Harris Burdick Writing Checkpoint

This week students continued working on their fictional narratives, drafting the exposition, rising action, and climax.  Students were shown a tool called a character map that can be used to develop characters for a story.  The map encouraged students to brainstorm what the main character looks like, how the main character acts, and how the main character interacts with other characters.  Writing down some of these details in advance made it easier for us to sneak in details, that would help bring our characters to life for our readers.  While adding in these character details was a focus, students were also encouraged to move towards the climax of their story using all the skills we learned in our last unit about quotations marks, capital letters, punctuation, paragraph form, and so forth.  Here is a sample draft up to the climax.

On Friday students submitted their journals and received feedback in blue ink (Check out the sample pics!).  How is your story going?  Did you make the first deadline?  If so, keep up the great work!  If not, what is your plan to get back on track?  Have you taken the time to read the feedback your teachers left for you?  What adjustments have you made to your work?

We will continue drafting this week, focusing on adding suspense and finishing with a strong closing.  Stay tuned for more work samples.