Week of Oct 15-18

New Writing Assignment Character Sketch: Our newest writing assignment is writing a character sketch of a person who is close to you or of yourself as though you are a character in a book. You are going to write about this person using show not tell.( 10 marks)

We learn about characters in three ways: by what they say, by what they do and by what others say about them....although the last way is the least reliable. The way to do this assignment is to choose a person to write about ( it could even be yourself) put this person in a situation or location and begin describing them through the activity as if you are writing part of a story.

Example: Mom in the kitchen making dinner dealing with teenage son

"Briiiaaan, get in here, did you drink the last drop of milk and leave it in the fridge for someone else to put in recycling, how many times do I have to go over this with you?"
"OK mom don't freak out he said, rolling his brown eyes as if to say, what's the big deal." His almost 6 foot frame leaned longingly into the fridge as he scoured through it looking for something to eat.
" There's nothin' in here, when are you going to get some decent food for us to eat?"
 Finding a day old burrito, he pops into the microwave pushes the buttons and awaits his feast. Almost burning  his fingers, he takes it out and like a programmed robot, heads straight to the computer to check his Facebook account.
 After numerous scans through Facebook, his phone buzzes and he reaches over to attempt to do two things at once, which causes him some difficulty. After some time, he realizes he is in desperate need for a drink but is too lazy to head back to the kitchen. " Hey mom he charms, can you do me a favour?"

Week of Oct 7-11 Assignment Update

The following is an update on work that we should be working on this week.

Spot Colour - Students should take photos with the intent to focus on a particular colour. Then using pixlar or pic monkey the background should be turned to black and white and the main item should be highlighted to spot colour. ( 5 shots = 10 marks)
Skate Park shoot  - In this assignment students should focus on taking shots from different angles. The skate park makes an excellent backdrop for photos,so make sure you have a focal point in all of your shots. You could shoot people or objects or even the skate park itself...just make sure you remember your rules of composition while shooting. ( 10 shots = 20 marks)

spot colour images in google

Writing- Students are still working on their personal experience stories. We also completed a freewrite this week during class.

The following are a few examples of student photographs of the above assignments.

Photo By: Ceara Hodges

Photo By: Sophia White

Photos By; Sophia and Ceara

Week of Sept 15 -20

Students have spent a week learning about the basics of photography and all of the technical components of how to upload, organize and manage photos. By this time in the course students should have the following completed:

• signed up on Flickr and have me as a contact
• have their Flickr screen name as their own name with (f92013) after it
• created a buddy icon which is a pic of them
• taken head shots 3 of other people and one of yourself (edited)
• head shots uploaded to Flickr and made into a set entitled Head shots
• have purchased  their own SD card
• brought in a baby pic of themselves which we will scan into the computer and save in the photo 9 folder ( this week)
• find an object that has significance to them and be prepared to tell a story about the object to the class. ( this week)

Welcome Future Creative Writers

This is the spot where you will be able to keep track of your writing assignments. I have taught Creative Writing for a number of years ( almost 15!) and I love it. I offer a full money back guarantee if you do not become a better writer after taking my class.

Next year I am teaching a Writing/Photography Grade 9 Elective class, which I believe will be a fantastic class. In this class, we will be writing and taking photos in the hope of producing an individual 10 page photo/writing book as well as a larger class book.

See you next fall!

Film: In God's Hands

We have spent the last two classes watching the film, "In God's Hands." Essentially, this is a surfing film, but it delves into the life of the surfers and the motivation behind their drive toward being the best in their chosen sport and taking extreme risks each and every day. The focus of this film is on looking into the internal conflict of one of the older surfers. Students were asked to discuss in writing the internal conflict of the character of Mickey. We will have a small class discussion about the film next day and students should proceed with the questions that were to be answered.

Where do ideas come from?

Where do the best ideas for stories and characters and images come from? Where will you find the most fertile resource for imagination and truth? 

Your mind, of course. And in your everyday life.

Writing is very much about elements such as plot, characterization, description, dialogue, and voice, but often the most important work does not happen at the keyboard. It comes from somewhere deeper, from bringing the riches of your mind to the surface. It’s a process that happens when you are away from the words and outlines—often sleeping or dreaming or going about your everyday tasks.

Allow your mind to wander....be bored or still some of the time so you can live in your imagination. This is the place where the greatest riches are found.

What do you have to say to the world?

What stories are your dreams revealing to you?

Have you observed someone interesting lately?

What are you frustrated about?

Unleash your fantasy world.

Remember, great writers write everyday, not because they have to, but because they need to, and  because they have something to say to the world.

Check out some writing topic ideas

Good Morning Writers

I am not at school today so I thought I would communicate with you via blog. Much of your term 1 writing has been very good, you have amazed me with your creative thinking, ability to bring a story to life and create emotion in your poetry. Congratulations!

I was going to mark the symbolism sheet for term 1, but I moved it to term 2 instead. The following is a recap of what is needed for term 2 so far ( this does not include the two writers who are writing books). All term 1 work will be handed back next day...I would like to spend the full class with you to set up expectations for term 2 and work with my two book makers.

1. Symbolism sheet -5 marks
2. Issue poem: Focus on a big, real world issue like poverty, child soldiers, the environment etc, you may need to do some research before you write in order to fully understand the complexities of your issue. - 10 marks
3. Bucket list: A list of 25 things you want to do before you turn 25. -10 marks
4. Small one scene script: This should be written in script format and should revolve around a conflict that two people are having. It is kind of like a combination between the conflict and dialogue assignment you already did. Make sure you write a small piece at the beginning to set the scene.
- 15 marks


NEW ASSIGNMENT 3-4 short entries - 20 marks

Create a character who has a secret to confess, but who is afraid to confess it. Write the diary or journal entries that your character would write as she or he considers the secret, explores why it needs to be confessed, think about who will be affected if the secret is known, and consider why she or he is afraid. Write a series of diary or journal entries, as if they were written over a period of several days or a week. In the entries, you can incorporate the main character's interactions with others and explore the ways that the day-to-day events that the character experiences influence the way that she or he thinks about the secret and confession. Your character's decision to tell (or not) should be revealed in the final diary or journal entry. All the entries need to work together as a whole -- they should sound like the writings of a single person, (first person narration) .