1. Students have spent some time planning their short stories. Today is the first of three classes for them to begin writing and developing their story.
2. We discussed the focus of “showing and not telling” where you add a lot of details, imagery, or dialogue from characters to help create the action, as opposed to just saying what’s there or happening.
3. We also discussed the strategy of spacing out information about characters or setting throughout the story, as opposed to “dropping in” a paragraph describing everything about one character or the setting. This may be the habit with writers who are new to the process, but we recognize in literature we read that we constantly are told more things throughout the story, instead of getting bulk pieces of information.

1. Students began the class with time to develop their plot details. I had asked them yesterday to consider their story options after school and at home at night. Since class time is a precious resource, using home time to “think” and class time to “write” would be the best option. However, they were here this morning with few ideas and it didn’t seem like a good use of their class time.
2. I asked them, by measure of a vote, whether they wanted to postpone their Period 1 of 3 writing class until Monday and use today’s class to move on with other content. The vote was to move on, which we did. The deal then, though, is that they actually consider their stories at home on the weekend and come Monday ready to write!!
3. We read through a few poems related to this unit and focused on elements of the story like imagery, identifying the speaker, and deciding on a possible climax. (Not all poems have a climax or resolution.) We’ll study the poetry in more detail next week but hopefully they’ll have a productive weekend.

1. Students were told yesterday they’ll have to test their story-writing abilities with the next assignment. We’ve looked at elements of literature, all the aspects of a story that need to be considered, so putting that knowledge into application should be the natural next step.
2. To focus on this aspect of stories, though, and challenging them to focus on each element, rather than just start with pencil on paper and see where the story may lead, they were given story planning sheets today with boxes for each of the aspects they need to ‘Plan’. Yes, like planning for another type of essay, planning is important for story writing as well!
3. We talked through a lot of possibilities, and through those discussions we came up with some really strong points:
   1. Riley did a great job of coming up with great storylines he’s seen in movies that are similar, like the idea of some alien nation or mutation taking over civilization. I asked them to consider, then, how the movie Shaun of the Dead is very similar in plot or theme (man’s basic struggle to survive) but the tone of the stories are completely different (many are serious and meant to be ominous, while Shaun of the Dead is written with a quirky sort of tone). Because the tone was differs, the sorts of events acceptable in one story does not necessarily fit in another.
   2. We also talked a lot about creating suspenseful stories, by adding parts to the stories that may seem to be leading to a major plot point but ends up being a distraction for the reader.
   3. As well, we looked at our plot outline still on the whiteboard from “The Death Trap” and talked about the reality that the falling action for that story is quite long. Students can play with their resolutions and, if done purposefully and carefully, can have quite an abrupt end.
   4. We talked about the little-known-fact that many movie DVDs have “alternate endings” in their Special Features sections. Even someone as accomplished as M. Night Shamalon who’s created wonderful, suspenseful stories, likely has a hundred or so story ideas he began, or developed, that never really satisfied the way his others did. Even for the great writers, they write but may not succeed in expressing the potential idea they hold inside.
4. Today was mostly a thinking class, but I asked the students to really spend some time considering their story ideas after class and throughout the day. Coming up with the idea is the most difficult part. Putting it to paper comes much easier once you find your inspiration!  That’s what we’ll start with tomorrow.

1. Students had this class to use for brainstorming, coming up with an idea and plot details for their narrative writing assignment. They were given a sheet with boxes for each of the elements of literature to ensure they are included in their story.

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

1. We reread the poem together, with Brittany doing a wonderful job of narrating. We paused, several times, to discuss certain elements of the plot that seem significant:
   1. Is there actual evidence that she is a witch?
   2. Is it possible the son is the result of the affair and not Tofille’s son?
   3. Does the husband ever see or hear the bones?
   4. Is it possible the bones are a result of the mother’s guilt over the affair / murder and are only a hallucination?
   5. What is significant about the husband’s full name being mentioned in the last line? Is it anti-climatic?
2. Students did a ten-question quiz quickly and we marked them as a class. These questions were lower level (answers found directly in the text) as well as higher level (where they had to infer or read into what information was given).
3. Students then worked independently on a sheet with eight questions. This must be completed for tomorrow’s class.     

Poetry Analysis Question Sheet