Creative Writing(Monday)

Summary for Lesson 1:

What did we cover
– Introduced the course and each other
– Discussed the different forms of writing
– Discussed and worked on structuring a piece of writing
– Discussed and worked on making writing more interesting (i.e. using adverbs,
adjectives)
– Discussed and worked on ‘Show not tell’

Class report
It was brilliant to meet the students this morning and begin our first lesson of the course. We
began by discussing what we will cover over the next 10 weeks, how the lessons will work,
and then did a round of introductions. It was great to get to know the students a little more and
find out about what their favourite books were.
We then moved on to discussing what different forms of writing there are (i.e. fiction and
non-fiction) and why it is so important to know your audience. The students had a solid
understanding in these areas, which was encouraging to see.
Next, we looked at how to structure a story.As well as completing some tasks which required
the students matching a sentence to the structure block it belonged to, we also came up with
our own ideas of how to open and end a story. This early exercise showed the students
creativity which will be invaluable as we go forward in our lessons.
We then thought about how writers make their stories interesting and focussed on using
adjectives and adverbs. The students very much enjoyed coming up with different descriptive
words and produced some wonderful sentences.
To finish, we did an exercise on ‘show not tell’ and looked at how writing can be made more
descriptive by describing how emotions manifest themselves in a character rather than just
stating how they feel.
This was an incredibly encouraging first lesson and I am very excited to read the students’
work and move on to our first focussed writing session.

Homework for Lesson 1:

Write the opening to a story. In your opening you should set the scene and introduce at least one character. Be sure to use adverbs, adjectives, and ‘show not tell’!

Feed back from Jess

Feedback from Jess

Summary for Lesson 2:

What did we cover
– Reflected on what we covered last lesson
– Discussed how we found the homework and read through students’ work
– Discussed what was good and what could be improved in our homework
– Discussed what the look out for in a story that you are going to continue
– Looked at stories and brainstormed ideas of how we might continue them
– Composed our own continuation of a story individually
– Shared our writing and discussed what we did well

Class report
We began the lesson today by recapping what we covered last lesson; it was great that the students remember the activities we did and why they were important.
Next, we spent some time thinking about our homeworks. We discussed what we enjoyed about doing the writing and what we found challenging; many students reported that they loved being imaginative (which is great!) and that they found choosing the best vocabulary and doing ‘show not tell’ (SNT) sometimes challenging. With this in mind, we will do extra
work on ‘SNT’ in future lessons.
A few students then volunteered to share their work. They read through their writing and then myself and the students discussed what we enjoyed about it. I also offered some comments  on what could be improved.
We began our work on ‘continuing a story’ by discussing what we would look out for in the story that we are going to continue; the students were good at realising how it is important to notice the characters, settings, objects, action, and mood in a text.
We looked at an example story and picked out the important information that we would use when continuing the story. Then, as a group, we brainstormed some ideas for how we might continue the story.
We moved on to doing some individual work; we read through another extract together, identified the key information, and then the students were given 10 minutes to continue the story.
To finish, we shared our work and discussed what we did well. I was very impressed by the quality of the students’ writing, particularly as they had a short period in which to do it; it was clear that they had taken on board the learning done in the lesson and put this new knowledge into practice very well.

Homework for Lesson 2:

Read the passage below. Continue the story.

(Look up the definitions of any words that you are unfamiliar with.)

Soaring majestically in the warm currents of air, the eagle flexed her mighty wings in a demonstration of power and agility. She enjoyed these early morning flights as the sun began to rise and the earth warmed to the touch of its rays. The air was fresh and clear up here in the mountains – it was going to be a glorious day. As she swooped and swirled idly, she spotted a flicker of movement among the spruce trees below. Folding her wings, she plummeted earthwards, gathering a speed unmatched by any other creature on this mountain. As she neared the swift approaching ground, she stretched and turned, talons extended. What was it that she had spied only seconds ago?

Summary for Lesson 3:

What did we cover
– Reflected on what we covered last lesson
– Discussed how we found the homework and read through students’ work
– Discussed what was good and what could be improved in our homework
– Looked at similes and metaphors
– Discussed what the look out for in an image that you are going to use as inspiration
– Looked at images and brainstormed ideas of stories we could write about them
– Composed our story individually
– Shared our writing and discussed what we did well
Class report
We started the lesson today by recapping what we covered last lesson and discussed what
we enjoyed about it.
After that, we looked over our homeworks. We talked about what we enjoyed about doing the
writing and what we found challenging. Some students offered to share their work and the
group and I spoke about what we particularly liked about it and what could make it even
better.
We then looked at using ‘similes and metaphors’ to make our writing more vivid. The students
really enjoyed doing the exercises and all came up with some wonderful ideas.
We started our work on ‘using an image as inspiration’ by discussing what we would look out
for in an image that we are going to write about; as with ‘continuing a story’, the students were
very good at noticing what characters, settings, objects, action, and mood is shown in an
image.
We looked at several images and picked out the important information that we would use
when writing our story. Then, as a group, we brainstormed some ideas of what stories we
might write about different images.
After this we did some individual work; we looked at an image, identified the key information,
and then the students were given 10 minutes to continue the story.
To finish, we shared our work and discussed what we did well. It was great to see how
different all of the students’ stories were and how creative they had been. It was also clear
that they had been attentive to the learning we had done in the lesson and used
similes/metaphors very well

Homework for Lesson 3:

Look at the image below. Write a short story inspired by it.
(Use at least one simile or metaphor in your story).

Summary for Lesson 4:

What did we cover
– Reflected on what we covered last lesson
– Discussed how we found the homework and read through students’ work
– Discussed what was good and what could be improved in our homework
– Looked at imagery and openings
– Discussed what the look out for in a title that you are going to use for a story
– Looked at titles and brainstormed ideas of stories we could write about them
– Composed our story individually
– Shared our writing and discussed what we did well

Class report
We began the lesson today by recapping what we covered last lesson; the students had remembered what we covered very well and it was clear through the quality of their homework
that they took onboard the learning.
We then looked over our homeworks. We discussed what we enjoyed about the writing and what we found challenging; the students reported enjoying the creative side and struggling
more with things such as spelling or choosing which idea to run with. A few of the students shared their homework and, as a group, we discussed what we enjoyed about them.
Next, we spoke about imagery and using the ‘5 senses’ in our writing to make our work more vivid and interesting. The students came up with some wonderful ideas for how to use
imagery to describe a beautiful garden, and many of them used imagery very well in their individual writing.
We spoke about openings next. We read through an example of a good opening and identified what made it so strong. The students then learned some good ways of opening a
story (i.e. using speech or an intriguing  object/action/character).
After this, we spoke about what is important about a story’s title and what information we can
gain about the type of story it will be from its title. The students are getting much better at
thinking about these opening questions, which is very encouraging.
As a group, we came up with different ideas for stories using a few titles. The students enjoyed thinking about what ‘The Broken Mirror’ or ‘The Hidden Book’ might be about, and
they clearly were attentive to how the title informs the text.
We spent some time at the end of the lesson working on the opening of a story called ‘The Unexpected Guest’ individually. The students were very keen to share their work and they all had some wonderful ideas.

Homework for Lesson4:

Choose a title from the list below. Write the introduction to a short story with this title.

(Use imagery in your opening).

– Mr. Mankind’s Secret
– A Great Escape
– The Worst Christmas
– The Haunted Forest
– ‘Who goes there?’

Summary for Lesson 5:

What did we cover
– Reflected on what we covered last lesson
– Discussed how we found the homework and read through students’ work
– Discussed what was good and what could be improved in our homework
– Looked at ‘show not tell’
– Discussed what the features of a fantasy story are
– Looked at fantasy-inspired images and brainstormed ideas of stories we could write
– Composed our story individually
– Shared our writing and discussed what we did well
Class report
We started the lesson today by recapping what we covered last week.
Next, we discussed our homeworks. We spoke about what we found enjoyable and what we
found more challenging. It was great to hear that one of the challenges often faced was
deciding which of many wonderful ideas they should write about. Several of the students
shared their homework and, as a group, we discussed what we enjoyed about them.
We then revisited ‘show not tell’. We discussed why it is good to use it, looked at some
examples, and came up with our examples to show emotions such as anger, excitement, and
fear in our writing.
After this we moved on to focus on fantasy stories. We spoke about which fantasy stories we
know and then looked at the main features. We then looked at different images of fantasy
characters and settings and brainstormed some ideas of what fantasy stories we could write
using these as inspiration. I was delighted to see how creative the students were and they
clearly took onboard the learning we had just done about the features of fantasy.
The lesson ended with the students coming up with their own fantasy stories using an image
of a werewolf as inspiration. They were wonderfully inventive and it was great to see how
different each of the student’s stories wer

Homework for Lesson5:

Write a fantasy story. Your story must have a ‘good character’, ‘bad character’, a conflict,and a resolution.

Summary for Lesson 6:

What did we cover
– Reflected on what we covered last lesson
– Discussed how we found the homework and read through students’ work
– Discussed what was good and what could be improved in our homework
– Looked at ‘alternative words for said’
– Discussed what the features of a mystery story are
– Brainstormed ideas for a mystery story as a group
– Composed our story individually
– Shared our writing and discussed what we did well

Class report
We began the lesson today by recapping what we covered last week. I was pleased to see that the students remembered what we had covered very well.
We then moved on to discuss our homeworks.
As usual, we spoke about what we enjoyed and what we found more challenging. I was particularly impressed by the quality of the homework this week; it is wonderful to see the writing skills improve so evidently over the weeks. Many of the students then shared their homework and we all discussed what we enjoyed about them.
Next, we looked at ‘alternative words for said’. I spoke about why it is good to not use ‘said’ too frequently and how alternative words can be far more descriptive. We then did an exercise which involved coming up with alternatives.
After this we moved on to focus on mystery stories. We spoke about what a mystery is, which mystery stories we know, and then looked at the main features of the genre. We then worked together to come up with an idea for some mystery stories. It was great to see how inventive
the students were, they all came up with some really fun ideas.
We finished the lesson with the students coming up with their own mystery stories using the setting of a classroom and a leaky pen as inspiration. They were wonderfully creative and diverse.

Homework for Lesson 6:

Write a mystery story. Your story must have a detective, a suspect, clues, and a solution.

(For an extra challenge, try including a red herring too!)