish story from picture prompt on pinterest
http://pinterest.com/reallyrachel/quality-pictures-as-writing-prompts/
Proof read especially for fragments and run-ons

Thursday
Peer edit stories paying particular attention to sentence structure.
Begin "Working Over Language," Recognizing cliches.

Friday

Modifying Cliches:
In small groups, mix and match key parts of several different cliches and try to come up with expressions that sound like cliches but are, in fact, new.
Examples:
as old as the hills
as a crow flies
proud as a peacock

Modify to:
as old as the crow that flies over the hill

proud as the old crow near the hill


Read the handout example of a poem that has modified cliches and create a story or poem that 'literalizes' engages, or challenges the truth expressed in a cliche.

An example of 'literalizing' a cliche from Everyday Creative Writing by Michael C. Smith and Suzanne Greenberg is:
"Yesterday, my dad kicked the bucket. He kicked it down the stairs. He kicked it into the yard. He was so angry, he kicked in into Mr. Simmon's ornamental cabbage garden."  p. 133

Share writing prompt

Creative Writing January 21-25

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

No class

Thursday

Final peer editing of picture writing prompt stories paying particular attention to sentence structure.

Final revisions. Pinterest writing piece due Friday.

Friday

Submit final stories for editing.

Put Your Flabby Writing on a Diet

Divide into 4 groups and based on the hand-out, take turns giving examples of the following kind of wordiness that writers should avoid:

Reduncy, Empty modifiers, Point of View Flab, Wordy Verb Phrases

Do the Your Turn on 'Grammatical Nominalization' 

Creative Writing 2nd Semester 2013 Syllabus

Course Description:

This one-semester course will explore the elements of good writing through the Six Trait Assessment Model. (See below for text.)  The six traits we will refer to are:  ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.  We will learn to distinguish between different genre’s including, non-fiction: personal essay, memoir, historical fiction, science fiction, fiction, short story, plays, and poetry. Elements to be studied include: characterization, dialogue, premise, viewpoint, hero's journey, pacing, plot, and poetic forms. Attention to basic conventions; i.e. grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. will be inherent in all writing. Specific readings (handouts by me) will be used for modeling and analysis.
Sharing and Peer Editing: 
Although writing can be therapeutic, that is not the purpose of this class. Our purpose is to learn how to write as effectively as possible with a specific audience in mind. Most good writers work in critique groups where they share their work and benefit from the group's suggestions. Each assignment will be shared with a 'writing buddy'. Peer editing will be a valuable component of the writing process.  Good writing takes time and requires many revisions. Extra points will be given for each piece of writing that has been revised and shared either in a small group or with the class. Final work will be submitted and shared as Google Docs. Instructions will be given.

Schedule: 
January: Review 6 Trait Writing Skill through writing prompts

February/March: Learn to recognize the elements of writing in short assignments, including characterization, dialogue, premise, viewpoint, pacing, hero's journey, plot, and poetic forms, as they relate to student’s individual projects and various genres. Identify and write in a few of the common genres in the creative writing venue: Essays, historical fiction, science fiction, memoir, fiction, plays, poetry. Appropriate readings will be provided.

April: Poetry. Students will write a minimum of three poems using specific poetic forms such as Folk Ballad, Epigraph, Apostrophe poem, Limerick, Sonnet, Sestina
May: Documentary using i-movie. Scripts will be developed and presented to class.
Final Portfolios assembled for printing, binding, and sharing.

Materials to Bring to Class:

Bring daily:

• 3-ring binder with dividers: Current Work; Vocabulary; Graded Work; Procedures
• journal: a composition book or dedicated spiral notebook
• planner
• notebook paper
• pens—blue or black ink only
• texts/handouts as assigned

We will write in our journals regularly to a variety of prompts that will inspire us to utilize the writing elements studied. The guidelines for journaling include filling the time, filling the page, and writing beyond the point where we think we have nothing left to say. Please note above under 'sharing and peer-editing' for final work.

Proper Format for Papers:

We will use MLA (Modern Language Association) format for headings, essays and documentation of research sources. Completed work must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font and double spaced. All work will be shared through Google docs.

Heading—in upper left-hand corner of the paper:

            Student’s first and last name

            Instructor’s name: Ms. Boochever

            Class name: Honors/American Literature

            Date: 

In-Class/Out-of-Class Assigned Work: Most of the writing will be done in-class, however; some will be assigned to be done outside of class. It is extremely important that you keep up with the assignments. We have a limited amount of time to cover a lot of material. We can't possibly do it all in-class. If you get behind, it will be difficult to catch up. STAY ON TOP OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS, and engage in the class discussions, and your reward will be a fun and interesting class AND a good grade.

Alaska State Standards

English/Language Arts

This course will be taught to district standards which are available for review using the Juneau School District website under the District Information: Core Content Standards menu item: http://www.jsd.k12.ak.us

Assessment:

Peer editing will be utilized along with one-on-one-conferencing with instructor. Students will create a ‘blog’ that will serve as a sharing venue. Please note that grades are cumulative throughout the semester, per Juneau School District Board of Education Policy (#5420R).

For grading purposes, assessments will be based on the 6-Traits Writing Rubric with corresponding points assigned to each trait.

A = 90%-100%

B = 80% - 89%

C = 70% - 79%

B = 80% - 89%

C = 70% - 79%

D = 60% - 69%

F = 0% - 59%

“INC” = Incomplete

Assignment categories are weighted: Every assignment serves a significant and specific purpose. While the point value of a homework assignment or activity may seem negligible, the practice is essential to develop skills.

40% - Unit assessments, including final writing projects, essays, writing process activities.

35% - Homework, in-class skills practice and revisions

25% - Participation, notes, presentations and cooperative learning activities (peer editing).