I'll be teaching a high school creative writing class next semester and I'm looking for ideas. Can you help?

Question

I don't want the class to be boring or trite, but I'd like for my students to learn and enjoy at the same time. A lot to ask, I realize!! I appreciate everyone's assistance in advance.

Answer 1

You probably have used these but something here may be of help:

writing a different ending to a well known story

writing a traditional story from a different point of view (Three Little Pigs from the wolf's perspective)

write an account of what they would like to be famous for

historical fiction

write to submit to a teen magazine or a contest

humorous stories to submit to Reader's Digest

I hope something here will be of help. Good luck with your class.

Answer 2

Check what your curriculum says first. After that, try stopping a movie or a television show right at the crux of the show and have students write an ending.

Bring in local authors or poets to talk to them about various writing styles, perhaps compile a book or magazine of the class's best writing projects and have it ready for mother's day.

As you know writing is all about writing the things you know about so get them to describe their lives when they were little , what they'll be doing 5, 10, 15, 25 , 50 years from now.

Have them find a character in a book or in history and write diaries or letters as if they are that person.

Bring in your local media, paper, tv, radio and have them talk to the students about how a newspaper is put together, how news stories are gathered, what is required of talk radio hosts or djs, about media bias.

There is of course the old standby of picture files where students write stories around pics or slides they are shown, showing emotions of people etc.

Make them write journals on your lessons instead of just taking notes, although that will mean more reading for you, but you get an idea how you're doing too.

Please teach them how to actually write and parts of grammar etc and not just write in the new computereze that makes them look illiterate even if they aren't.

Oh yeah do resumes and cover letters , business type letters as well. You won't always be using email to get to your resumes in for a job .

And teach them how to write biographies and autobiographies so when they have to do something like this for college entrance they won't be panicking.

Start a hs newspaper if there isn't already one.

That should keep you busy planning for the next three months on top of your other classes you'll be teaching. Good luck.

Answer 3

I had been a teacher for almost 5 years. I taught for 3 yrs as a college instructor and one of the subjects I taught was on creative writing. Here are some suggestions:

1. film-viewing = this can give your students ideas so select also the movie you'll want them to see
2. nature trip = this needs the approval of your school though so I suggest you request for a field trip
3. interviews (your students will conduct it, give some guidelines)
4. use the internet (research beforehand on blogs or sites that can be useful)
5. books ( ask them to choose a good book and let them try to create something like it in the form of a project)

These tips may be time-consuming depending on the number of your students. Find some ways too. Nothing's better than an original idea.

Answer 4

Both my boys loved to write. One of the things I did to help them work on this was approach it from a modern media aspect, i.e.,

--If you were a hamster (or other animal or object) - what would the nightly news be?
--If you were designing a video game - tell me what the storyline would be, and the development of each character's point of view within the game. Describe the details of the graphics.
--If you were the producer of a reality-based TV show - what would it be about, and how would you implement it?
--If you were a modern person transported back in time to another era - what would be your observations?
--If you were a reporter - what would you report on the conditions of the lunch room - the restroom - the hallways at school.
--If you were a member of the opposite sex - what would be your perspective of how you are portrayed on MTV.
--Write an instruction manual for..........
--We also did our own "fractured fairy tales and fables" - which were hilarious. Take a typical - well known children's story and give it a modern twist, or age the characters by 30 years, etc.
--If birds could talk to you - what would they tell you.
--Write a survival guide.......
--How many ways can you use a dead armadillo - this was hilarious. You could use any object really.

Generally - just getting them to think outside the box or from a different perspective was wonderful, and worked greatly towards their developing a true enjoyment for writing. I also let them illustrate or add doodles - which could be construed as messy, but really helped their creative process along.

Answer 5

Have them write a commercial; re-write a Shakespeare sonnet or soliloquy using modern terms; have them write a jingle (Yes similar to a commercial, but it's something that would still be fun) advertising a specific product, either of your choosing or of the class' choosing; have them write a radio intro or short broadcast...we did this as a class/team project in college (high schoolers can handle this too)

These are just some ideas...we also had a lot of fun with haiku's as well.

Answer 6

Give them a sentence and let them run with it, or a round robin story where you write the first pages to a cliff hanger point and then they pass it around, doing the same, until it is finished