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 |  work in progress- writing assignments & links for use in the home school |
Wow! The dialogues were great! Read them before you go on! 1st-3rd.grade : Most of the story starter links in the resource list are too involved for this age group. I suggest parents brouse some of them to find a couple simple ones for your child to choose between, or, better yet, create your own story starter based on your child's interests. Have one main character be a child their age & gender; include one or two of their interests (spots, pets, a favorite stuffed animal, etc.). Have them do at least three illustrations to go with their story, but only after the story is written. 4th-12th grade: We're going to start a fictional story project, with a goal of producing something worth putting in your portfolio. Use some of the story-starter resources in our writing resource links, or an idea you already have. My requirements are simple (hah!): 1) Create believable characters. This doesn't mean they can't be fantasy characters or whatnot, just that whatever characters you create need to be consistant. Is the character a kid? Have him act like a kid. Your adults shouldn't be talking like kids (ever listen to the dialogue in those Bionicle movies? The adult characters all sound like pre-teens.) 2) Have a plot. Give enough detail to flesh it out, but include only the details that contribute to the plot. We don't need to know what your character ate for breakfast unless it is relevant to what happens later. All good plots include some conflict (problem) and some resolution of that conflict. In other words, the main characters face a dilemma and you need to tell how it ends up. Happy ending or sad, don't leave us hanging, wondering what ever happened to the.... 3) Have a basic plan before you start. You can change it as you go (some stories take on a life of their own), but have somewhere you are heading with it, and a clear idea of how you want to resolve the conflict. Will the lonely girl finally find a friend? Will the alien eat your dog or will your hero rescue it or will the dog eat the alien...? 4) I'm leaving length up to you, but this is not to be a novel, and it's not to be just three paragraphs. I'm planning at least one week for the rough draft, though I'm willing to extend it to two if you really get into your story. Turn in a hard copy of your rough draft BEFORE you post anything! *NOTE FOR 8th-12th graders: If you have a big writing project from another subject or class (research paper, for instance) you may count that as writing in lieu of this assignment AS LONG AS YOU TURN IN SOMETHING ON PAPER EVERY DAY!   ** Image ID #933346 Unavailable **  |
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