Fall Semester Explorations in Literature & Creative Writing 

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! We will begin by building habits that you can also practice outside of the classroom:

• Journal Writing can be liberating and empowering. Try to write in your journal for 15-30 minutes each day. Practice using literary techniques, and check out the writing prompts page for more brainstorming ideas and writing exercises. To improve word choice, try using a thesaurus while writing.

• Reading outside of class has many benefits. Here are just a few: improves motivation and concentration, improves literacy, increases knowledge, improves relaxation and sleep, reduces stress.

• Vocabulary study is not just an in-class assignment. Continue to learn new words by writing down words you don't know in your journal or on an index card. Use a mobile dictionary app to look up the definitions of words on your phone while you are reading. Practice using a few of your new words in your journal writing.

• Discussions inspired by literary practice explore three types of questions:

  • Questions about craft

  • Questions about ideas/meaning

  • Questions about making connections → personal (text-self), other texts/intertextual (text-text), world (text-world)

Ms. Ntoso's Literary Explorations

I enjoy reading and creative writing during my free time. Currently I am reading:

• Night by Ennio Moltedo, translated by Marguerite Feitlowitz

• The City, Our City by Wayne Miller

• Land of Numbers by Te-Ping Chen

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