Explore True Stories, Poetry and Fiction: Upper Elementary/Middle School Grades

In this 8 week writing class, I will teach the students to write effective and colorful personal narratives (true stories) and poems. We will read many examples on screen of stories and poetry, and then the students will write their own with feedback. I will look at individual student work and give them guidance. Students will also be able to share with one another if they wish. The environment will be supportive and inspirational. Beginning writers are welcome! 

Week 1: Introduce a "watermelon seed" or "small moment story" and generate topics for writing.
Week 2: Discuss how to write a lead sentence, using great verbs in your writing, dialogue, and adding details.
Week 3: Explore how to paragraph effectively in your writing. 
Week 4: Show students how to edit a story and create a final copy. (Typed or handwritten, with optional illustrations!)
Week 5: Introduce Free Verse Poetry. Discuss some of the elements: line breaks, strong feelings and topics.
Week 6: Teach more elements of poetry: stanzas and word choice. Polish one of our poems. 
Week 7: Introduce Haiku poetry. Discuss one of the "myths" of Haiku! 
Week 8: Continue exploring Haiku. Students can choose one of their own to add artwork if they wish.