Gazing out our windows this morning at a cold grey sky that hints at snow, I'm thankful that inside there is only a flurry of writing. Students are indeed producing a blizzard of words as they finish up pre-writing activities and move on to drafting their stories. They've brainstormed setting details using all five senses; "interviewed" their characters to get acquainted with them; and mapped out their plots in multiple ways. This week they will learn the grammatical rules of dialogue writing and practice using them; finally, they will exercise their descriptive writing skills by practicing "show, don't tell" writing. From creepy dolls to heroes' journeys, I predict that I'm in store for some captivating reading!
The goal is for students to begin drafting stories on or before Friday (a few began today!) Next week will be the last in-class time to work on stories, so they will be drafting on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday if needed. If they are done by Wednesday, they can use that class period to peer conference and edit. The final story (in student's choice of format, per instructions) is due by Friday, December 1.
Homework:
Monday: work on station #3 brainstorming (due by Wed.)
Tuesday: finish station #3 brainstorming
Wednesday: finish "Show, Don't Tell" practice
Thursday: finish Dialogue Writing practice
Friday: work on short story draft
