Aim
To introduce students enrolled in Creative Writing
to one of the literary genres that will
be studied in this course.
Rationale
Writing is not only a basic skill in
education,
but also an art form. Writing can provide
students
with a variety of options for artistic outlet and self expression. By
studying
creative writing students will learn how different genres of writing
are produced,
thus
enriching
their repertoire of writing skills.
Goals and Objectives
Upon completion of this curriculum students should be able to:
- understand and define basic literary terms
- compare/contrast two different types of writing
- produce a poem using various creative elements
Audience &
Prerequisites
This curriculum is designed for students
enrolling
in creative writing.
- Students should
have
a basic knowledge of literary terms and their definitions
- Students should
have passed English I (Survey of Literature)
- Students need not have any
experience
in writing beyond regular classroom writing to participate.
- The target audience is high school students
Subject Matter
This curriculum serves
as
an introduction to a course in creative writing. This WebQuest
will
review basic
literary terms, assist students with
understanding
the difference between journalistic writing and creative writing,
and assist students with producing an
initial
piece of writing.
Instructional Plan
1. Have students activate prior knowledge by reviewing basic literary terms.
2. Next, students will read and analyze a newspaper account of
the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama church
bombing and " Ballad of Birmingham," a poem on the
same
subject by Dudley Randall.
3. Students will identify the literary elements the author
uses
in the poem as opposed to the facts noted in
the newspaper account.
4. Next, students will web search an account of a current or
historical
event (i.e. 9/11, the murder of Tupac
Shakur, the Rodney King incident); find and
print
an online article.
5. After studying the facts of the event, students will create
a
poem based on their chosen topic. Poems should include
several of the literary elements in the literary
review
guide. Students may use the ballad format or the poem my be
a prose selection.
6. All students will word process their poems in a new
document
page. Journals, web articles with pictures, and original
poems should be brought to class.
Students
will peer share and revise poems with a partner.
7. The class will then organize pictures and poems for
publication,
either in print or online.
Materials
Computer, journal, pen
Assessment and Evaluation
Upon completion of this WebQuest students
should
be able to:
- distinguish orally and in writing between a
newspaper
account and a creative writing piece
- identify orally and in writing basic literary terms
- produce writing in a selected genre
using
various literary devices
Implementation Plan
In my class room I have three computers, with
only
one having Internet access. I plan to check with my
technology coordinator about the possibility of
getting the other two computers wired. We are scheduled to have
the new lab go live in September, but
I do not know how many stations will be installed
or if the work is
on schedule. I am estimating that about 5-6 of the 18
students enrolled in Creative Writing
have Internet access at home. In addition,
the Media center has 6 (I think) computer stations
available.
So, what is the plan? This WebQuest will be assigned
the
1st week of school. This will allow me to assess all of the
Internet resources we will have
access
to for the year. I estimate that the average student can
complete
the computer portion of this assignment in 4-5 hours (class periods are
45 minutes). The non-computer portions can be done as
homework. The final project will be the publishing of work
(print or online to be determined).
I hope that
this
WebQuest will motivate students who may be intimidated about taking a
writing
course. Creative Writing is an
elective, so some
students may have been programmed into this class due to
lack of other more desirable choices. This curriculum model
will be
effective in that it will
allow students to work at their
own pace which works well for a writing class. This class
meets at 1st
period (7:45) which is not the most desirable time
for me, but in reflection it might work out well with the
effective
integration of WebQuests. Students who are late will be
able to pick-up where they
left off and not
have to worry about being left behind. This should assist
students in self-pacing.
What I anticipate that might be problematic:
access
to the Media center and computer lab first thing in the morning.!