Creative Writing: Exploring Different Writing Styles (Level 1)

Does your preteen like writing stories and creating characters? Maybe they like writing but struggle to organize their ideas. In this writing course, young writers will learn to organize their work, while exploring different writing styles and focusing on the narrative voice.

Each week, students focus on a different writing format. Following a group Welcome & Share, we'll do a short warm-up activity (either a writing prompt or a Kahoot!). Next, the teacher will use slides to facilitate a conversation on the writing format of the day. Students will be asked to help read a short passage out loud, before they begin writing independently on their own work. Through the use of both writing prompts and writing challenges, writers will explore their writing ideas while improving their writing skills.  Students will learn to give and receive feedback 

Note: This is not a class where students can write however they want. The instructor will ask students to adhere to some grammar rules at times (no typing in all caps, use proper punctuation and capitalization). 


Class Overview:
-	Welcome & Share
-	Warm Up: Kahoot! or Writing Prompt
-	Writing format of the day (discussion & slides)
-	Student Writing Time


Each class is 75% writing, 25% discussion and reading.

Prerequisites:
- basic reading comprehension (at least 4th grade level).
- basic understanding of proper punctuation and cognition of common punctuation symbols (period, question mark, comma, quotation mark).
- ability to navigate zoom and multiple webpage tabs without parental assistance
- learners should feel comfortable using google docs.

Class Participation Expectations:
- Students will be asked to complete writing assignments during class and outside of class.
- Class participation includes reading out loud material assigned by the teacher or material that the student has written.
- Class videos are only available for viewing after class, if at least one student has attended class on the scheduled date.


Students must use an electronic device that offers both a camera and a microphone. Students are not required to have their camera on during the entire class. I respect that some students work best when they don't feel like they are being watched. By registering for this class each student understands that they must have their camera on at the start of class and during peer to peer discussion. Parents will be notified of disruptive behavior.