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Learn to Write a Spooky Story With 5 Basic Tools in This Interactive 5-Day CAMP

A 5-day CAMP - Dive into Narrative Writing tools to enhance academic skills & creativity. Explore setting, description, mood, characters, & plot for a well-rounded interactive learning adventure. Come write a spooky story. Escape Room bonus
April Hutcheson (Ms. April)
Average rating:
4.8
Number of reviews:
(118)
Popular
Class

What's included

5 live meetings
5 in-class hours
Homework
1 hour per week. Only homework is the escape room puzzle each day IF we don't get to do it or finish it in class.
Assessment
Assessment is just me asking students questions and interacting with them to see if they understand the content, and helping them to follow direction.

Class Experience

US Grade 3 - 6
Like to write stories? Don't mind a Spooky Story? In this 5-say camp, aspiring writers will learn the 5 basic Narrative writing tools they can use in many kinds of writing whether for fun or academic. A 5-day camp, students will dive into setting, description, atmosphere, characters, and plot in an interactive adventure. As an added bonus, students will work the Haunted Manion Escape Room Puzzle, designed to reinforce their writing skills.

Join me for an immersive week of spooky tales, escape rooms, and OH, YEAH, CREATIVE WRITING!  Aspiring writers need to master specific creative writing tools essential for effective storytelling. These are the same fundamental tools that are a part of school academic standards today.!
 
WHY CHOOSE ME AND THIS CLASS?
My passion for creative writing has been a driving force for years, and my talent for storytelling is second nature. My academic background includes a bachelor's degree, and I have been successfully teaching SAT Prep and Writing classes on Outschool for over two years. 

BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE CLASS:
During the 5 days in class, students will learn about:
**plot, setting, characters, atmosphere, and description.

** Adjectives as words of description.

**They will learn how to extend a sentence as we touch upon Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
 
**Participants will roll a dice to determine their plot direction and will have guided story sections where certain story elements will be provided, while participants work on specific tools daily. 

(I find this will help progression- Some students have trouble coming up with ideas and some come up with too many ideas. Both find themselves without a good story at the end of Day 5. This prevents that.)

Haunted House Escape Room: A thrilling activity where participants solve a daily puzzle related to their writing tools.

Homework Integration: If we run out of time on any given day, the Escape Room puzzle will be homework.

GOOGLE DOCS AND CANVA
Google Docs will be used to type in their story. I can share with them and see and comment in real-time to help them write their best story. They don't need to be great at typing.

CANVA
Canva is a platform many teachers use to create worksheets, lessons, slides, and more. It is also great for sharing. Like Google Docs, Canva provides a way to share documents and  interactively create online without the needs for printouts or paper.

Students can type directly into interactive worksheets. They can use drawing tools. They can drag items around, and so much more. It's free for them to use. With Canva, I can offer guidance and collaboration in real-time.

Creating all the content for them is time-consuming and hard work, but I am doing this in all of my classes now, and I see the smiles because it's more fun and they pay attention more.

Part of that motivation is the Haunted Mansion Escape Room planned for the end of each day. If they run out of time, it will be homework. Either way, kids love escape rooms. For this one, students much solve a series of puzzles get the code to get the key to escape the Mansion.
Learning Goals
-Students will produce clear writing where the development, organization, and style are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience.

-With appropriate guidance, students will develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting

-Students will write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

-Students will use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

-Students will use sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

-Students will provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

-Students will learn how to use digital applications like Canva and Google Docs
learning goal

Syllabus

5 Lessons
over 1 Week
Lesson 1:
Lesson 1: Introduction to Spooky Story Writing: Basic Tools and (1) Setting
 Intro to the Spooky Genre and 5 Basic Writing Tools. Discuss the genre and briefly explain each tool. We begin with "Setting" and learn what makes a setting spooky. Students will roll a homemade die for the story they will write. Certain features are mapped out for them, allowing their creativity to shine through for the rest. Based on their story pick, they will fill out a worksheet on what they imagine the main setting to be. An Escape Room puzzle awaits at the end to reinforce learning. 
60 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Lesson 2: (2) Mood or Atmosphere and (3) Description
 Two tools important to this story is the right atmosphere and the ability to describe all parts of it. We use the five senses and adjectives. A description is essential to any writing. Students will be asked to bring a snack. They will describe their snacks, while the others guess what it is. They will picture themselves as characters in their story to use their 5 senses to find descriptive words to build the mood of their story. Another puzzle of the Escape Room Awaits. 
60 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
Lesson 3: (4) Characters-Protagonist and Antagonist
 We will discuss the importance of characters in a story. We will work on creation of the protagonist and antagonist of their story distinguishing between internal personality traits and how that affects behavior to external characteristics of description. Another piece to the Escape Room Puzzle is waiting. 
60 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
Lesson 4: (5) Putting it together with Plot
 Discovering they have been writing the plot all along in their head and in their notes and activities of the week, they are soon prepared to write their story with a little guidance along the way. I will help them map out the rest of the storyline,  and then work with them in Google Docs to help them shape their story. The will work on their final puzzle of the Escape Room. 
60 mins online live lesson

Other Details

Parental Guidance
Parental Guidance in that content could be scary for some students, although what we talk about in this class is more of a spooky feel and doesn't really have the same images as pure Horror would. Here they may see graveyards, ghosts, haunted houses, and any monster, if present, will likely come from imagination.
Pre-Requisites
They should be able to type in Google Docs. They don't have to be good at it, just be able to type. They should also be able to follow instructions I give for Canva, Zoom screen sharing, and Google Docs or have someone available to help.
Supply List
Materials:
Please check back on the classroom before first class to get printout for dice that student will roll for plot.
-Student should have some paper and pencil in case they want to write anything down.
-They will need a snack on a certain day for an activity.
Joined January, 2022
4.8
118reviews
Popular
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Bachelor's Degree from University of Phoenix
My passion for creative writing has been a driving force for years, and my talent for storytelling is second nature. My academic background includes a bachelor's degree, and I have been successfully teaching SAT Prep and Writing classes on Outschool for over two years. I have over 12 years brick and mortar experience and have published works.

Reviews

Live Group Course
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$120

for 5 classes
5x per week, 1 week
60 min

Completed by 12 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-12
1-6 learners per class

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