Mrs. Michelle Wolfe East Hardy High School

Creative Writing Syllabus

Mrs. Michelle Wolfe East Hardy High School [email protected] 304-897-5948

Course Description

Students will write. Students will compose fiction and non-fiction, formal and informal, and polished and unpolished works with the overall goal of becoming a better thinker and a better writer.

Goals and Learning Objectives

Students will

 Read and analyze various written pieces to raise awareness of the basic techniques of literary expression, including narrative strategies, genres, and styles.

 Develop writing skills with an emphasis on narrative, expository, and argumentative essays.

 Learn and apply effective techniques of planning, organization and development of writing as well as editing and revising.

 Learn how to use technology to access, organize, and present ideas effectively.

 Reflect on one’s own work—become increasingly more self-aware, craft conscious, and self-critical.

 Provide constructive criticism for peers’ work.

 Contribute actively in group activities and presentations.

Required Materials: Rights:

 Pencil/pen *to learn

 Loose paper *to fair treatment

 Three prong binder with pockets *to a safe environment

 Flash drive

 Book for Silent Sustained Reading

Responsibilities:

. To respect the teacher, my peers, and myself.

. To obey school and classroom rules.

. To attend class regularly.

. To be in my seat and prepared for class by the tardy bell. . To meet deadlines.

. To use my time wisely.

. To be actively involved as a member of the group.

. To have a positive attitude.

. To pay attention, listen, and not distract others from learning.

. To keep my personal items out of aisles and walkways.

. To stay in my seat until dismissed by the teacher.

. To include name, date, and class period on all assignments.

. To deposit all food and drink containers (water ok) in trash can upon entering the classroom.

Personally Owned Electronic Devices

Student use of personally owned electronic devices during instructional time is allowed strictly at the teacher’s discretion. Unless the teacher explicitly gives direction for students to use personally owned electronic devices as a learning tool for a specific educational task, all devices should be muted and concealed. Devices will not distract any students from learning. Electronic devices should not be used to take photos or video. See county policy for consequences resulting from failure to comply with this rule.

Quarter 1: Personal Memoir

Anchor Readings:

 Steal like an Artist-Austin Kleon

 Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life-Amy Krouse Rosenthal

 “Cemetery Ride”-Billy Collins and “My Name”-Sandra Cisneros

 “The Road Between Here and There”-Galway Kinnell

 “The Things I’ve Lost”-Brian Arundel

 Selections from Humans of New York-Brandon Stanton

 “If I Should Have a Daughter” and “Hands”-Sarah Kay

 Socratic Circle Articles

Major Assignments:

 Daily Writings

 My Influences

 Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life Entries  My Name Activity

 Here and There Poem

 The Things I’ve Lost Activity

 Humans of Hardy County Project

 Letter to Future Me-futureme.org

 Voice of Democracy Competition

 Portfolio Development

 9 Weeks Project-Soundtrack of my Life

Quarter 2: Poetry

Anchor Readings:

 Everything is Everything

 Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130

 Various Poems

Major Assignments:

 Daily Writings Blackout Poems

 Newspaper Blackout-Austin Keon

 Mutant Shakespeare project

 Poetry Out Loud Competitions

 New York Times Found Poem Competition

 Tasty Medicine for Writer’s Block Activities

 Get Your Haiku On Activity

 Poem Annotations

 Spoken Word Presentation

 Socratic Circle Discussions

 9 Weeks Project

Quarter 3: Short Story

Anchor Readings:  Writing Magic-Gail Carson Levine

 Don’t Forget to Write

 “Snow” by Julia Alvarez and “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

 J.Robert Lennon submission to McSweeney’s Issue 13

 “Why Description Matters to the Brain” Andrea Badgley

 “Bullet in the Brain”-Tobias Wolff

 “I Love Girl”-Simon Rich

 Various Short Stories

Major Assignments:

 Daily Writings

 Character Profile

 Short short story

 WV Young Writers Competition

 Sartorialist Photograph Writing

 Character with a Phobia assignment

 Literary Facebooks

 One-Person Show

 Exquisite Corpse Story Project

 Welcome to the Funhouse Project

 9 Weeks Project

Quarter 4: Student Led Writing

Anchor Readings:

 To be determined by students

Major Assignments:

 2016-2017 Creative Writing Anthology  Project Proposal

 Peer Designed Projects

 Daily writings

Student Evaluation

Students’ grades are earned using a point system in which they accumulate points for each assignment given during the course. Students will be evaluated on the basis of daily writings, projects, portfolio development, class participation, and response writing. Points awarded for any given assignment will be based on the difficulty of the assignment. Students 9 weeks grades are figured by dividing the number of points earned by the number of points possible. Those percentages will be converted into letter grades according to Hardy County Policy. Please see the student handbook policy regarding late work.