Students will develop good writing habits by keeping a writing journal throughout the semester.  
Students will learn about the first-person point of view, third-person point of view, and the difference between the two. 
Students will practice writing strong images, working them into stories, and editing them to fit their writing style. 
Students will learn how to write in the MLA format. 
Students will learn how to write strong, concrete characters. 
Students will learn and practice the "show don't tell" technique in their stories. 
Students will learn how to use coincidence, change, and choice to create compelling stories. 
Students will learn how to read books like a writer, break them down into writing techniques, and use that to better edit their own pieces. 
Students will practice writing a story to convey a specific message. 
Students will learn different ways to write memories into a story, such as flashbacks. 
Students will learn about different aspects of character development. 
Students will learn how to accept and give constructive criticism. 

Homework Offered
Students are expected to write in their writing journals at least two times a week, spending probably 5-10 minutes on each. 
Students will write a short story or a short story assignment once a week. Time spent on these assignments should be at least an hour but will vary for every student. 
At the end of the semester, students are expected to put all of their journal entries into one project for submission. If they work on them all semester, as expected, this should take them no longer than an hour. 
1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Progress will be assessed by informal assessment. I will edit their stories throughout the semester and give feedback on how to improve and revise them. These pieces will be given a Pass/Fail grade, based on whether or not the topic for that week is present in the piece. Their final assignment this semester is a free-write story to showcase what they have learned. In the feedback for this assignment, I will gauge what they have learned by the technical improvements they have made in their writing. Progress will also be assessed by their journal assignment, where they compile their top 20 journal entries that showcase what they have learned throughout the semester. Please see the attached documents for the full grading sheet I will be using. 
Grades Offered