When I conceived the idea to teach creative writing to kids, it was unformed. More of a "maybe I should" rather than an "I am going to". But the idea didn't go away. In fact, it started buzzing through my brain like the most annoying of bees flying hither and yon. It caused no end of trouble, on my vacation. Here I was, on vacation, trying to have a good time, and all I started thinking about was how to make the idea a reality. This bee wasn't dying or getting angry, no matter how much I tried to swat it away. I decided to talk to the closest thing I had to an expert. Was it someone in business, you ask?, A writer, maybe?, Come on, it has to be a teacher, you mutter. No, I had none of those people. I had something better. I had a Madeline. What is a Madeline, you ask? A new robot? A computer? Madeline is none of things. Madeline is a friend, a very good friend, who was doing exactly what I wanted to do. Except she was doing it far away in Accra, Ghana. If you are interested you can follow her adventures at monkeybreadmusings.blogspot.com. I contacted Madeline and told her what I wanted to do. True to form, Madeline was nothing but encouraging. And so the round of what ifs began. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, that over the last month the idea has solidified into a syllabus that revolves around the elements of a short story. While I am a decent writer, I also have somewhat numbers oriented brain and so, true to form, below is a visual representation of a short story.
So I've identified what I am going to teach. Luckily, the bee is still buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. It's no longer an annoying bee, though, it is a helpful bee flitting through the flower that is my brain making ideas instead of honey.
I've decided that I am going to teach the elements of a short story in a five week module that meets once per week. I'll teach The exposition, rising action, and climax over three classes. The fourth class would teach the declining action and the end. And the fifth class would have the kids "publish" their story to take home to parents. I am looking at laminators to make that happen. I am going to use a systems of two prompts a class to get the kids thinking. They'll then be able to choose which story they publish.
I've further decided that the age range would be kids 8-12 year olds. After all, to write, you need to know how to read. An older class for high school kids, if there was interest, can be added later. I remember high school. I hope there'll be interest.
Who I'm teaching. Check.
What I'm teaching. Check.
How I'm Teaching. Check.
Why I'm teaching, Check.
When and Where I'm teaching. Uh oh.
So I've identified what I am going to teach. Luckily, the bee is still buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. It's no longer an annoying bee, though, it is a helpful bee flitting through the flower that is my brain making ideas instead of honey.
I've decided that I am going to teach the elements of a short story in a five week module that meets once per week. I'll teach The exposition, rising action, and climax over three classes. The fourth class would teach the declining action and the end. And the fifth class would have the kids "publish" their story to take home to parents. I am looking at laminators to make that happen. I am going to use a systems of two prompts a class to get the kids thinking. They'll then be able to choose which story they publish.
I've further decided that the age range would be kids 8-12 year olds. After all, to write, you need to know how to read. An older class for high school kids, if there was interest, can be added later. I remember high school. I hope there'll be interest.
Who I'm teaching. Check.
What I'm teaching. Check.
How I'm Teaching. Check.
Why I'm teaching, Check.
When and Where I'm teaching. Uh oh.
