Sunday, August 28, 2011

Color Coordinated Traits!


I found this FANTASTIC idea for when you are revising and editing a piece of work! ENJOY!!! :)


Color Coordinated Traits! by LaRae Kendrick

Online Creative Writers Workshop ON SALE

I ran across an online CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP while browsing the other day. We have NEVER taken one of these classes so I can't give a review.  It does seem to be well thought out though, so I thought I would pass it along! :D  ENJOY!

Fanciful Fiction! Creative Writing Workshop

Ages 10-14

$55 in two payments
Second Payment Due By October 15th
9 sessions
September 20 - November 8
Tuesdays - 11:00 am Central

This is a writing workshop that will inspire your children's imagination and creativity.   Students will be writing four short stories based on the same "Fanciful Fiction Challenges" and will have the opportunity to then read what other students have written and offer feedback during workshop sessions. 

What is a Fanciful Fiction Challenge?
The challenge is made up of a theme for the story, the "Cardinal Cast" (person/people), the "Whimsical Whereabouts" (location) and the "Groovy Gadget" (thing/things.)  

For example:
Theme - Traveling
Cardinal Cast - a ship's captain
Whimsical Whereabouts - Egypt
Groovy Gadget - chewing gum

Students will aim to write the most creative and entertaining story that includes the elements of the challenge while keeping to 800 words or less.  Specific guidelines will be given during our first workshop session.

Workshop Sessions:  Students will meet in a CurrClick Live classroom approximately 60 minutes.
We will have a lesson focus and small group activity, followed by the students helping to choose the next story challenge. The club sessions following a completed story will include the reading of 2-4 student stories (with permission) to the class and the class offering their praise of what the author did well.

Lesson Focus:
Week 1 - Character Development
Week 2 - Revising Session
Week 3 - Setting
Week 4 - Revising Session
Week 5 - Plot
Week 6 - Revising Session
Week 7 - Dialogue
Week 8 - Revising Session
Week 9 - Author Celebration!

The revising sessions will consist of 3-4 students working together in a breakout room.  These small groups will read through each other's stories, offering feedback and constructive criticism. Students will then have until the following Monday to make changes on their stories before submitting a final version to me for review.

I will review the final version of each story (four total) in Microsoft Word with constructive comments, editing and lots of compliments. This is an opportunity to have your child's writing reviewed by another person to help them gain confidence in their strengths and become aware of the areas for growth.  I take a lot of time going over each individual story so that I can encourage and yet motivate the author toward continual improvement.

Upon the completion of the fourth and final story, students will submit their favorite story of the four they have written.  The stories will then be sent out to the class in a pdf file for the class to vote for their favorite overall, as well as their favorite in each of these four categories: best character development, best setting, best plot and best dialogue.  The winners of the vote will be announced during our final class session where will we have an Author's Celebration honoring the creativity and hard work of each of our fabulous authors.

***Following the class, the students will each have a story of their choice compiled in an eBook format that will be made available for download on CurrClick.  They will be published authors!

Each student will receive a Certificate of Achievement for their participation in this workshop.

Class size is limited to 20 students.

The live workshop sessions* will be held in the CurrClickLive Virtual Classroom.  A computer, headset/speakers and a high-speed internet connection are required. Instructions for using the virtual classroom will be provided upon purchase.

*The large group workshop sessions will be recorded with the link to the recording emailed to all club members following the meeting.  However, small group sessions are not able to be recorded.


If you have any questions about the class, please feel free to email me atdina@applesofgoldonlineacademy.com.