Instead of listing the writing projects that we have done in class (similar to those listed below), I want to encourage the students who post work to their Google Sites to find avenues for outside publication. The work I am reading is brilliant and should be shared. Any student who is looking to publish is welcome to meet with me to polish before sending. You all have a gift for words, and you should be proud to share it :)

Third Quarter 2022

For the past two years, Ms. Chodrow and I have been trying to collaborate on several projects between the Creative Writing students and Art students. We have grandiose ideas, but alas, reality always steps in. Here are a few more drawings from art students that capture snippets of our spooky stories written in October. Take a look; there is amazing artwork matched with our stories! Thank you to Ms. Chodrow and her talented art students who participated!

First Semester 2021-2022

Never did I ever think the alphabet stories would be as successful as they were this semester! Students took on the challenge of writing cohesive stories with each sentence starting with the next letter in the alphabet. The result included some great genres and themes and fun stories. Students shared them out loud to the class as sharing your work as a writer is important since there is opportunity for constructive and positive feedback.

January 2022

We did it again! Reading and hearing children's books from various author's and putting our own together with audio. Students determined the themes for their writing and story lines and wrote 1,000-1,500 word children's books. These books will be given to the art students for them to create a page or spread of artwork for the book. The plan is to share the books, pictures, and audio on a Google Site for feeder elementary schools to access. We are loving the collaboration with the art department!

December 2021/January 2022

The lost art of writing a letter and the lost joy of receiving one! Students started the quarter with a letter writing activity to give thanks to a teacher/mentor and to re-connect with a family member not living in their home. At first, it was a challenge for some to know what to say. We had discussed how more formal it seemed to write a letter, and how the lack of an instantaneous response would change the content. Students rose to the challenge, and I will be sending out a few letters this week to some very lucky individuals! Have you written a letter recently? Join us!

November 2021

For our first journal prompt this quarter, the Creative Writing class wrote singular paragraph "chapters" for a book titled, "Secrets of Brilliant Students". Each student was tasked to create their own chapter to the "book" and upload to their individual Google Sites. Want to be brilliant? Find out how!

November 2021

To align with our collaborative efforts with the art department, students listened to a Lore podcast today and began short journaling ideas. The responses were only 500 words in length and could focus on any area of the plot diagram. Next class and next week, students will develop a plot diagram for a spooky story of their choice and share that with art students who will create a book cover after reading info sheets, plot diagrams, and of course, the spooky stories! Thank you to Ms. Chodrow and the art students for joining forces!

October 2021

October 1 and we are ready to embrace fall! Students are tasked with writing a free verse poem of their choice as we lounge outdoors and embrace the beauty of nature. The only element necessary is adding in the senses/imagery. Hopefully, students will continue to go outdoors and journal throughout the semester. Great inspirations can come from what we see outside our four walls.

October 2021

One of my favorite projects for students is the six word statement/memoir. It's amazing how much we can communicate in a short amount of words, yet how much we can also misinterpret in six words. The results from student-written statements is always enlightening! Family time is time well wasted. Block out time in your day and week to spend with your loved ones, whoever you consider family. That recharge could be just what you need!

October 2021

We started with short stories again this year, and instead of a choice story, I asked students to build off our journal prompt of writing in the perspective of an unfamiliar object and either in first or second person only. The hope was to really get students thinking about the plot diagram and not just the creative ideas in their mind. Once we establish a stronghold on the plot diagram and additional figurative language, we will go back to choice short stories.

September 2021

It has been an amazing experience to see all the students again after normalcy ceased to exist last March 2020. I'm thrilled that so many of the students enrolled in Creative Writing are there to express their ideas on paper and are eager to share their work to others. In addition, being back in the building will allow a wonderful collaboration with Art and Ms. Chodrow's students to thrive. I'm looking forward to all the opportunities this class will offer my students this year!

August/September 2021

Like most semesters, we moved into short stories, yet with the snow/ice days and asynchronous days, we have fallen behind! For this semester, students read Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" and identified the elements of fiction. Afterward, they were tasked in choosing any other two short stories to identify elements.

Students transitioned to creating three different elements of fiction tables of their own to being composition of their first short story this semester.

March 2021

This semester we began with sharing our "All About Me" Slides, and there are so many amazing students in this class! We have many Anime lovers and pet enthusiasts. Many of our second semester friends enjoy writing and reading (probably watching, too) Marvel and DC comics. This is going to be another fun filled semester full of writing and creativity!

We began again with perspectives and continued the lesson using the children's book, Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Afterward, students were tasked in Journal #1 to create short stories based on a unique perspective.

February 4, 2021

One of my favorite things to do with my students is the children's book unit. We have tired to partner with art students to create physical books for publication, but the world turned upside down last year and the idea didn't come to fruition for my first year teaching this elective. This semester, my hope is for students to write their stories and create videos with images found online that add to their writing. The goal is to then send the links out to our feeder school librarians to share with age appropriate students :)

January 2021

Due to the lack of time, this class wasn't able to fully embrace all the elements typically covered in a full semester course of Creative Writing. Therefore, our poetry unit was condensed to students finding their favorite poem, reading it aloud, and giving a one minute reflection/connection.

Poetry is so powerful. Whether you write, listen, or combine both, poetry has much to offer humans.

Check out the poetryfoundation.org site to find your inspiration!

January 2021

Something we all crave are stories. In groups, students were challenged to write a One Act Play on the topic/theme of their choice. From pranks to pirates, the groups created solid plot diagrams fit for the stage! Unfortunately, we couldn't find time to even act them out on our Google Meets, but you should check them out!

Nothing Good Happens After Dark by Maddie. R, Riya, Kylie, and Jane

The Sea Creature and the Kid by Mary, Gabi, and Delaney

The Witty Kitten by Bella, Camille, and Caroline

The Trillion Donut Heist by John, Kate, and Maddy M.

December 2021

Craving more breakout time, students got into random groups and were tasked with creating a short story. The caveat was that no talking or communication of any kind could occur the first round. (Don't worry; I let them have about five minutes to discuss out loud their character thoughts, theme, and plot diagram.) Each group had a Google Doc and in order, each individual contributed a line to the story. After about 10 minutes, I allowed them to use emoticons in their breakout chat rooms or nonverbals on camera. After about 10 minutes of nonverbal communication, I allowed the students to finish their group stories with conversation. The end results are as fun as they come! I hope you enjoy reading the compilation of thoughts and ideas of these wonderful writing students!

The Octopus in Mother Earth by Caroline, Camille, and Bella

Fighting Ivy by Maddie R., Riya, Kylie, and Jane

Smimf’s Adventure, Written In Under An Hour by John, Maddy M., Mary, and Delaney

Hyperion City by Kate, Gabi, and Lucien

December 2021

After writing our first short stories of any chosen genre or structure, students are now writing their second short story based on a chosen theme and weather element. The story will be between 750 to 1,000 words. I have encouraged students to add a picture to their writing for inspiration!

Interested in reading this genre? There are several great novels that include weather...H2O Monument 14 We All Looked Up The Day After Tomorrow

November 2021

Giving writing time in class during a regular school day is much easier than the 60 minutes synchronous time. Students had time in and out of class to work on their own short story, topic and theme of their choice. We had two days of peer reviews and comments, with a final publication date of October 14.

These are definite "must-reads", so please travel to the Student Google Sites!

October 2021

We reviewed different plot diagrams from short stories and notated the different points of view and how it did/didn't change the overall plot structure.

Students read the short story, "The Veldt" and discussed their reactions to the world of science and technology. Hopefully, some will share their responses on their personal Google Site page for your review. This is an excellent short story that really pertains to our lives today metaphorically...but could it become a reality?

October 2021