I had just finished my “8 Simple Writing Lesson Plans” Teacher Guide when I came upon this gem of an Internet lesson plan:
The greatest creative writing activity ever!!!
The skeptical dog and I could relate.
I was skeptical.
After all, everything on the Internet is “the greatest” or “the best” or something that will “blow your mind!” but I had to look. Now usually when the words “Internet” and “I just had to look” are combined, bad things happen, but I figured what’s the worst that could happen by clicking on
The greatest creative writing activity ever!!!?
Let’s take a look at it before commenting further.
Common Core Objectives
- W.9-10.3 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
- W.9-10.3b – Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
- W.9-10.3c – Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.
- W.9-10.3d – Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
The lesson is simple.
1. Write the following questions on the board. These questions–actually the lesson itself–comes from Adam Simpson’s Blog.
How long have you been on the planet?- Why did you go there?
- Describe the two people who are with you.
- Why is your spaceship damaged?
- When you decided to leave your ship, how far did you walk?
- What were you looking for?
- When did you realize that someone was following you?
- Describe the creature.
- While you were running away, you tripped and fell. What happened?
- What was the big surprise at the end of your story?
How long have you been on the planet?2. Start asking these questions as soon as the bell rings. The initial responses may be literal, so a little suggestion to be creative might help. This question and answer serves as a brainstorm. If more brainstorming is necessary, instruct students to grab a partner and discuss these questions for a minute or two.
3. Instruct students to write a story (about 1 page) that answers the questions on the board, in order. Emphasize that it should be a story, and not a list of answers.
4. Read some to the class.
I decided to do the lesson.
I decided to do the lesson.I still wasn’t totally convinced that this was
The greatest creative writing activity ever!!!
but I gave it a shot, figuring that the worst case scenario would be I get an easy day.
But what happened is I found out that this assignment is, in fact,
The greatest creative writing activity ever!!!
Of course, I couldn’t just leave the lesson as is. I had to add my own usability to it. So I created a rubric and a graphic organizer. I was going to put it in my “8 Simple Writing Lesson Plans” Teacher Guide but thought I would just make it a free sample.
Last Updated on August 13, 2018 by Trenton Lorcher
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