Back to School Night: Thursday, 27 September 2012

Jamie Zartler
Creative Writing English 7-8

Thank you for being here this evening. We should partner because we have the same goals.

To partner we need to be in communication.
Email: JZartler@pps.net works best for me. 503.916..5160 75 700 might work better for you.

I'm generally not at Grant Monday afternoons, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I do use Edbox, and you should, too.

All this contact information  is on the school web page:
Zartler on granths.com .

This is also the place to find my syllabus for this course. The main ideas captured there are: This is an English Course; students need to read and to write. Students should learn thinking skills as well as skills that will help them learn and be productive their entire lives.

You can also find my Creative Writing Blog. The blog is vital to your student's success. The blog is primarily designed to help students track what they missed (or forgot that they didn't miss) in class. I generally ask students to "check the blog" as a first step when they have missed class. However, they may need to follow up with me for handouts or other activities. (Interestingly, some parents have found the blog a useful cure for the short lived question, "What did you do in school today?")

If you have concerns that I don't have time or that are not appropriate to address now, please contact me as soon as possible.

Again, thank you for being part of your student's education and the Grant Community.

Thursday, 27 September

Class began with the prompt: "The alarm went...."

Today we began a new habit. Before writers share their writing they tell the class if they would like positive feedback or not. After sharing their writing the writer chooses another writer or writers to get positive feedback from.

Next the writers used colored highlighters to color code the story "That Girl" according to the author's use of the Elements of Story telling. The class discussed how the aspects were used.


Homework: You should have read at least 12 sections of Writing Down the Bones by Monday. On Monday each student should have written in large letters the title of three chapters of Writing Down the Bones that they enjoyed and / or found valuable.

Additionally, every writer needs to have read the section "Beginner's Mind, Pen, and Paper". Each writer should bring in at least two different pens based on the observations and suggestions in the chapter for class on Tuesday.

Writers were told that their first full story is due Monday, 29 October. The story must have death or dying in it; death or dying can be a metaphor. This assignment is called the "Morbid Fiction" assignment.

Tuesday, 25 September

Writers: I'm sorry, the following entry got posted on the Food & Culture Blog Tuesday, instead of this one. Here is the missing entry:

Class began with writing a scene between the writer and the character for whom they wrote a diary entry for homework.

After writing, writers shared.

Next the class read the story "That Girl." We had a long discussion about issues raised by the story:  the nature of conflict in fiction; the role of stereotypes in fiction, and others. Writers who missed class should get a copy from Mr. Zartler as we will be doing a detailed analysis of the story in class on Thursday.

The last part of class was spent studying ten elements of story telling. Writers should get a handout from Mr. Zartler. As this will be a vital reference.

Monday, 24 September

In class today writers addressed  the prompt:

Who am I?

Mr. Zartler checked off and writers shared the homework assignment from Thursday.

The class discussed back writing, work writers do in order to understand their characters, and which is generally not going to go explicitly into the text.

Homework for tomorrow: After looking at your "Who am I?" writing, choose one trait to change that would make you a very different person. Spend ten minutes or more writing a diary or journal entry AS this new person.

Thursday, 20 September

Writer's began with the prompt: "It was the best of dates; it was the worst of dates."

After writing and sharing we continued our analysis of "People Watching."

The class discussed the concept of "the mask." This is the idea that people may act or portray themselves differently in different situations.

Mr. Zartler then shared this worksheet for creating characters. 

The class then had time to develop two characters using these sheets.

Next writers were to choose one of their characters and one of the prompts from the bottom of the page.

After doing this Backwriting activity (writing about a character so that the author knows about him / her / it but the writing is not meant to be included int he story), writers were to work on a page and a half story that contains the two characters. This activity is due next Monday.

Tuesday, 18 September, 2012

The class began with writing to the prompt:

Make a list of objects smaller than a fist .....

List three things that are in your pocket ... or purse ... or european man bag ...

Randomly choose one of the objects from the first list. Now you have a person who has four things in their pocket. Try imagining who this person is, write about this person, or write a story that includes this character.....


Writers discussed ways to modify the prompt to make it work in other ways.

The class discussed chapters in Writing Down the Bones and aspects of Goldberg's approach to writing that they liked and responded to as well as aspects that weren't working for them. We discussed ways to share Goldberg's ideas in the form of projects that will be assigned next week.

The class read the story "People Watching". We discussed characterization and tone.

We will review the story in class next Thursday as well.

HOMEWORK: Writers should read at least two more chapters of Writing Down the Bones and bring at least one more "try this" activity.

Monday, 17 September 2012

Writers made lists of things that people hide.

Writers then used to select a prompt for either fictional or non-fiction writing; there was an opportunity for writers to share.

The class then discussed the story "Who Kept One Hand In Her Pocket" in the context of whether or not it is a story according to the definition provided last week.

Writers were reminded that they have a homework assignment for tomorrow based in reading Writing Down the Bones (see previous post).