Creative Writing


FYI: I avaialble to help students after school most any day by appointment.

Seventh Grade Lesson Plans:

About Me Sheet (Major) (2-3 days)

· EQ: What are the rules of capitalization?

· EQ: How do I make my writing more interesting?

Journal Entries- all semester (Minor)

EQ: What is the first step in the writing process?

· Students will write journal entries throughout the semester. These are used to model the writing process. They are also used as prewriting for many of the assignments below.

Literary Devices Pre-Test (No Grade)

PTA Reflections Contest Topic- Heroes Among Us (Rough Draft/Minor-Final/Major)

· Journal Entry-TBA

· EQ: How do literary devices make writing better?

· Notes on : alliteration, repetition, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, oxymoron, and onopatopoeia with examples

Six Word Memoir (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (2 days)

· EQs: Why is word choice important?

What is connotation?

Career Poem (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (2 days)

· EQ: How do I conduct research? How do I evaluate a website?

· Journal: What would be your dream job? Describe this job and give reasons why you selected this job.

· Students will compose a poem after selecting a career they are interested in and researching that career.

Color Poem- Museum on the Move TBA (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (4 days)

· EQ: What is imagery?

· EQ: How does imagery affect our writing?

· Students will create a color poem that describes what colors feel, think, taste, and smell like. This poem will be illustrated.

Suspenseful Story (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (7-8 days)

· Journals: What makes a story suspenseful?

Finish this story starter…

· EQ: Why is a good beginning important to a story?

· EQ: What is foreshadowing and how does it help create suspense?

· EQ: How do you write a good ending?

Advertisement Design (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (8 days)

· Journals: What are two advertisements that you like? Why do you like them? Be specific?

List as many places/ways that you are exposed to advertisements.

List as many slogans for products that you and your partner can think of.

List as many symbols that you and your partner can think of.

· EQ: What is propaganda?

EQ: What are the types of propaganda?

· EQ: What is a target audience?

· EQ: what makes a good slogan? How do I write a good slogan?

· Students will watch a film segment about the history of advertisement and write down 10 facts. Minor

· Students will take notes on the types of propaganda? Minor

· Students will use the notes to identify the type of propaganda used in magazine ads.

· Students will select a product, research that product and design an ad that will be created on the computer or “handmade” using a type of propaganda. They will also create a slogan for their product. GO/Minor Final/Major

Black Out Poem(s) (2 days)

· EQ: What is black out poetry?

· Using old newspapers student will create Black Out poems (Minor)

Ode to a Common Everyday Object (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (8 days)

· EQ: What is an ode? How do I write one?

· Students will write a practice ode on a common everyday object. Minor

· Students will select their own common everyday object to write an ode to.

· Students will research their object to find 5 interesting facts about its history.

· Students will complete the GO. Minor

A Forever Home- TBA-Based on a guest speaker from the Greenville Animal Rescue

(Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major)

· Journal: Write about your most favorite of special pet. Describe what makes them so special.

· EQ: What is the proper way to act when an animal visits the classroom?

· EQ: How do we take notes from a guest speaker?

· What is the purpose of Greenville Animal Rescue

· After hearing the speaker the student will create a brochure explain Greenville Animal Rescue.

· Students will research on the GAR website and pick a dog or cat to write a Forever Home Ad as they invent a “back” story about the animal they selected. (Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major)

Veteran Letter/ 1st Semester (Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major) (2-3 days)

· Journal: What experience have you had with the military?

· How do I write a friendly letter?

· EQ: How do I write a “friendly” letter to someone I do not know?

· Students will write a letter to a person or their family recognizing their service and acknowledging their sacrifice.

Pysanky Eggs/ 2nd Semester (Egg and Write up/Major) (6-7 days)

· Journal: Pick and write about 5 common symbols?

· EQ: What is a symbol? Why are symbols helpful?

· EQ: How are symbols used in literature?

· Students will learn about the history of Pysanky Eggs and how different symbols are used on the different eggs. Students will pick a person and create an egg for him/her using symbols.

· Students will write a description of the symbols and colors used on their egg and why these were selected.

Acrostic Poem- Coinciding with area of study in social studies or science. (RD/Minor-FC/Major) (4-5 days)

· EQ: How does writing play a part in all subjects?

· Students will use their socials studies notes as well as the Internet to write an Acrostic Poem about an ancient civilization.

Eight Grade Lesson Plans:

About Me Sheet (Major 3-4 days)

· EQ: What are the rules of capitalization?

· EQ: How do I make my writing more interesting?

Journal Entries- all semester (Minor)

· EQ: What is the first step in the writing process?

· Students will write journal entries throughout the semester. These are used to model the writing process. They are also used as prewriting for many of the assignments below.

Literary Devices Pre-Test (No Grade)

PTA Reflections Contest Topic-Heroes Among Us (Rough Draft/Minor-Final/Major)

· Journal Entry-TBA

· EQ: How do literary devices make writing better?

· Notes on : alliteration, repetition, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, oxymoron with examples

Found Poem Short Story: “The Lady or the Tiger?”

· Journal Entries: What are the advantages of being a king/queen? What are the disadvantages?

Do you believe in the death penalty? What if was your friend/family member that was killed? What if they were the killer?

· Annotation of the story with questions (Major)

· Found Poem (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major)

Greatest Grandparent Essay (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major)

Career Poem (Research- Minor/Rough Draft-Minor/Final Copy–Major) (5-6 days)

· EQ: How do I conduct research? How do I evaluate a website?

· Journal: What would be your dream job? Describe this job and give reasons why you selected this job.

· Students will compose a poem after selecting a career they are interested in and researching that career.

Twaikus and Poetweets Based on The Outsiders or To Kill A Mockingbird First Semester/Second Semester TBA (Minor)

· EQ: Why is word choice important?

· EQ: What is the “main idea”?

· EQ: How important is Point of View?

Elegy based on The Outsiders or To Kill A Mockingbird (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) OR

Elegy- Student’s Choice (Research- Minor/Rough Draft-Minor/Final Copy–Major) (5-6 days)

· EQ: What is an elegy?

· EQ: How do I memorialize someone?

· EQ: What is the format of an elegy?

· Students will research a famous person they admire (See journal entry #1).

Personification Poem (Rough Draft-Minor, Final Copy–Major) (5 days)

· EQ: What is personification?

· Journal: What are three examples of prejudice in the novel you are reading?

· Students will write a poem personifying Prejudice as they read The Outsiders or To Kill A Mockingbird

I Am… Oxymoron Poem (GO- Minor/Rough Draft-Minor/Final Copy–Major)

· EQ: What is an oxymoron?

· Students will use GO to make a list of their character traits (Ten traits/One word each). Students will complete the GO by adding two synonyms and two antonyms for each trait. After completing the GO this will guide them to complete their poem.

Black Out Poem(s) (Minor) (1-2 days)

· EQ: What is black out poetry?

· Using old newspapers student will create Black Out poems Minor

A Forever Home- Based on a guest speaker from the Greenville Animal Rescue

(Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major)

· Journal: Write about your most favorite of special pet. Describe what makes them so special.

· EQ: What is the proper way to act when an animal visits the classroom?

· EQ: How do we take notes from a guest speaker?

· What is the purpose of Greenville Animal Rescue

· After hearing the speaker the student will create a brochure explain Greenville Animal Rescue.

· Students will research on the GAR website and pick a dog or cat to write a Forever Home Ad as they invent a “back” story about the animal they selected. (Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major)

Ironic Story (Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major) (15-20 days)

Short Stories used as examples:

· “The Man From the South” · “Lamb to the Slaughter”

· “The Sniper”

· “The Lottery”

· EQs: What are the types of irony?

· Examples of ironic stories will be read and annotated

· Notes on how to end a story ironically

Veteran Letter/ 1st Semester or Pysanky Eggs/ 2nd Semester (Rough Draft-Minor-Final Copy–Major) (5-8 days)

Acrostic Poem based on “The Most Dangerous Game” (Major)

Creative Writing Syllabus

Sarah Jackson/ Blue Ridge Middle School

Creative Writing Information

Families of BRMS Students,

My name is Sarah Jackson and I will be teaching your student Creative Writing this semester. This is my 16th year at BRMS having previously taught 7th and 8th grade ELA. In my class we will focus on many different types of writing including letters, memoirs, stories and poetry. We will concentrate on expressing ourselves through writing, the importance of word choice, and the use of figurative language.

I will provide your student with a writing folder which will stay in the classroom. Your student should not have homework unless they have been absent or he/she has made the choice not to use their class time wisely.

Responsibilities of the student:

Your student will need to come to class prepared each day. That means they must have paper and a pencil. I understand that everyone occasionally will forget, but it is very disruptive when we begin to write and many students must ask for or borrow pencil and/or paper! If this becomes a habit for a student they will receive an offense.

Your student will follow the writing process which includes: prewriting, writing a rough draft, revising and editing that draft before producing the final copy. Rough drafts are usually hand written and will always count as a minor grade. Final copies will be typed and will count as a major grade. Assignments will be posted and turned in on Google Classroom.

Students must follow the class computer rules. Failing to do so will result in the student losing the privilege to use my computers. (See the Student Handbook)

Students are expected to follow directions, demonstrate effort and stay focused. I will be happy to help individual students as needed. Writing takes time and needs to be revisited before it is “finished”.

There will be times when some students will have finished the assignment while others are still working. These students are expected to respect others by providing a quiet atmosphere for those who continue to work. They may read (I have a classroom library), go to the library, or work on other assignments. Students will receive an offense if they keep others from being successful!

Supplies: All I ask is that each student bring a box of Kleenex. Thanks!

We are going to have a fun and exciting semester! You may contact me at 355-1935 or sejackso@greenville.k12.sc.us. Note: There is no “n” in the first part of my email address!

School Policies

Refer to the Student Planner/Handbook for general school policies

Communicating with Parents

Please feel free to contact me. I will be glad to return your phone call or email.

Ways to contact me:

§ Call me at 355- 1950 and leave a message on my voicemail

§ Email me at sejackso@greenville.k12.sc.us

§ Send a note with your student

Perfect Attendance Criteria

The definition of an absence at a Greenville County Middle School is missing more than one-half of any singular class period for which a student is enrolled, or multiple class periods for which a student is enrolled, during a school day. Absence in any part of the school day for a minimum of more than one-half class period, even if the student was present for all other portions of that same school day, by definition excludes a student from being determined to have Perfect Attendance.

The following grade scale will be applied to students in grades 2-12:

· 100-90 A

· 89-80 B

· 79-70 C

· 69-60 D

· 59-50 F

https://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/parents/main.asp?titleid=grades