Sharon Watson uses her engaging style and comprehensive
approach to help students master fictional writing. Select your student’s assignments
from one of two tracts: the All Writers or Manuscript track. With
the Manuscript track, students will complete the All Writers assignments and
the additional tasks, so that by the end of the course, they will have
completed assignments to write either a short story or a novel. The course
requires the student text, the Teacher’s Guide, and the novel The Last Book in the Universe (which is used throughout the course).
All aspects of designing and writing a story are
explored through 13 chapters (a one-year course spanning 102+ lessons) The course
covers some facts about fiction, point of view, characters and
characterization, conflict, dialogue, description, words, theme, plot, scenes,
beginnings and endings, and the final hurdle, getting published. Depending on
the assignment, each lesson can span days or weeks. Students learn to create by
observing examples: exploring fiction from many genres and styles and then
applying these techniques in their own writing. Some of the material referenced
and several assignments are designed for group settings to encourage discussion
and open reading/critiquing of each other’s work. Students can follow one of two
learning tracks: the first is for writers of all skill levels; the second is an
optional track for writers who will create a manuscript. Both tracks are self-explanatory
and self-directed. The Teacher's Guide includes a discussion guide, answer key, and a
bibliography of all of the examples used in the student text (which is quite
extensive). A Course Package is
available, and includes the three required items: student, Teacher Guide, and
the novel, The Last Book in the Universe. For details and parental notes on this
dystopian novel, see our individual description. The publisher states this
course equates to 1 elective high school credit. If you desire to use this
course as a traditional full-year credit, add literature studies. Assignments include
those that include movies (like The Greatest Showman; Cast Away; The
Fugitive); short stories (like The Island, ScrewTape Letters,
the Tell-Tale Heart, and The Prodigal Son parable); and others. In
some cases, Internet links for reading assignments are written directly in the Teacher’s
Guide. Since links change periodically, you’ll need to do a Web search for some
individual works—which are typically well-known and easily found. ~ Ruth
