Our Creative Writing Units

Personal Narratives are powerful! Students are able to use their experiences to share, in writing, their personality, voice, motivations, and life lessons. The reading audience can both be entertained and taught some important life lessons from our personal narrative writing. Over the next 3 to 4 weeks, students will choose a memory they’d like to share with others and draft a cohesive, interesting personal narrative. They will learn a range of new writing skills along the way!

Day 1: Think of Several Ideas for Narrative

Day 2: Choose an Idea, Finding Your Focus

Day 3: Plan Narrative to Include Beginning, Middle, Climax, End

Day 4: Draft an Opening

Day 5: Write Rough Draft of Narrative

Day 6+: Draft a Meaningful Conclusion

Day 7: Revising: Using the 5 Senses & Emotions to Add Imagery

Day 8: Revising: Add Yesterday’s Details to the Rough Draft

Day 9: Revising: Add Dialogue

Day 10: Revising: Add Similes & Metaphors, Check for Clarity in Word Choices: Using Vivid Words

Day 11: Editing: Sentence Structure

Day 12: Editing: Paragraphing

Day 13: Editing: Punctuation, Capitals

Day 14: Editing: Spelling

Day 15: Publish: Begin the Final Draft

Day 16: Publish: Finish the Final Draft & Cover Page

Day 17: Celebrate!!

This writing unit is a more in-depth personal narrative, with a focus on the internal story. The internal story focuses more on the internal struggles, emotions, and thoughts of the characters. What are they thinking about what’s happening to them, what are they feeling about whatever they’re doing, what emotions are they having about anything going on around them? What internal struggles are they having?

Over the course of 4 to 5 weeks, students will delve deep into a chosen memory, writing a cohesive, interesting, and thought-provoking personal narrative. The audience will not only be entertained, but also learn some important life lessons along the way.

Day 1: Think of Several Ideas for Narrative

Day 2: Choose an Idea, Finding Your Focus

Day 3: Understand the Difference Between the External & Internal Story

Day 4: Plan the Narrative: Create an External & Internal Story Arc Guide

Day 5: Draft an Emotional Opening

Day 6: Complete the Rough Draft

Day 7: Draft a Closing

Day 8: Revising: Add Dialogue Which Showcases the Internal Story

Day 9: Revising: Add Internal Dialogue (Deep Thoughts)

Day 10: Revising: Add Similes & Metaphors

Day 11: Editing: Sentence Structure

Day 12: Check for Clarity in Word Choices: Begin Sentences in Different Ways, Using Vivid Words

Day 13: Editing: Punctuation, Commas

Day 14: Editing: Capitals, Paragraphing

Day 15: Editing: Spelling

Day 16: Publish: Begin the Final Draft

Day 17: Publish: Complete the Final Draft & Cover Page

Day 18: Celebrate!!

What better way to learn how to write about a favorite animal than to put yourself in their shoes for a day? I am a firm believer that the best way to learn about how to produce interesting pieces of writing (whether it be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays, reports, advertisements, narratives, biographies, or any other such example) is by studying the published writing of others. During the next 4 to 5 weeks, children will research about an animal and study the writing of a few authors as they imagine what it would be like to wake up as the animal of their choosing. What would your day look like? How can you use vocabulary and details to describe your day? Students will write in a prose poetry format, following the example of Joanna Ryder’s Just for a Day Book Series.  This is a fun project and will include photos and illustrations.

Prose poetry is written like prose, in paragraphs rather than verse, but contains the characteristics of poetry, such as poetic meter, language play, and a focus on images rather than narrative, plot, and character. There will be an emphasis on using vivid words and details throughout the unit.

Day 1: Read for Inspiration, Choose an Animal/Creature

Day 2-3: Research

Day 4: Organize a Plan

Day 5: Draft a Descriptive Introduction

Day 6: Draft the Next Step While Describing Appearance and Movements

Day 7-9+: Draft the Middle Section

Day 10: Draft a Closing

Day 11: Revising: Use Alliteration, Add Onomatopoeia

Day 12: Revising: Add Similes & Metaphors

Day 13: Check for Clarity in Word Choices: Using Transitional Words & Phrases, Using Vivid Words

Day 14: Editing: Sentence Structure (Checking for Present Tense & Second Person Narration)

Day 15: Editing: Sentence Structure (Use Prose Poetry Structure & Dashes/Ellipses)

Day 16: Editing: Punctuation, Capitals

Day 17: Editing: Spelling

Day 18: Preparing to Publish: Find Pictures

Day 19: Publish: Begin the Final Draft

Day 20: Publish: Continue the Final Draft

Day 21: Publish: Construct Book & Cover

Day 22: Celebrate!!

Our children are learning their place in this world. They each have unique talents and stories to share. Writing their own autobiography is a great way for them to share the important parts of their lives with others, and also a great way to learn more of their family’s history through research. During the next 7 to 8 weeks, children will compile important information about themselves and their family history, including important events, interests, attitudes, and beliefs. They will include photos and illustrations as well.

Alternately, students may follow the steps in this writing project to write a biography of someone else’s life. It could be the biography of a loved one whose story has never been told, or it may be the story of a famous person in history. This unit could be used as an autobiography this time around and a biography next year!

This is the most in-depth unit offered from Step Up & Write, due to its emphasis on interviewing, finding quotations, and taking the time necessary to add all the important details from different chapters of their chosen person’s life.

Day 1: Study the Writing of Others, Create a Plan

Day 2: Make a List of Events, Achievements, Life Changes, and Failures That Have Shaped Your Life

Day 3: Determine What is Important, Create a Timeline

Day 4: Organize by Chapter

Day 5: Prepare Questions for Interview (or to Answer Personally)

Day 6: Answer Questions From Above Personally

Day 7-8: Conduct Interviews

Day 9: Determine What’s Important

Day 10: Draft a Powerful Introduction

Day 11: Drafting Chapter 1

Day 12: Drafting Chapter 2

Day 13: Drafting Chapter 3

Day 14: Drafting Chapter 4

Day 15: Drafting Chapter 5

Day 16: Drafting Chapter 6

Day 17: Drafting Chapter 7 (Likes and Dislikes)

Day 18: Drafting Chapter 8 (Future Goals)

Day 19: Draft a Meaningful Conclusion

Day 20: Revising: Remember the Purpose

Day 21: Revising: Adding Quotations

Day 22: Revising: Adding Personal, Funny, Interesting Anecdotes

Day 23: Revising: Choosing Vivid Words

Day 24: Editing: Avoid Repetition of Information & at the Start of Sentences

Day 25: Editing: Sentence Structure

Day 26: Editing: Paragraphing

Day 27: Editing: Punctuation, Capitals

Day 28: Editing: Spelling

Day 29: Preparing to Publish: Find Pictures, Write Captions

Day 30: Preparing to Publish: Change Chapter Titles, Table of Contents

Day 31: Preparing to Publish: Create a Timeline

Day 32: Publish: Begin the Final Draft

Day 33-35: Publish: Continue the Final Draft

Day 36: Publish: Bibliography (Works Cited) or “Many Thanks”

Day 37: Publish: Final Touches

Day 38: Celebrate!!