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Advice on being a writer from Stephen King:

 

COURSE OF STUDY:

Students in the Creative Writing elective will have the opportunity to explore various writing styles and genres in this elective course, including non-fiction, fictional narratives, poetry, and drama.  As we work to enhance our skills writing in these various modes, students will:

·          explore unique themes                                                           ·     develop daily writing skills     

·          analyze the development of mood and tone                ·     develop clarity and precision in writing    

·          practice proofreading and revision                                   ·     enhance peer revision skills

·          practice and develop discussion and analysis skills through written and read assignments

·          learn self-motivation for developing writing from an idea into a polished final draft

 

CLASS PROJECTS:

1)       Students will create a writing portfolio of both unfinished pieces and their best work.  Included in the portfolio will be examples of non-fictional essays, short stories, various poetry styles, and dialogue driven pieces.   A few examples of our writing pieces include:

·     short story                     ·     narrative essay                           ·     blank verse poetry                     ·     sonnets                          ·     reviews                         ·     free-writing

2)       Students will keep a “Daybook” of short daily writing pieces.  Students in Creative Writing should plan to write each day.  Keeping a “Daybook” will help you practice your writing skills and generate ideas for pieces that we are working on in class.  You will be periodically asked to share writing from your “Daybook.”

3)       Each week students in the class will pair up and use the first 10 minutes of class to check in with a student “editor.”  Each day the pair will share with each other where they are in their current writing project, share any concerns, and conduct peer revision sessions.  This is your time to bounce new ideas off another person in the room. 

4)       During the class, we will focus a great deal of time on the drafting and revision process.  Each week students will participate in peer response and revision groups.  At this time, students need to bring rough drafts of their current pieces to class to share with three or four other students.  Within the peer response groups, student will be able to get help refining and revising their work for their final copy. 

5)       Each week we will have an all class writing workshop.  The workshop will help students get a great deal of feedback on one particular writing piece.  Two students each week will be assigned to bring in a piece to the workshop.  The week that you are assigned to workshop a piece, you will turn your copy into Ms. Ward the class period before our scheduled workshop.  Copies of your work will be distributed to each class member who will read and review it before our writing workshop.  On workshop days, the author will read the piece to the group, and the class will offer praise and suggestions for the work.  Additionally, the presenting student will then receive back from each student in the class the copy of their work with suggestions and comments written on it.

6)       The final for the class will consist of the student creating a portfolio of polished pieces to be graded.  The student will select any combination of poems, stories, or essays created as a part of the class to turn in for the final grade.  The portfolio will be at least 10 pages.

OUR FOCUS:

Lesson 1 - Your Personality as a Writer: Establishing Voice

Lesson 2 – Where Do Ideas Come From?

Lesson 3 – The Importance of Words: The Revision Process

Lesson 4 – Poetry in all its Forms

Lesson 5 – Easy Essays: This Time Its Personal

Lesson 6 – It’s Story Time: Experimenting with Fiction

Lesson 7 – So Much Drama!

Lesson 8 - Writing for an Audience: Getting Published

Lesson 9 – Putting It All Together

 

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS:

1)      Respect

Students will demonstrate respect for other students and the teacher by using appropriate language, being prepared for class, following directions, adhering to all school policies, and by keeping an open mind when learning about different cultures, traditions, beliefs and life styles.

2)      Be Prepared

Always come to class prepared.  This means coming into class and being seated when the bell rings, bringing your “Daybook” and writing folder each day, and completing homework on time.  In addition, your presence in the classroom is essential to your success.  Tardiness and unexcused absences will have a negative effect on your grade.

3)      Expect great things from yourself and your peers

Your attitude plays an important role in your education.  If you believe you can succeed – you can!  Encourage your classmates to succeed too.

4)      Take ownership of your education

Take personal responsibility for your learning: set goals, evaluate progress towards those goals, adhere to high standards and revise your performance when needed.  You can also take responsibility for your learning by asking questions when something is unclear, participating in classroom discussions and asking for extra help if you need it.  Take ownership of your classroom.  This is your space and your area to learn; help keep it clean and organized.  This is your education – get everything you can out of it!

 

 WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING TO CLASS EACH DAY:

1)       Something to write with – a pencil or pen (black or blue ink – no gel pens, markers or crayons).

2)       Your writing folder – you will need to keep an organized folder of your writing projects.  Use at least a two pocket folder to store your writing projects in.  You will want to designate one side of the folder for your works in progress and use the other side of the folder for completed projects. 

3)       Your “Daybook” – a daily writing journal or notebook.

4)       Your Creative Writing reading packet.

5)       Your student planner – to help you keep track of homework assignments and upcoming projects.

6)       It is also recommended that you have a USB flash drive or a Google account to help save your work.

 

HOMEWORK AND ASSIGNMENT POLICIES:

•  Assignments will be listed on a weekly calendar given to each student.  Students should keep track of assignments in their Haverford planner.  In addition, class assignments are updated weekly on the class website at http://wardsworld.pbwiki.com (see the lesson links above).
• Copying, cheating, or plagiarizing are grounds for failing the assignment and/or the course. 
• In order to receive full credit on all assignments, students must turn in their work on the designated due date.  Late assignments will not receive full credit.   
• In the case of an excused absence, students have two days to make up missed work.  However, should a student be absent the date a long-term assignment is due, the assignment is due the day she or he returns.  

 

GRADES:

Students are graded on a total point system. The final course grade is calculated by combining the percentages for each of the two quarters with the final project grade. Each quarter is worth 40% of the final grade, and the final project is worth 20% of the final course grade.

A+ = 100%-98%   A = 97%-93%        A- = 92%-90%                     D+ = 69%-68%      D = 67%-63%    D- = 62%-60%

B+ = 89%-88%      B = 87%-83%         B- = 82%-80%                       F = 59%-0%

C+ = 79%-78%      C = 77%-73%        C- = 72%-70%

 

Just for fun!