Creative Writing with Substance

Giving students an opportunity to write fiction is an important and empowering experience. Too often personal narrative, persuasive, and expository trump all other forms of writing in our classrooms. Meanwhile, we read multiple short stories and novels – all examples of creative narratives that we analyze and exalt. Having student analyze fiction, but not create it runs the risk of sending students a terrible message: the fiction they could write is inferior and not worth creating.

In order for students to really understand why authors do what they do, students must take on the role of the author. Good readers read as writers. When deciding the parameters of a creative writing assignment, I look to my reading standards, not just writing.

Pre-writing plays a key role:

Theme: Get short stories with substance by asking students to find an inspirational quotation on http://www.quotationspage.com/  and then create a plot that proves the theme to be true. Model an example, create plot charts, and let students conference just on the plot charts and ideas so they can refine and get feedback.

Character: By creating innovative and realistic characters, student practice characterization. Character profiles, like the one over at National Novel Writing Month’s teacher resources packet, gives students the scaffolding they need to flesh out their ideas. Use my lesson on the coronation scene from Frozen to help show students the versatility of dialogue.

Symbol: My students were really struggling with analyzing symbols. I wanted them to see symbols from the other point of view, as the author. I modeled with my own story – a stunning narrative that involved Brad Pitt buying me flowers.

Stage directions: This year, our district moved drama unit into the same grading period as our narrative reading and writing units, so I took this as an opportunity to change the short story to a script. Capitalizing on the standards for our grade level that asks students to analyze stage directions, we looked at models and students used them to establish characterization and symbols.

What’s more, the kids have fun! The creative process is engaging. Students are energized. The testing genres are killing our kids. They have voices and characters and worlds ready to be unleashed! Creative writing opens the doors to those worlds and lets kids speak through their characters.

The Only Way You Will Need to Teach Symbolism

I finally got around to making and posting this video!

Teaching Symbolism the Metacognitive Way

Again, this is breaking it down into cognitive steps. The example below is from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, but I have used this full activity for The Outsiders, Full Tilt, a variety of picture books dealing with prejudice in small groups for a pre-reading activity before we begin our Holocaust Literature Circles, and it is the same thought process I go through for smaller texts. 

1. Read text all the way through
2. Have students draw objects from the story (they will naturally gravitate toward symbols). 6-10 for a full length novel, 1-5 for short works. And label them.
3. Review definition of symbol - an object/color/action that represents an idea. AKA something that you can see representing something you can't see.
4. Model with one of the images from the text. I model on board and have students write on the back. Say, for example, the pearl-handed pistol from ROTHMC. Students reenter the text and find 3 places where the object is mentioned. We write three sentences about how the characters feel, react, or think about the object based on the three page numbers. EX:
TJ wants the pistol.
RW and Melvin give him the pistol.
The pistol becomes the source of TJ's downfall. 
5.  I use a white erase board to create blanks for where the object is: 
TJ wants ____________.
RW and Melvin give him __________.
___________ becomes the source of TJ's downfall.
Whatever the object symbolizes should be able to be replaced in at least 2 of the 3 sentences. We create a list really quickly of all the things the pistol can symbolize (inevitable, someone says violence.) I start with one I know if wrong, like violence, to show the students it doesn't work. TJ does not want violence. Usually a kid will offer something like "power" or "status", which is what it does symbolize. I like to show students that both of those words would count as correct answers.
TJ wants power.
RW and Melvin give him power.
Power becomes the source of TJ's downfall.
6. Where they have written the object, they also write down the correct answer on the front.
7. After I model one, I always let the kids work in pairs to work for the remainder of the class period. I request the images be colored and look nice, that there be three page numbers, three sentences for each on the back where they show their work, and have what the object is and what it symbolizes on the front. Here are 4 examples: