3 IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT CRITIQUE We ask the teacher to avoid critique entirely. No helpful suggestions, no hints, no spelling or syntax correction, no coents constructive or otherwise! Just allow the student to create, and then your job is to adire their creativity and encourage ore. That's it! NOTE ABOUT REQUIRED DRAWINGS When asked to draw, we only want the student to deonstrate conceptual understanding. This is not an art course. Blobs and stick figures are fine. NOTE ABOUT STRUGGLES READING When asked to read, ase try not to coach very uch, or do the student s reading for hi. IF HE STRUGGLES WITH A WORD, help siply, but also write that word on a list of words for the reading progra! NOTE ABOUT WORKING OUTDOORS There are exercises (called DO ), where the student ust go outside. Access to an outdoor area ust be available. NOTE ABOUT WORKING WITH GROUPS Every step in this course can be done by an individual and by a group. The only steps you need to be concerned with for a group are the steps where the students are expected to read aloud. Select a different student to read each paragraph. If you have ore than four students, read through each reading section twice, dividing up the paragraphs. NOTE ABOUT ADMINISTRATIVE CONCERNS When asked to write down an answer, ase have the student write down at the top of his answer the nae of the course (Ele Creative Writing III, or El CW III), the lesson and exercise nuber. The student will need to be able to easily, quickly find his work fro earlier lessons, and often! Answers written or typed should be looked over by the teacher to help for spelling lists, per Connect The Thoughts spelling progra for Eleentary. IMPORTANT NOTE THE STUDENT CAN PUBLISH THEIR WORKS! This creative writing course provides a link which will take the student to a page on our site, at www.connectthethoughts.co. On that page, the student will be able to enter his nae, age, the title of his piece, and copy and paste the piece itself and we will publish work written for this course on our site for all to see! The work reains the property of the author. We want to provide a way for the student to share his work with others. He ll see his work surrounded in artwork on a page all of its own, and we will leave it up as long as we have a site! There, your student s work can be shared with friends and faily around the world, for years to coe. To have your student s work published in this anner, the link for this course is: http://www.connectthethoughts.net/student-stories.php? a=1&courseno=25725&type=creative
4 PART ONE A QUICK REVIEW LESSON ONE: A REVIEW OF PLOT, STORY AND ACTION (Note The student will need access to the Internet for this lesson.) 1. UNDERSTAND THE WORDS: Plot - The things that happen, in order, in a story. Plot is THIS happens, AND THEN that happens, AND THEN this happens, AND THEN that happens ) Action Anything that happens in a story. 2. READ ALOUD TO THE TEACHER: Story Everything in the plot PLUS all the details, all the descriptions of peo, places, things and actions. Everything you usually read. The first part of this course, we ll quickly look at what we covered at the end of Creative Writing II, the last course you finished. At the end of that course, you studied what a plot is, what a story is, and what action in a story is. before we ove on to new ideas, let s ake sure you understand these ideas. A plot is all the things that happen in a story, in order. A plot is just a list of things that happen. The plot for Little Red Riding Hood ight look this si and short: Red leaves hoe to take a basket of goodies to Granda s, through the woods. In the woods, the wolf talks to her. She tells hi she s going to Granda s. The wolf gets to Granda s first, and eats Granda. Disguised as Granda, wolf lets Red in, and tries to eat her. Red is saved by a woodsan (a an who works and hunts in the woods). (Soeties the story is told with any en saving her.) See how short that is! The plot is NOT the whole story. It s just a list of things that will happen in a story, in the order that they happen, and that s all it is. A story has a plot as a part of it, but it has a lot ore. A story is the plot plus all the details. It has all the actions, everything that happens in the story. A story has places in which action happens. It has peo (or anials or things) that do actions in the story. Everything in a story is alost always explained. Everything in a story is alost always described. All these things are details, little descriptions and things that are a part of the
5 story. All the details put together, with a plot, IS a story. So the story of Little Red Riding Hood would have all the details. Here is the whole story as one writer wrote it. Before reading it, here are the eanings of a few words in the story: Cottage A sall hoe found in the country, forest or a wood. Forester A person who helps take care of a forest. Scarlet A bright red color, alost orange. Errand A job one is supposed to do. Violets Violets, Honeysuckle Kinds of flowers. Ferns A kind of green, leafy plant. Nosegay A sall bunch of flowers. Honeysuckle
6 ONCE upon a tie there lived in a cottage on the edge of a wood a forester and his wife and little daughter. The little girl was a great pet with everybody. Whenever she went out she wore a red cloak with a hood to it, and the neighbors called her "Little Red Riding Hood." She ade friends not only with peo, but the birds and beasts, too, and she was not afraid of anything, not even the dark. One day her other said to her, "My child, take this pat of butter and bottle of blackberry wine to your grandother. Do not stay too long, for I shall be worried." Red Riding Hood was delighted to do her other's errand, so she put on her scarlet cloak, kissed her other good-bye, and started off to her grandother's house. The way led through the woods, but Red Riding Hood was not the least bit afraid, and she went on as happy as a lark. The birds kept her copany and sang their sweetest songs. The squirrels ran up and down the tall trees and ade her laugh at their funny antics; and now and then a rabbit would coe across her path, and soeties Red Riding Hood would run after the bunnies, but they always anaged to get out of her way. By and by she grew hungry, and sat down on a flat stone to eat the nice lunch her other had put up for her, and oh, how good it tasted! It was very lonely in the woods, but Red Riding Hood thought only of the wild flowers, which were so beautiful, and she went out of the path to gather soe violets, honeysuckle and sweet ferns, which ade a very pretty nosegay, indeed. But, dear e! When she turned to go back to the path she could not find it, and she was scared, for she felt she was surely lost in the woods. The birds knew that she was lost, and as she had been so good to the two of the flew down and called Red Riding Hood led her out of the tangle of brushwood into the path again. While she sat resting for a few oents a wolf cae up and spoke to her, which did not see at all strange to Little Red Riding Hood, as wolves and fairies were quite coon in those days. "Good day," said the wolf; "where are you going by yourself, little girl?" "I a going to y grandother's," said Little Red Riding Hood. "She ought to be proud of such a lovely granddaughter," said the wolf. Pleased with this coplient Red Riding Hood let the wolf walk by her side, although the birds kept warning her that he was a wicked rogue. "Where does your grandother live?" asked the wolf in a sweet voice. "Just outside the woods. You can see her cottage through the trees," said the little girl. "Oh, yes," said the wolf, "I think I will call on the dear old lady just for the fun of the thing. Suppose you take the left path while I follow this one to the right, and we will have a little race to see which gets to the cottage first." Of course the wolf knew he was sure to win the race, for he had chosen the shortest way, but Red Riding Hood suspected nothing. She was so young she did not know that wolves ight see to be ild as sheep, but still be wolves at heart. The wolf took the short road, and soon cae to the grandother's cottage. He rapped gently on the door, and the old lady, who was in bed, said:
7 "Is that you, darling? Pull the string and the latch will fly up," thinking it was Red Riding Hood, of course. The wolf pulled the string and then opened the door and walked in. "I a very glad you cae, dear," said the grandother, thinking her visitor was Red Riding Hood. "I a ore poorly than usual, and it hurts e to turn y head. Take off your hat, dear, and coe kiss e." "That I will do at once!" said the wolf, and with glaring red eyes he sprang on the bed and ate her up. Then he got into the bed and put on granny's nightgown and cap and waited for Red Riding Hood to coe. At last the wolf heard a little rap at the door, and he called out, as the old lady had done: "Is that you darling? Pull the string and the latch will fly up." His voice was harsh, but not unlike the grandother's when she had a cold. So Red Riding Hood pulled the string and went into the house, set her basket on the table and went up to the bedside. She was scared at the change that she thought had coe over her grandother. What could be the atter with her to ake her look like this? She ust have soe terrible disease. "Why, Granny," she said, as soon as she could speak, "what big eyes you have got." "The better to see you with, y child," said the wolf, iitating the grandother's voice. "The better to sell with, y child." "O, Granny!" cried the child, "what a great long nose you have got." "But, Granny, what great big ears you have got." "The better to hear with, y child." Red Riding Hood began to be ore scared than she had ever been in her life, and her voice trebled when she said: "O, Granny, what great--big--teeth--you've--got!" "The better to eat you up!" said the wolf in his own voice, and he was just about putting his long sharp yellow fangs in poor Little Red Riding Hood, when the door was flung open and a nuber of en ared with axes rushed in and ade hi let go of his hold, and Red Riding Hood fainted in her father's ars. He was on his way hoe fro work, with soe other en, and was just in tie to save his dear little daughter. With one or two strokes of the axe the wolf's head was cut off, so that he would do no ore har in the world, and his body was tied to a pole and carried back in triuph by the foresters. Friends fro far and near cae to see Little Red Riding Hood, and she had to tell over and over again just where she et the wolf, how he looked and what he said, until it seeed as if she never got out of the woods at all, not even in her dreas. When the children were told the story it was always with this word of warning: "When you are sent on an errand, go right along, and do it as quickly as you can. Do not stop to play on the road or to ake friends with strangers, who ay turn out to be wolves
8 in sheep's clothes," and they proised to reeber, and shuddered whenever they thought of what ight have been the fate of dear Little Red Riding Hood. That is the story of Red Riding Hood. It is uch longer than the plot. The story could even be longer. It could be uch longer than it is! The writer could have told us a lot ore about how things look. He could have described the woods she walked through, or Granda, or the wolf. The writer could have ade the reader alost see these places and anials and peo, if he d added ore about the into the story. Many good writers do that. They add a lot ore detail, until we can alost see and hear the places where the story happens, and see the actions and the peo. 3. DO: Go on the Internet. Find out what kind of birds live in the woods and forests of Gerany, the country where Little Red Riding Hood was first told. Run this search: Birds of Gerany. Look for photos. Pick three kinds of birds found in Gerany that you really like. Then, in your own words, describe each bird very carefully. For each bird, use no less than twenty-five words to describe that bird. Describe each bird well enough that a reader could alost see the bird. Make sure that each sort of bird is described and is different fro the other birds. ve your work, you ll need it for the next lesson. 4. DO: There are photos above of violets, honeysuckle, and ferns. In your own words, describe each of these types of flowers and the ferns, which are a plant. Make sure that the reader can alost see each flower or plant described, and that they are each different fro the others. ve your work, you ll need it for the next lesson.
9 5. DO: Red wears a cloak with a hood, and it s red. Here is a drawing: Describe Red and her cloak, using this drawing as your guide. Use your own words. Make certain the reader can see the cloak when you re done. Use at least 25 words to describe the cloak. ve your work, you ll need it for the next lesson.
10 LESSON TWO: A REVIEW OF PLOT, STORY AND ACTION MORE RED 1. DO: Again, look at this drawing of Red Riding Hood. Using your own words, describe Red. Use at least thirty words to do it. Make sure the reader can see her when they read what you wrote. 2. DO: Here s a drawing and photo of what the wolf ight look like: Use your own words to describe the wolf. Use at least 30 words. Make sure the reader can see the wolf, as they read what you wrote.
11 3. DO: Use all your descriptions, and add the into the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Put your descriptions into the story where I ask you to inside the story: ONCE upon a tie there lived in a cottage on the edge of a wood a forester and his wife and little daughter. (DESCRIBE RED HERE) The little girl was a great pet with everybody. Whenever she went out she wore a red cloak with a hood to it, and the neighbors called her "Little Red Riding Hood." (DESCRIBE THE CLOAK HERE) She ade friends not only with peo, but the birds and beasts, too, and she was not afraid of anything, not even the dark. One day her other said to her, "My child, take this pat of butter and bottle of blackberry wine to your grandother. Do not stay too long, for I shall be worried." Red Riding Hood was delighted to do her other's errand, so she put on her scarlet cloak, kissed her other good-bye, and started off to her grandother's house. The way led through the woods, but Red Riding Hood was not the least bit afraid, and she went on as happy as a lark. The birds kept her copany and sang their sweetest songs. (DESCRIBE THE BIRDS HERE) The squirrels ran up and down the tall trees and ade her laugh at their funny antics; and now and then a rabbit would coe across her path, and soeties Red Riding Hood would run after the bunnies, but they always anaged to get out of her way. By and by she grew hungry, and sat down on a flat stone to eat the nice lunch her other had put up for her, and oh, how good it tasted! It was very lonely in the woods, but Red Riding Hood thought only of the wild flowers, which were so beautiful, and she went out of the path to gather soe violets, honeysuckle and sweet ferns, which ade a very pretty nosegay, indeed. (DESCRIBE THE FLOWERS HERE) But, dear e! When she turned to go back to the path she could not find it, and she was scared, for she felt she was surely lost in the woods. The birds knew that she was lost, and as she had been so good to the two of the flew down and called Red Riding Hood led her out of the tangle of brushwood into the path again. While she sat resting for a few oents a wolf cae up and spoke to her, which did not see at all strange to Little Red Riding Hood, as wolves and fairies were quite coon in those days. "Good day," said the wolf; "where are you going by yourself, little girl?" "I a going to y grandother's," said Little Red Riding Hood. "She ought to be proud of such a lovely granddaughter," said the wolf. Pleased with this coplient Red Riding Hood let the wolf walk by her side, although the birds kept warning her that he was a wicked rogue. (DESCRIBE THE WOLF HERE) "Where does your grandother live?" asked the wolf in a sweet voice. "Just outside the woods. You can see her cottage through the trees," said the little girl.
12 "Oh, yes," said the wolf, "I think I will call on the dear old lady just for the fun of the thing. Suppose you take the left path while I follow this one to the right, and we will have a little race to see which gets to the cottage first." Of course the wolf knew he was sure to win the race, for he had chosen the shortest way, but Red Riding Hood suspected nothing. She was so young she did not know that wolves ight see to be ild as sheep, but still be wolves at heart. The wolf took the short road, and soon cae to the grandother's cottage. He rapped gently on the door, and the old lady, who was in bed, said: "Is that you, darling? Pull the string and the latch will fly up," thinking it was Red Riding Hood, of course. The wolf pulled the string and then opened the door and walked in. "I a very glad you cae, dear," said the grandother, thinking her visitor was Red Riding Hood. "I a ore poorly than usual, and it hurts e to turn y head. Take off your hat, dear, and coe kiss e." "That I will do at once!" said the wolf, and with glaring red eyes he sprang on the bed and ate her up. Then he got into the bed and put on granny's nightgown and cap and waited for Red Riding Hood to coe. At last the wolf heard a little rap at the door, and he called out, as the old lady had done: "Is that you darling? Pull the string and the latch will fly up." His voice was harsh, but not unlike the grandother's when she had a cold. So Red Riding Hood pulled the string and went into the house, set her basket on the table and went up to the bedside. She was scared at the change that she thought had coe over her grandother. What could be the atter with her to ake her look like this? She ust have soe terrible disease. "Why, Granny," she said, as soon as she could speak, "what big eyes you have got." "The better to see you with, y child," said the wolf, iitating the grandother's voice. "O, Granny!" cried the child, "what a great long nose you have got." "The better to sell with, y child." "But, Granny, what great big ears you have got." "The better to hear with, y child." Red Riding Hood began to be ore scared than she had ever been in her life, and her voice trebled when she said: "O, Granny, what great--big--teeth--you've--got!" "The better to eat you up!" said the wolf in his own voice, and he was just about putting his long sharp yellow fangs in poor Little Red Riding Hood, when the door was flung open and a nuber of en ared with axes rushed in and ade hi let go of his hold, and Red Riding Hood fainted in her father's ars. He was on his way hoe fro work, with soe other en, and was just in tie to save his dear little daughter.