1. I was very impressed, again, that a few students who hadn’t finished their questions were in their desks before the bell asking for help! That’s a great habit! We discussed those questions and, once again, had a great debate about where the Climax of the poem was. Some argued it was when she first opened the door to see the bones reach out to her ” like they once did in life”, while others beleived it was at the moment she screamed up at Tofille saying, “Quick! Open the door!” and they scurried to trap the bones in the attic. What can I say – some people are right and some people are wrong…………… Brittany!!
2. The next task on their list is their first big assignment – a spooky story writing assignment. To get them in the mindset of it, I read them some excerpts from student writing examples where different aspects of the writing was done especially well. The first story, “The Great Escape”, had intensely vivid descriptions and word choices. Another two short excerpts had extremely well considered metaphors used in place of actual things.
3. We read through a website that overviewed all the major aspects to consider in writing a short story, the types of characters and what added descriptions would be included, or deciding on which point of view to write your story from, etc. Their task tonight is to think of an idea so the beginning of the writing process isn’t slowed by the lack of inspiration.

Here’s a short clip I played that certainly got a reaction from the group. We’re aiming for mysterious, suspenseful or eerie stories.    17_tina