Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

Joy Cario

LL ED 411

Penn State University

Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

I want to know if integrating creative writing in the freshman grade at

State High in Remedial program would be helpful with improving grammar

and promoting the student’s identity.

This is interesting to me because I have always wished for the

opportunity to write stories in school and be given the chance to express my

interests and creativity. I would like this opportunity to be given to other

students. I believe the opportunity will also help form their identity as a write

as well as improve their writing skills. Classes as a whole is also form their

identity. What they like to read, what they have a special interest in, how

they can implement their favorite subject into creative writing. How it

[writing] can relate to them) This identity helps the student grow, form their

opinions, and learn more about themselves. Creative writing gives students

another way to express themselves whether it is from poetry, story-telling, or

a lyric.

The Focus Inquiry and Review of the Literature:

According to the Writing Studio of Duke University, Creative Writing is

defined as “a form of artistic expression, draws on the imagination to convey

meaning through the use of imagery, narrative, and drama. This is in

contrast to analytic or pragmatic forms of writing. This genre includes poetry,

fiction (novels, short stories), scripts, screenplays, and creative non-fiction.”

The class focus of creative writing classroom gives the students a way to

exercise their artistic abilities, their imagination, and their writing skills. The

students may learn, and most importantly, practice different forms of

writing.
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Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

The history of creative writing goes back a long way, before

computers, before typing, even before the quill and paper. Before creative

writing involved writing, stories were told through pictures, voice, or even

song. When print came into play, writing was used to preserve those stories,

and eventually, around the eighteenth century, became a more popular

means of story telling. Plays, poetry, lyrics, and finally novels became the

current form of creative writing that we know today.

In doing research, I’ve found that little is to be found about the

particular effects or even logging attempts to integrate a creative writing

class into the curriculum. Many of the articles on creative writing –or even

the arts in general- are only used in context of integrating the creative

writing across the curriculum as opposed to its own unique class. It seems

that this is a subject that rdeserves more research and time.

“Creative Writing” lesson plan was adopted by the Renton School

Board. In this plan, the author states in the overview that, “The course will

concentrate on the development of written communication skills with an

emphasis on contemporary styles of poetry and prose. The course will be

structured as a writing workshop. Elements of editing, revision, criticism,

oral reading, and readings in literature will be discussed and applied.” Some

of the goals and reasoning for this half-of-a-year class are written for this

lesson plan include developing a writing voice, continuing the development

of basic writing skills, and to improve the ability to revise and rework written

drafts.

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Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

for middle and high school teachers” is by a teacher who tries different

strategies and arrangements in her creative writing elective class. The

teacher mostly focuses on grading and accessing the student’s work. The

author goes through different methods and themes that have passed

through the years. There are two main methods: the high school plan and

the college plan. The high school plan consists of short stories due every

couple of weeks whereas the college plan finishes with a portfolio at the end

of the year. Students are given the option to pick which plan they would

work best with. The end result has the students “get to write freely, based on

their life experience, without being controlled by a grade” and “students

practice the important life skill of time management and self-discipline.”

In an article entitled The role of the arts in learning: a comprehensive

education should include the arts as a way to understand and appreciate the

core curriculum and expand students' views of life and culture, Sarah

Anderberg and Glen Thomas advocate and talk about the need for the

addition of the arts into the curriculum. The authors suggest that the arts,

including creative writing, and necessary for students to expand their view of

life and culture. As teachers, we should be aiding in the student’s creativity.

“A 2002 survey of more than 60 research projects on the impact of arts

education on student learning found numerous ways in which studying the

arts nurtures other learning, from music's role in cognitive development and

spatial reasoning to the ways that drama fosters reading comprehension.”

A forum seems like an unlikely choice, but many opinions and first-

hand teachers and students experiencing the creative writing class at that

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Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

in the “For Educators and MFA Programs” subsection in which the beginning

post was a teacher requesting tips and pointers for teaching a creative

writing class – her first one. Responses that followed included textbook

suggestion and wishes of good luck. One particular responder explained that

he/she had just gotten out of a creative writing class. Laureltree offers advice

on what not to do, including reading everything out loud, limiting a high

school student’s writing content that would be willingly shared out loud, and

forcing the students to have the story done and completed by the end of

class on the day they began the story.

Methodology and Data Collection:

In ninth grade, there will be a creative writing class that a group of

fifteen students will take. For every unit, there will be a focus of different

forms and genres of creative writing. Journalism, poetry, lyrics, plays, screen

writing, nonfiction, and different genres of fiction will be taught. Each unit

will be approximately two weeks long. At the end of each unit, the student

will produce a written paper in the form of the focus of the unit plan.

For each paper, there will be multiple drafts. Brainstorming and free

writing will be key elements, along with proofreading. . Content will be the

first priority in the first draft, then grammar will be the main focus once the

first draft is ready. After being exposed to all forms of writing, students will

be free to write in their favorite forms.

At the end of the year, a portfolio will be put together of all of the

student’s completed work. The students will then have their peers pick two

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Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

newspaper to be published for the school.

Assessment will be based off of attendance, cooperation, due dates,

and above all, the final portfolio. The students may also look at their works

from the beginning of the year to their last works and note the

improvements and growth in the writing.

Data Analysis

Most students will show an improvement towards the end of the year

in their writing and grammar skills s opposed to what the students came in

with at the beginning of the year. After each text due at the end of the unit,

students will have learned to proofread their work. They will also have

learned different form of creative writing and be exposed to the many

different kinds. A few students will find that they do not like creative writing

and prefer another subject. However, their writing skills and their creativity

will have been improved and they will have gained further skills to better

their writing for other classes. By being exposed to the many different types

of creative writing, the students will have broadened their horizons and

learned new and different cultures.

Findings and Conclusions

Because these students were exposed to many different kinds of

writing, the students will have found their favorite form, or the best way to

express themselves. Finding this new way to express themselves has given

them the ability to form a stronger identity in an otherwise confusing time in

their life. The students have been exposed to all forms and so can rightfully
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Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

students to understand who they are as a writer and their overall identity.

This sense of identity is important for students to build confidence and

knowledge of who he or she is as a writer and as a person.

Grammar and basic writing skills have improved in most students as

well. Because of the continuous exposure and practice of proofreading and

peer editing, the students have become more aware of different writing skills

and procedures to improve writing.

To continue to improve the student’s ability to write when this year is

done, writing across the curriculum would be imperative. It would also assist

the students even during their creative writing class year. It would also allow

the students to have even more experience in their writing in different forms,

especially those outside the creative writing genre.

This new classroom worked because it was helped students learn more

about their identity. It gave them a genre they may relate to and a

confidence in their writing ability. By teaching the students about the

different forms of creative writing and having the students practice these

forms, it has expanded their knowledge and experience, and given the

students more exposure to writing. Grammar and general writing skills and

practices have also been exercised and improved from continuous and

constant writing in and outside the classroom. Each year, the curriculum

should change and be adapted to each class and what they need help with

the most. More research should be done in this area to fully tap into the

possibilities of a creative writing class.

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Creating a Creative Writing Class: Is It Important?

References:

Anderberg, Sarah, and Glen Thomas. "The role of the arts in learning: a comprehensive

education should include the arts as a way to understand and appreciate the core

curriculum and expand students' views of life and culture." The Free Library. Farlex, 1

Nov. 2001. Web. <[Link]

+a+comprehensive+education+should...-a0189832093>.

Benjamin, Amy. "Case VI: Creative Writing." Differentiated Instruction A Guide for Middle and

High School Teachers. Upper Saddle River: Eye on Education,, 2002. 140-44. Print.

"Creative Writing." Writing Studio: Duke University. Duke University. Web.

<[Link]

"History of Creative Writing." Scribble Pad. Web. <[Link]

Ihunter, and Laureltree. "Teaching Creative Writing - HIgh School." For Educators and MFA

Programs. [Link], 7 Mar. 2007. Web. <[Link]

t=10028>.

Myers, D. G. "The Lesson of Creative Writing's History." D.G. Myers. Feb. 1994. Web.

<[Link]

Renton School Board. "Creative Writing." Renton School District. Renton School Board, 19 June
1980. Web. <[Link]