
Room 238's Writing Genres
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In Room 238 each marking period presents a new opportunity to explore different genres of writing. We use Lucy Calkin's Writer's Workshop to help students develop a love and passion for writing. Listed below are all four marking periods with the type of writing students will be drafting and composing during that time period along with the unit from Lucy Calkin's Writer's Workshop.
1st Marking Period (Narrative Writing)
In this unit students will learn how to draft realistic fiction narratives. We learn how to create a main character based on what we see in ourselves and place our protagonist in a bunch of challenging situations to build depth. We also learn how to narrow our focus on a main theme of our stories, from the smallest of moments to the greatest of events. We take our protagonist through a journey of different scenes and events, and by the climax and resolution of our pieces, our character has changed in some way.
- Realistic Fiction
- "The Arc of the Story" Unit
- Skills Addressed
- Imagining stories from ordinary moments
- Imagining stories we wish existed in the world
- Developing believable characters
- Giving our characters struggles & motivations
- Using story arc to plot events
- Show don't tell (writing scenes)
- Drafting the heart of the story
- Study famous author's work
- Developing setting through description
- Writing powerful endings
- Revising using a particular lens
- Using Mentor texts to flesh out characters
- Editting with various lenses
- Narrative Writing Resources
2nd Marking Period (Opinion Writing)