This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Get creative and write with this superb introduction to the world of fiction and story for middle school students! Learn an overview of what takes to write books and stories, poetry, and screenwriting, and get a chance to write using what you’ve learned. It’s an addition to the 6/7 and 7/8 series foundational academic English and writing courses that can surely help your student excel and bring out a love for writing!
Total classes: 8
Prerequisite: WRITING ESSENTIALS 1: Punctuation and Grammar I (MS 6/7-1) or equivalent. Students may take the prerequisite through Unlimited Access or as a LIVE course.
Suggested grade level: 6th to 9th
Suggested credit: 2/3 semester English or Writing
Description
This middle school creative writing course is a superb introduction to the world of fiction and story, giving your student a sampling of what it takes to write within fiction, poetry, and screenwriting. Throughout the course, we will explore the beginning components of each type of writing to give students a basic understanding of creative writing, and students will be given a chance to create their own stories, screenplays, and poems using the skills learned. In the Part Two course, we’ll take what is learned here and advance it to more complicated ideas, furthering students’ understanding and preparing students for upper-level creative writing. This enjoyable course is perfect for learning a bit about each type of creative writing, can give your student a chance to express creatively in writing, and can prepare students to continue studying creative writing in future courses. Students who complete the Part One and Part Two courses may take the in-depth high school creative writing courses (11-Series fiction writing).
Outline
Class 1-4 – Fiction Writing
Class One: Format and Genre
Class Two: Character and Point-of-View
Class Three: Plot and How to Plan Your Story
Class Four: Setting and Beginning Your Story
Class 5-6 – Screenwriting
Class Five: Format, Purpose, How is it Different?
Class Six: Strong Action and Scene Headings
Class 7-8 – Poetry
Class Seven: What is Poetry? Parts of a poem & Rhythms
Class Eight: Short Poem Forms – Limericks, Haikus, Couplets, Acrostics, Cinquains
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: All materials are provided free by the instructor. If submitting homework to an instructor, students will need to be able to create .doc or .docx files using Word or another program like Google Docs (which is free).
Homework: Homework consists of a mix of automated quizzes and creative writing assignments each week. Students should expect to spend one to four hours a week on homework depending on how difficult the student finds the creative writing assignments.
