Grade: Middle

#3026. Creative Writing Workshop

Reading/Writing, level: Middle
Posted Sun Jan 18 14:56:48 PST 2004 by Lee Pelow (leepelow@yahool.com).
University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, USA
Activity Time: 50 minutes
Concepts Taught: writing

Goal of this lesson:
To engage students in creative thinking
To encourage class and group participation
To be able to elaborate on their classmates work
To be able to work cooperatively
To be able to use their knowledge of parts of speech to edit their piece of writing


Materials
Paper (extra for students who don't have any)
Pen
Chalk
Chalkboard
Time piece


Clerical/Administrative Tasks
Take Roll
Arrange desks into a circle
Make copies of the grammar checklist to hand out (enough for everyone)
Make copies of punctuation checklist to hand out( enough for everyone)

Instructional Objectives (Student-centered, observable, and precise statements of what students will be able to do)
The student will be able to convey his or her creativity in a piece of writing during a given time limit.
The student will be able to demonstrate creativity in his or her own writing.
The student will be able to finish a piece of writing that was started by another student.
The student will be able to cooperate with his or her classmates during the creative writing seminar.
The student will be able to read his or her creative story out loud if called upon.
The student will be able to evaluate his or her own writing.
The student will be able to edit his or her own writing.
The student will be able to circle the subject and underline the verb in every sentence in his or her story.
The student will be able to identify the adverb, adjective, and noun clauses in his or her story by putting
parentheses around the clause and labeling each one adv, adj, or N
The student will be able to identify all infinitive and gerund phrases in his or her story by putting double
parentheses around the phrase and labeling each on I or G.

Introduction (attention getter, anticipatory set, discrepant event, open-ended problem scenario, engagement)
ENGAGEMENT: Today we are going to start a writing workshop. In the first part of this workshop you will be creating a piece of writing with the help of your classmates. In the second part of this workshop you will be editing your piece of writing. This exercise will allow you to use your knowledge of grammar in your own writing.
~Transition~ Will everyone please get out a piece of paper and write your name at the top of it. ~Transition~

Developmental Activities (Instructional components that provide opportunities for students to make progress toward intended instructional objectives)
Give directions for this exercise. (4 minutes)
You will be writing in intervals of three minutes. Everyone will start their piece of writing and write for two minutes on any topic. After three minutes have elapsed, I will say "Pass" and everyone will stop writing and pass their paper once to the left. So, student's name you will pass your paper to student's name sitting beside him. And so on. Each time you get a piece of paper, I will say "begin writing now" and you must read what has already been written, and then you will continue the story. Again, after three minutes have elapsed, I will say "Pass" and everyone must stop writing and pass their paper once to the left. We will do this a total of three times. The first time you write, you will be starting the story, the second time you write you will be continuing the story, and the third and last time you write, you will be coming up with some sort of ending or conclusion for the story.
Does anyone have any questions about what they have to do?
~Transition~ Begin writing now. ~Transition~
EXPLORATION: The students will write in intervals of three minutes for a total of nine minutes. This will allow them to explore their creativity and spontaneously develop ideas.
First interval (3 minutes)
While students are writing, walk around to make sure that each student is writing and not just sitting there.
Give positive reinforcement for well written sentences and good ideas.
Keep watch of the time.
After three minutes say "Pass" and make sure students have stopped writing and are now passing their papers once to the left.
Say "Begin writing now." Student will need to read what the other person has written and then begin writing.
Second interval (3 minutes)
*repeat actions for first interval*
After three minutes say "Pass" and remind students that they need to conclude the story the best they can. Make sure students are passing their papers then say "Begin writing now."
Third and Last interval (3 minutes)
*repeat actions for first and second interval*
After three minutes have elapsed, say "Stop writing now."
Ask for volunteers to read their short story aloud. (5 minutes)
If no one volunteers, call on someone.
~Transition~ Now that everyone has a creative piece of writing, we are going to begin the second part of the writing workshop. . ..the editing part. ~Transition~
EXPLANATION: I will explain each requirement on the handout entitled Sentence Structure Check List. The students have preexisting knowledge of these parts of grammar, but they will be using this to evaluate their own work.
"We have just completed our unit on grammar, so your minds should be eager to use some of that information."
Pass out hand out on Grammar checklist (see attached) (1 minute)
Write each example on the board and show the students why the underlines, circles, or parentheses are where they are.
Read the handout with the students and ask if they have any questions on what to do now. (5 minutes)
ELABORATION: The students are asked to use the information that was just reviewed to edit their own story.
You can work with your neighbor if you need extra help, but I don't want anyone moving around the room.
EVALUATION: I will walk around to each of the students to make sure that they understand what to do and they clearly understand the parts of grammar.
I will be around to help you if you need it.
If you finish before the rest of the class decide on what information in this story you may want to use in your piece of creative writing that we talked about yesterday.
Begin editing. (25 minutes)

*IF TIME ALLOWS*
If students finish the grammar checklist before the end of class, I will pass out the punctuation checklist and have them get started on editing their paper for punctuation.


Assessment/Evaluation (How you and the students will know that they learned. May be formative or summative)
By walking around and assisting students with their editing, I will be able to evaluate their understanding of the grammar. Also, I will be able to see what the students have written in their writing workshop. I will see what kinds of ideas they are working with.


Conclusion (Closure; a planned wrap-up for the lesson)
For tomorrow, make sure that all of the editing to the story is completed and come in with some ideas, written down, for your piece of creative writing. Tomorrow we will be evaluating the punctuation in this piece of writing. So, make sure that you have everything finished by then.