The Situation
You want to start a class project.
The Solution
A class short story is a fantastic idea to bring students together. Students can contribute to the short story collection in a number of ways: they might design the book cover and poster to market the book. Aside from the design, they need to write their own story which is credited in the contents page.
Introduce the following project to students.
Students need to contribute one story and each story starts with the same prompt.
The purpose of using the same writing prompt is so that you can develop a theme around the collection. The front cover can focus on the infinite ways that Noah wants revenge.
Students need to brainstorm three central narrative conventions to get their story started.
First, they look at character and brainstorm who Noah is and his backgound. They can build a character profile around Noah.
Next, they will consider the setting and environment that Noah’s revenge takes place. Present the following questions:
From here, we can start thinking more about the conflict of Noah. What has he experienced? What is the catalyst for his revenge?
From here, you have got the ball rolling on your students writing their stories. You can spend class time drafting and providing feedback to students. You may like to have student read each others work and use an editing criteria to review the grammar and punctuation. There are infinite ways to organise the short story collection thereafter.
The English Classroom 