GPSD Course Syllabus

Course Title: Creative Writing Grade Level: 11 or 12 Credit Available: .5

Teacher Contact Information:

Name: Jennifer Rood Campus: Gladiola Room Number: 8Email Address: jrood@grantspass.k12.or.us Phone Number: 541-474-5790 extension 108District Webpage: www.grantspass.k12.or.us

Grades will be issued at the end of the first and second semester. Progress reports will be mailed home at the end of 6 and 12 weeks. Parents and students are encouraged to follow progress on Power School. Visit the district webpage to learn more about how to access your account.

Course Description: (from the GPHS Course Catalog)

This course offers students the opportunity to develop creative writing skills in a variety of literary forms. We practice the techniques of good short story construction, several forms of poetry, journal writing, and screenwriting, to name a few. Students will improve their perceptive, creative, and composition skills. The class offers several opportunities to enter writing contests, and/or submit writing for publication. It is designed with the writing workshop format in mind. There is a lot of writing time worked into the class schedule. This course is also offered for Advanced S.O.U. credit.

Course Expectations:

Students are expected to journal daily and to complete all assigned work, including both practice and polished pieces. Students are expected to type polished pieces and to edit for proper English before submitting to be graded. Students are expected to share their writing with peers in workshops and to give and receive constructive feedback. And although this is a creative writing course and I expect that students will tackle heavy themes and content occasionally, I expect students to write pieces that do not include graphic violence or sex; in other words, I expect students to keep it PG-13.

Course Standards: (adopted by the GPHS English Department)

Reading: Read, comprehend, and analyze literature and informative text. Writing: Write to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately

through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. Language: Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English and usage. Listening/Speaking: Participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions and presentations.

Grading Criteria: 70-30 Model

Seventy percent of a student’s grade will be determined based on final, polished pieces of writing. Thirty percent of a student’s grade will be based on completion of daily work and other assignments.

District Grading Scale: A MasteryB Approaching MasteryC ProficientF Not proficient

Late Work or Missing Work: Barring extenuating circumstances (in which case, you should contact the teacher), these are the policies in force:

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT/UNIT WRITING PIECES (70% category) Final, polished writing pieces for a unit may be turned in up to three weeks late for full credit. This allows for

some flexibility in the writing process; sometimes it is important to have a little extra time to sit with an idea and let it percolate. However, after that, the final piece will not be accepted for credit. ALL WORK FOR GRADUATING SENIORS IS DUE BY 3:30 p.m. on Friday, June 1, 2018 (so there is no “three-week window” for the screenplay assignment).These pieces include: * traditional form poem DUE: Friday, March 2, 2018 * modern (free verse) poem DUE: Thursday, March 22, 2018

* creative non-fiction essay DUE: Friday, April 13, 2018* short fiction DUE: Friday, April 27, 2018* 1st chapter DUE: Friday, May 4, 2018* screenplay DUE: Friday, June 1, 2018

* NOTE: There is also an objective test over poetry that falls into the summative assessment category.

FORMATIVE/PRACTICE ASSIGNMENTS (30% category) Most late assignments will be accepted for full credit (with some exceptions—see bullet point below), but

only up until the final writing project for that unit is due. After the final writing project is due, I will not accept late assignments from that unit for credit.These pieces include: * journals * worksheets * quizzes * practice exercises * free-writes * exit tickets * rough drafts * etc.

Keep in mind that formative assignments may be accepted late, but may be given reduced credit. This is at the teacher’s discretion. For instance, if something was necessary for a class discussion and it was not completed in time for that discussion, then you may only receive partial credit since it was part of a larger assignment that involved active participation.

Reassessment: Students may be given one opportunity to re-take/re-write a summative piece if it fails to meet minimum standards. Formative/practice pieces may not be re-done for more credit.

An “I” for incomplete may be assigned at teacher discretion, based on student circumstances.

Required Texts and Other Supplies/Fees: There is no textbook and there are no fees for this class. Reading assignments will be provided.You will be provided with a journal to be used exclusively for daily practice writings in this class. I will collect it on Fridays and return them on Mondays, so you should not use it for other classes.Please bring a binder for keeping papers and class assignments organized, and, of course, bring pens, pencils, and paper each day.We have a class set of Chromebooks, but if you would like to bring a laptop, you certainly may.

Behavior Expectations: To make this a positive experience for everyone, students are expected to be respectful, personally responsible, organized, and communicative. I also encourage patience and kindness. All policies stated in the Student Handbook will be observed.

Be prepared with an attitude to engage when you walk through the door. Check the board for the daily writing prompt and the day’s lessons/activities. Anticipate what will be needed and get out the appropriate materials.

Be quietly respectful for the reading of the daily poem. Be curious, engaged, and productive during class time. Be brave when sharing your work. Be supportive and respectful when others share theirs. Electronic devices (cell phones, ipods, etc.) should remain off and in backpacks. Drinks are okay in class. Food is not allowed.

Academic Support: Please communicate with me. When you have questions, ask. When you are feeling overwhelmed, let me know. If you need help or clarification, arrange to see me during one of my Structured Study classes. I want you to succeed!

Differentiation strategies available in this class may include extension activities, acceleration, or other activities, depending on the needs of the student.

EXTENDED SYLLABUS (based on a 17-week semester for seniors)

Unit One: Conquering the Inner Critic (approximately 3 weeks—early February)

Purpose(s): The introductory unit provides an overview of the class and establishes routines and class culture, including daily poetry readings and journaling. Through readings, writing exercises, discussions, and games, we will also establish a mindset of openness, playfulness, experimentation, and delight with language and ideas and with each other. The idea is to just get writing!

Readings: Goldberg, Natalie. “Accept Ourselves.” Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life. Bantam, 1990. Marlowe, Christopher. “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” Scott, Sir Walter. “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd.” Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 18.”

Videos: Carmichael, Evan. “Maya Angelou’s Top Ten Rules for Success.” YouTube. 21 Sept. 2016. Collins, Billy. “Two poems about what dogs think (probably).” TedTalk. 2013.

Cyrus, Miley. “Party in the U.S.A.” Yankovich, Weird Al. “Word Crimes.”

Assignments: Daily Journals “Accept Ourselves” Short Essay—How do you speak to yourself about writing? Give your “sweetheart” a voice. 14 Little Poetry Prompts—Write a poem inspired by at least one line from the exercise. Lolly & Varnack Poems—Write two poems, one using denotation and one using connotation. Parody Poem—Write a parody of William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18.” Perspective poem: Write a poem from outside your own perspective.

Creativity Game: Thinking Outside the Box

Pacing: Week 1: Introduction to the class. Establish norms for writing and sharing—You have something to say! Natalie Goldberg reading & “Accept Ourselves” assignment. Maya Angelou’s Top Ten Rules for Success Week 2: Writing as experimentation. Lolly/Varnack lessons on denotation/connotation. Billy Collins video and perspective poem. Week 3: Writing as playful—focus on parody. Creativity game.

Evaluation: Students will receive credit for completing exercises. All assignments fall into the formative category for grading (weighted at 30%); there is no summative assessment for this unit.

Unit Two: Poetry and Creative Non-Fiction (approximately 7 weeks–February/March/early April)

Purpose(s): Understanding and experimenting with the power of poetic expression is what this unit is about. Daily journaling continues. Students will learn about the history of poetry and write numerous poems in various forms. Students will participate in poetry workshops where they will give and receive feedback from each other. They will also prepare a poem for submission to the journal Honoring Our Rivers for possible publication, and each student will also select at least one poem to submit to the Grants Pass High School literary journal Off the Wall: Cave Creations for possible publication and prize money. The last part of this unit will be to write a prose piece infused with poetic language and devices.

Poems: McKay, Claude. “If We Must Die” (including Kilmer, Joyce. “Trees”but not Darwish, Mahmoud. “To a Young Poet”limited to) Nye, Naomi Shihab. “Valentine for Ernest Mann”

Chesterton, W.K. “Sonnet to a Stilton Cheese” Robbins, Harry M. “An Ode to Cheese”Frost, Robert. “Birches”Frost, Robert. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Frost, Robert. “A Dust of Snow” Whitman, Walt “I Hear America Singing” Hughes, Langston. “I, Too, Sing America”

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. “Sonnet XXVIII” cummings, e.e. “l(a” cummings, e.e “In Just—” Thomas, Dylan “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”

Article: Prior, Karen Swallow. “Why Walt Whitman Called America the ‘Greatest Poem’” The Atlantic. 25 December 2016.

Essay: Doyle, Brian. “Joyas Voladoras.” The American Scholar. Autumn 2004.

Pacing: Weeks 4-5: Lyric Poetry and Traditional Forms Focus on rhythm, meter, rhyme and poetic devices. Students write in a number of forms. Students write and workshop one polished, traditional form poem for assessment.

Week 6: Modern Poetry Focus on breaking rules of traditional forms, esp. Whitman and cummings. Weeks 7-8: Students produce a number of free-verse poems using different techniques. Students write and workshop one polished, free verse poem for assessment. Week 9: Review and Test over Poetry Unit Produce, prepare, and submit poem to Honoring Our Rivers student journal. Prepare and submit poem(s) to the high school literary journal.

Week 10: Writing Lab—Creative Non-Fiction Essay Students read, annotate, and discuss “Joyas Voladoras.” Students write a 500-word essay incorporating poetic language.

Evaluation: Students will receive credit for completing exercises, which will fall into the formative category for grading (weighted at 30%). There are four summative assessments for this unit (which are weighted in the 70% category): (1) an objective test covering poetic forms, poetic devices, and the history of poetry, (2) a polished, original poem in a traditional form, (3) a polished, original poem in free verse, and (4) a creative non-fiction essay of at least 500 words that incorporates poetic devices.

Unit Three: Short Fiction (approximately 4 weeks—April/early May)

Purpose(s): Getting experience in crafting stories is what this unit is about. Daily journaling continues. Students will review the elements of fiction (setting, character, plot, POV, theme, etc.) and be able to identify those elements in flash fiction pieces. Students will write a flash fiction piece and share it in groups, giving and receiving feedback from each other. The last part of this unit is to map out a narrative arc for a longer piece (short story, novella, or novel) and then to write the first chapter, introducing setting, character, and conflict. Short writing exercises designed to develop the craft of writing fiction will be infused into the month-long unit.

Readings: Devane, Emily. “The Hand That Wields the Priest.” Grindstaff, Rob. “Narrative arc: What the Heck Is It?” 30 March 2012. http://robbgrindstaff.com/2012/03/narrative-arc-what-the-heck-is-it/ Koch, Stephen. “Rules for the First Draft. Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction. Modern Library, 2003. Lamott, Anne. “Short Assignments.” Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, 1994. “Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers.” Writing. 14 June 2014.

Video: “Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ

Exercises: Various writing exercises will be taken from Ursula K. Le Guin’s Steering the Craft. Eighth Mountain Press, 1998.

Pacing: Week 11: Students review elements of fiction (plot, character, setting, theme, POV, conflict). Students read Koch’s “Rules for the First Draft,” Lamott’s “Short Assignments,” and “Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers.” Students complete various writing exercises. Week 12: Students read, annotate, and discuss flash fiction pieces, including Emily Devane’s “The Hand That Wields the Priest” Writing exercises continue. Week 13: Students write, workshop, and present their own flash fiction pieces. Week 14: Students study narrative arc, plot a full story, and write a first chapter.

Evaluation: Students will receive credit for completing exercises, which will fall into the formative category for grading (weighted at 30%). There are two summative assessments for this unit (which are weighted in the 70% category): (1) a flash fiction piece of no more than 500 words. (2) a 1st chapter of at least 1000 words for a longer piece (which must introduce, setting, characters and conflict)

Unit Four: Screenplay (approximately 3-4 weeks—mid-May to early June)

Purpose(s): Students will learn the conventions of screenplay and demonstrate their understanding of the form by creating an original adaptation of a piece of writing (which can be either their own writing, or a published novel or short story, which the student must provide).

Pacing: Week 15: Introduction to Screenplay Students learn terminology and look at an annotated page of a screenplay. Students watch the opening for Casablanca and look at the screenplay. Week 16: Practice work—Students adapt a short piece into screenplay. Week 17: Summative work—Students create the opening scene for a screenplay. They must include the original piece of writing

Evaluation: Students will receive credit for completing exercises, which will fall into the formative category for grading (weighted at 30%). There is one summative assessment for this unit (which is weighted in the 70% category). Students must write a screenplay adaptation of their flash fiction piece, or they must write the opening scene(s) introducing setting, character, and conflict for a longer piece of their choice.

End of Year (approximately 7 ½ days in June)

Note: The class is officially over, with all work due by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, June 1, which is the last day for seniors. However, there are occasionally some juniors who are admitted to take the class. During the last few days of the regular school year, juniors who took this class will have opportunity to work on any number of possible activities, including but not limited to the following options:

completing writing projects of their choice, submitting writing for publication, writing and sending a letter to a favorite modern writer, viewing and discussing the film Dead Poets Society, viewing TedTalks about writing, playing word games such as Scrabble, Quiddler, and Balderdash, mapping out summer writing goals, compiling a journal of writing by Gladiola students.