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Creative Writing

Course Description:

Creative Writing is an English elective course that focuses on the exploration of short fiction and poetry, culminating in a written portfolio that includes one revised short story and three to five polished poems. Students draft, revise, and polish fiction and poetry through writing exercises, developing familiarity with literary terms and facility with the writing process as they study elements of creative writing.

Elements of fiction writing explored in this course include attention to specific detail, observation, character development, setting, plot, and point of view. In the poetry units, students learn about the use of sensory details and imagery, figurative language, and sound devices including rhyme, rhythm and alliteration. They also explore poetic forms ranging from found poems and slam poetry to traditional sonnets and villanelles.

In addition to applying literary craft elements in guided creative writing exercises, students engage in critical reading activities designed to emphasize the writing craft of a diverse group of authors. Students study short stories by authors such as Bharati Mukherjee and Edgar Allan Poe, learning how to create believable characters and develop setting and plot. Likewise, students read poetry by canonical greats such as W. B. Yeats and Emily Dickinson as well as contemporary writers such as Pablo Neruda, Sherman Alexie, and Alice Notley. Studying the writing technique of a range of authors provides students with models and inspiration as they develop their own voices and refine their understanding of the literary craft.

By taking a Creative Writing course, students find new approaches to reading and writing that can affect them on a personal level, as the skills they gain in each lesson directly benefit their own creative goals. Students who are already actively engaged writers and readers learn additional tools and insight into the craft of writing to help them further hone their skills and encourage their creative as well as academic growth.

All English elective content is based on the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.

Course Details:

Course Title (District): Creative Writing
Course Title (NCES SCED) : Creative Writing
Course Provider : Ann Arbor Public Schools
Content Provided By : Apex Learning Inc.
Online Instructor Provided By : Ann Arbor Public Schools
Standards Addressed : Michigan Merit Curriculum, National Collegiate Athletic Association
Alignment Document : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/klh22tquqp5b8b1/BqtHgyDv4h
Academic Terms : Semester, Trimester, Accelerated
NCES SCED Code : 01104
Subject Area : English Language and Literature
Course Identifier : Creative Writing
Course Level : High School (Secondary)
Available Credit : 0.5
Sequence : 1 of 1

How To Enroll:

Enrollment Website : http://a2virtual.org
Email : [email protected]
Phone : 1-734-997-1208

Students and Parents: It is important to work closely with your local school counselor or registrar to follow the school's enrollment procedures. By clicking the "Start Registration Request" button below, you will be able to notify the school of your interest in registering for the online course. However, it is the responsibility of the district or school to review the registration request and approve or deny the request. Please make a note to follow up with your school after submitting a registration request.

Start Registration Request

Additional Course Information:

Additional Cost: $0.0

Additional Cost Description: None

Course Objectives: Creative Writing

Analyze Short Fiction:

The student will be able to:

Recognize the characteristics of creative writing, including use of sensory details, awareness of audience, and carefully chosen language.

Identify elements of direct and indirect characterization in fiction.

Identify the characteristics of reliable and unreliable narrators in short fiction.

Identify first-, second-, and third-person point of view in fiction.

Identify omniscient, limited, and stream-of-consciousness narration in short fiction.

Identify elements of setting, tone, and atmosphere in short fiction.

Analyze the effects of conflict, tension, action, and foreshadowing in short fiction.

Differentiate between active and passive language.

Identify the elements of a story arc or plot in a short story, including rising action, falling action, and dénouement.

Identify the effects of pacing in short fiction, including flashbacks and flash-forwards.

Analyze the effectiveness of dialogue in terms of its effects on character and plot in short fiction.

Identify the characteristics of flash fiction.

Differentiate between short fiction and creative nonfiction.

Write Short Fiction:

The student will be able to:

Create an original work of short fiction that demonstrates an understanding of plot, characterization, setting, and pacing.

Select an appropriate point of view to use in creating an original work of short fiction.

Create believable, correctly structured dialogue in an original work of short fiction.

Choose and implement revision techniques for larger-scale flow, character consistency, plot, structure, and style in an original work of short fiction.

Analyze Poetry:

The student will be able to:

Differentiate between poetry and prose.

Identify the characteristics of poetry, including sound, line, image, and structure.

Analyze the effects of compressed language and vivid imagery in poetry.

Differentiate between a word's connotation and its denotation and discuss the effects of connotation and denotation in poetry.

Define the literary terms metaphor, simile, personification, synesthesia, metonymy, alliteration, assonance, symbol, and allusion.

Analyze the use of figurative language, alliteration, assonance, symbolism, and allusion in poetry.

Identify the characteristics of rhyme and rhyming patterns in poetry.

Analyze the effects of rhythm and meter in poetry.

Explain how line breaks and lengths, end words and enjambment, stanzas and stanza breaks, and syllabic and metrical counts affect a poem's musical qualities.

Analyze the effects of tone in poetry.

Identify the characteristics of narrative, lyric, and prose poetry, as well as the specific forms of the ode, nocturne, aubade, and two-voiced poem.

Identify the characteristics of metrical and rhymed forms, including the heroic couplet, terza rima, and the sonnet.

Write Poetry:

The student will be able to:

Write poems that demonstrate an understanding of the effects of word choice, figurative language, rhyme, meter, tone, structure, and form on the poem's meaning.

Choose and apply revision techniques to edit for word choice, compression, fresh language, and vivid imagery in original poems.

Choose and apply revision techniques to refine the relationship between form and content in original poems.

Develop a selection of revised and polished poems using all of the craft techniques studied throughout the course.

iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses

Academic Content Standards and Assessments Rating Comments
The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are measurable in multiple ways. Fully Met
The course content and assignments are aligned with the state’s content standards, Common Core curriculum, or other accepted content standards set for Advanced Placement® courses, technology, computer science, or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards. Fully Met
The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and breadth to teach the standards being addressed. Fully Met
Information literacy and communication skills are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the curriculum. Fully Met
Multiple learning resources and materials to increase student success are available to students before the course begins. Fully Met
Course Overview and Introduction Rating Comments
Clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course. Fully Met
Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. Fully Met
Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to communicate with the online instructor and course provider. Fully Met
Legal and Acceptable Use Policies Rating Comments
The course reflects multi-cultural education, and the content is accurate, current and free of bias or advertising. Fully Met
Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions, and e-mail communications are clearly stated. Fully Met
Privacy policies are clearly stated. Fully Met
Instructor Resources Rating Comments
Online instructor resources and notes are included. Fully Met
Assessment and assignment answers and explanations are included. Fully Met
Instructional and Audience Analysis Rating Comments
Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students’ needs and incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum. Fully Met
Course, Unit and Lesson Design Rating Comments
The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives, activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content. Fully Met
Instructional Strategies and Activities Rating Comments
The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active learning. Fully Met
The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways. Fully Met
The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex ways. Fully Met
The course provides options for the instructor to adapt learning activities to accommodate students’ needs. Fully Met
Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level expectations. Fully Met
Communication and Interaction Rating Comments
The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about student progress. Fully Met
The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before and during the first week of the course) that confirms whether students are engaged and are progressing through the course. The instructor will follow program guidelines to address non-responsive students. Fully Met
The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material. Fully Met
Resources and Materials Rating Comments
Students have access to resources that enrich the course content. Fully Met
Evaluation Strategies Rating Comments
Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. Fully Met
The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and procedures to assess students’ mastery of content. Fully Met
Feedback Rating Comments
Ongoing, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the course to inform instruction. Fully Met
Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his/her progress in class and mastery of the content. Fully Met
Assessment Resources and Materials Rating Comments
Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess students in a variety of ways. Fully Met
Grading rubrics are provided to the instructor and may be shared with students. Fully Met
The grading policy and practices are easy to understand. Fully Met
Course Architecture Rating Comments
The course architecture permits the online instructor to add content, activities and assessments to extend learning opportunities. Fully Met
The course accommodates multiple school calendars; e.g., block, 4X4 and traditional schedules. Fully Met
User Interface Rating Comments
Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course. Fully Met
Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in order to address diverse student needs. Fully Met
Technology Requirements and Interoperability Rating Comments
All technology requirements (including hardware, browser, software, etc...) are specified. Fully Met
Prerequisite skills in the use of technology are identified. Fully Met
The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately. Fully Met
The course is designed to meet internationally recognized interoperability standards. Fully Met
Copyright and licensing status, including permission to share where applicable, is clearly stated and easily found. Fully Met
Accessibility Rating Comments
Course materials and activities are designed to provide appropriate access to all students. The course, developed with universal design principles in mind, conforms to the U.S. Section 504 and Section 508 provisions for electronic and information technology as well as the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAg 2.0). Fully Met
Data Security Rating Comments
Student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Fully Met
Accessing Course Effectiveness Rating Comments
The course provider uses multiple ways of assessing course effectiveness. Fully Met
The course is evaluated using a continuous improvement cycle for effectiveness and the findings used as a basis for improvement. Fully Met
Course Updates Rating Comments
The course is updated periodically to ensure that the content is current. Fully Met
Certification Rating Comments
Course instructors, whether faceto-face or virtual, are certificated and “highly qualified.” The online course teacher possesses a teaching credential from a state-licensing agency and is “highly qualified” as defined under ESEA. Fully Met
Instructor and Student Support Rating Comments
Professional development about the online course delivery system is offered by the provider to assure effective use of the courseware and various instructional media available. Fully Met
The course provider offers technical support and course management assistance to students, the course instructor, and the school coordinator. Fully Met
Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, have been provided professional development in the behavioral, social, and when necessary, emotional, aspects of the learning environment. Fully Met
Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, receive instructor professional development, which includes the support and use of a variety of communication modes to stimulate student engagement online. Fully Met
The provider assures that course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, are provided support, as needed, to ensure their effectiveness and success in meeting the needs of online students. Fully Met
Students are offered an orientation for taking an online course before starting the coursework. Fully Met

Review Conducted By: Apex Learning Inc.
Date of Review: 08/15/2014

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE WRITING AND FICTION, PART 1



Lesson 1: Get Excited about Writing!

Lesson 2: Who Are You Anyway? Developing a Character

Lesson 3: Who's on First? Establishing a Point of View

Lesson 4: Stable and Shifting Vantage Points

Lesson 5: Wrap-Up: Introduction to Creative Writing and Fiction, Part 1


Lesson 6: Diagnostic

UNIT 2: FICTION, PART 2


Lesson 1: You Are Here: Getting Inside the Setting


Lesson 2: Action! Plot, Part 1

Lesson 3: Story Arc: Plot, Part 2

Lesson 4: Time Is on Your Side


Lesson 5: Wrap-Up: Fiction, Part 2

Lesson 6: Diagnostic

UNIT 3: FICTION, PART 3

Lesson 1: Dialogue in Fiction

Lesson 2: Fiction Forms: Flash Fiction and the Vignette

Lesson 3: Truthful Lies and Imagined Truth: Fiction and Creative Nonfiction


Lesson 4: Revise, Revise, Revise!

Lesson 5: Wrap-Up: Fiction, Part 3

Lesson 6: Diagnostic

UNIT 4: POETRY, PART 1

Lesson 1: What Makes a Poem a Poem?

Lesson 2: The Image Inside Imagination

Lesson 3: Make It Strange and New: Figurative Language

Lesson 4: Loaded Images and Power Objects

Lesson 5: Wrap-Up: Poetry, Part 1

Lesson 6: Diagnostic

UNIT 5: POETRY, PART 2



Lesson 1: Poet's Toolbox: Sounds

Lesson 2: Poet's Toolbox: Rhyming

Lesson 3: Poet's Toolbox: Rhythm

Lesson 4: Poet's Toolbox: Lines, Sentences, and Stanzas

Lesson 5: Wrap-Up: Poetry, Part 2

Lesson 6: Diagnostic

UNIT 6: POETRY, PART 3 AND REVISION



Lesson 1: Building Connection, Feeling, and Inference


Lesson 2: Free Verse and Open Forms


Lesson 3: Getting Familiar with Formal Poetry

Lesson 4: Revise! Revise! Revise!

Lesson 5: Wrap-Up: Poetry, Part 3


Lesson 6: Diagnostic


UNIT 7: CREATIVE WRITING WRAP-UP



Lesson 1: Creative Writing Wrap-Up

Term Type Enrollment Opens Enrollment Ends Random Draw Date Enrollment Drop Date Course Starts Course Ends # of Seats Course Fee Potential Additional Costs
Drop Policy Completion Policy Term Type Enrollment Opens Enrollment Ends
Students submit assignments and receive asynchronous feedback via a secure message center and online discussion boards. A2 Virtual+ online teachers respond to student questions within one school day, and grade and return student homework with meaningful formative feedback within three school days. A2 Virtual+ online teachers and guidance staff continually monitor student progress and reach out to students and local mentors if students appear to be struggling or off pace.
School Year Enrollment Count Pass Count Completion Rate Notes
23-24 33 24 72.73%
22-23 40 33 82.5%
21-22 51 32 62.75%
19-20 20 18 90.0%
18-19 17 17 100.0%
17-18 14 9 64.29%