Innovative lessons/ideas for teaching creative writing, as well as samples of student writing resulting from the lesson. See complete submission guidelines here.
by Jason DeHart As both a middle grades and college English instructor, I have found that using well-chosen visuals when introducing writing modes can create powerful, and even entertaining, opportunities for students to begin drafting. Images can be used in a variety of ways; for the purpose of this lesson plan, I will discuss guiding…
by Alice Pencavel T&W teaching artist Alice Pencavel’s crumpled paper exercise engages students with the process of collaborative storytelling. The lesson enables students to harness a greater aptitude for spontaneity and deepens their understanding of story structuring. Grades: 6th and up Materials/Set Up: One writing utensil and sheet of paper per student. Desks should be…
by Erika Luckert Last year, I facilitated a roundtable discussion on plagiarism and intertextuality in poetry, where a group of teachers and writers talked about the way we use other texts to inspire and fuel our writing. As we talked, we realized that what might be called plagiarism in a formal essay is sometimes a…
by Jennie Weng Character analysis is an important skill for writers to learn. However, too often students label characters with one-dimensional terms (e.g., good, bad, funny, evil, protagonist, antagonist). Well-crafted characters are a lot like real people; they are complex. If students can understand this integral component of character analysis, they will not only be…
by Matthew Baganz In the second part of his Arts of Speech lesson plan, Matthew Baganz shows students how words can create and communicate visual images. Read Part 1 of the lesson plan here. Grade: 3–5 Genre: Descriptive prose Download: The Arts of Speech Part 2: Recreating Pictures with Words Common Core Standard: ELA-Literacy.W.3-5.3 Write narratives…
by Matthew Baganz In Part 1 of The Arts of Speech, Matthew Baganz uses movement and imagery to help children learn the purpose of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. See Part 2 of the lesson plan here. Grade: 3–5 Download: The Arts of Speech Part 1: Unifying Meaning with Parts of Speech Common Core State…
By Matthew Burgess “The best way to help children write freely is by encouragement, by examples, and by various other inspiring means.” — Kenneth Koch, Wishes, Lies, and Dreams “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” — Pablo Picasso If you walk into a room full…
By Javan Howard Grades: 6–8 Genre: Poetry Themes: Race, Identity, and Stereotype Download: Who Am I? Exploring Stereotypes and Identity through Poetry LESSON PLAN Warm-Up (5 minutes): Define the Quote: Distribute Audre Lorde quote on index cards. Have students turn to those nearest them to discuss the quote: If I didn’t define myself for…
A creative writing lesson plan where students are asked to write poems in the voice of Lady Liberty.
by Bushra Rehman “Peer closer: a soul and a soul. He folds over her like a rosebud in sleep.” — Ishle Yi Park How to bring a love of sonnets to my high school students? Easy. I was a student, once upon a time in the old hip-hop life of Queens, and I am armed…