SCOPE OF WORK FOR PRODUCTION OF INDIVIDUAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT BOOK
Overall
objectives:
• To encourage teen talent and their love for reading and writing
• To improve their knowledge of the English language, grammar and syntax
• To learn how to critically review books
• To learn the process of publishing a book and to learn about proper layout,
editing, format, rewriting, and cover creation
• To create an experience which garners life-long skills and the opportunity
of becoming a new generation of published teenagers, who may, one day, become
published adults
• To publish a book that includes the best-written works of the students
participating in the Writers Guild, and making it available on Barnes and Noble,
Amazon, and other venues.
Benchmarks: Reading,
Research & Writing 9-12 Benchmarks
• Standard: Reading - Apply effective reading strategies to comprehend,
organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate texts to construct meaning.
• Standard: Writing - Plan, draft, revise, and publish writing using correct
grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and effective vocabulary,
appropriate to the purpose, context, and audience.
• Standard: Literature - Listen to, read, recognize, and respond to literature
as a record of human experience that provides individual perspective, promotes
understanding of multiple writing styles
Assessment
as individuals
• Read a variety of pieces: poetry, journals, autobiographies, diaries,
memoirs, fiction and non-fiction.
• Develop a personal anthology of favorite poems, short stories, illustrations,
and quotations, and justify choices.
• Write with controlled and/or subtle organization and with command of
the stylistic aspects of composition
• Revise writing to improve style, word choice, sentence variety and subtlety
of meaning after rethinking how questions of purpose, audience and genre have
been addressed.
Assessments
as a group:
Meet with peers to give and receive feedback and revise written work
to clarify the meaning and make it more effective in communicating
the intended message to the intended audience by:
• Adding and deleting details, explanations and clarifying difficult passages
• Rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to improve or clarify meaning
• Rethinking or rewriting the piece for different audiences and purposes.
• Edit written work for standard English spelling and usage, evidenced
by pieces that show and contain:
* No significant errors in the use of pronouns, nouns, adjectival
and adverbial forms, and coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
* No significant errors in the spelling of frequently used words
and the correct use of commonly confused terms and few significant
errors in the spelling of commonly misspelled and rare words, the
less common capitalization conventions, the colon, semicolon, hyphen,
dash, apostrophe, quotations marks, italics, marginal notes, and
footnotes.
* No significant errors in the common conventions of capitalization
and ending punctuation marks and common uses of the comma.
Technology:
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Publisher or Adobe Photoshop for book layout and book cover.
• Internet research
• Email for communication between author and students.
Evaluation:
• Critical reading and sharing among peers.
• Constructive criticism among peers to find the right voice.
• From author through shared reading with group and individually through
email
• Final product
• Proof reading Galleys
• Published book!!!
Bibliography:
Coelho,
Paul. The Alchemist
An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland
in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in
the Pyramids. Somewhere along the way Santiago meets a Gypsy woman,
a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point
him in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure
is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the
way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns
into a discovery of the treasures found within. The story of Santiago
and his "search" is an eternal testament to the transforming
power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
Dickens,
Charles. A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (Published 1843) is one of the best loved and most
quoted of all English language stories. The best stories are always
about good versus evil. In this book students easily see the good
and evil are all within one character, and that anyone can turn their
life around that anything is possible. (a good message) Dickens flair
for characters has also left us with two who have gone past the story
and entered into the English speaking culture -- Scrooge and Tiny
Tim.
The
Freedom Writers with Gruwell, Erin. The
Freedom Writers Diary
Students
will relate to the powerful entries from The Freedom
Writers own diaries. This book is a truly remarkable
example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit
of determination can change lives - forever.
Kristen,
Judith. The Purple Hat Gang
The Purple Hat Gang is a coming of age story about five best girlfriends
back in 1961. It is a joyful trip to a softer time in America that
everyone lovingly called Camelot. The Purple Hat Gang is about the
strength one derives from good, healthy friendships. It’s also
about heartache, teen angst, first love, parental difficulties, abuse,
adoption, loyalty, compassion and kindness. As one High School Junior
said, “It’s a true to life story about the power of friendship
and the importance of having someone to talk to and lend you a hand
when the rest of the world tunes you out. In twenty years time, this
book will be called an American Classic.
Kristen,
Judith. Olivia Twist, a quest
for the glass half-full
Olivia Twist is a story of a young girl abandoned by both birth parents,
left to be raised in the loving care of her paternal grandmother,
a situation that many children are familiar with these days. Their
relationship is a glorious one: happy, loving, kind, and caring until
her Mom dies the day before Olivia’s 11th birthday. She is
then forced to move in with her biological father and his already
established second family. Trials and tribulations abound and, three
years later, the young girl decides to emancipate herself from her
ugly home life.
This story is also about a child who learns to empower herself, because
she knows that there IS a better life out there, and, it’s
a heartbreaker and an eye-opener to watch her continuing and tenacious
search to find it. The main character also finds great solace and
joy in keeping a daily journal. The child’s entries are captivating,
teaching, and inspiring.
NeuBaur, Bonnie. The
Write-Brain Workbook: 366 Exercises to Liberate Your Writing.
This book is excellent! It can be used as a writing workbook for
every child participating in the writing project. The benefits are
tremendous!
Silverstein, Shel. "The
Giving Tree"
The Giving Tree (barely 3,500 words) has sold hundreds of millions
of copies world-wide, proving that you don’t need to write
a 200,000 word book to guarantee a best seller! The Giving Tree is
a soft, sweet, short book that packs a wallop. The messages of kindness,
want, and friendship are clearly defined. Silverstein’s drawings
are deceptively simple -- black-and-white line sketches that leave
plenty of white space on the page -- yet each illustration demonstrates
a subtlety of emotion and change that is as captivating as it is
basic. The Giving Tree can be read over and over again, for a child’s
understanding of its message will likely change as the child grows.
A delightful and touching story.
Stine,
R.L. (Any of his books)
Author of the Goosebumps, Fear Street series shows students what
a page turner is all about. At the end of each chapter the reader
is left with such a powerful sentence or two, they want to read more!
This is what we encourage student writers to do with their work.
Make their reader WANT more!!! Stine gives an excellent example of
this over and over again!
Truss, Lynn. Eats,
Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.
An easy to read and comprehend grammar book. Teens will enjoy reading
it for fun and even for elucidation; a lot of much needed information
is packed into this small book.
Dictionaries
Thesauruses
Calendar of Events
1st
Visit
Author/Book
Talk Session
Book
process discussion with general group of students. This first
visit is to gather information and talk about the overall details:
what each student must produce, along with necessary editing,
rewriting, layout, cover, title, bios, acknowledgments, photos,
and what a galley is, and submission of the final, corrected
manuscript.
We
discuss Shel Silverstein’s book, The
Giving Tree, after reading it that day.
They
are required to read: The Purple Hat
Gang, Olivia Twist... a quest
for the glass half-full, The Freedom Writers Diary, The Eats,
Shoots, and Leaves book as well as The
Write-Brain Workbook. These books are
always accessible to the students throughout the writing process.
Ms. Kristen gives all students her email address for communication
about their work, the book process, etc.
2nd
Visit
Writing/Discussion/All
Day Workshop
Second
visit is to sort out each students work. Each student will
submit five pieces of their best work. This work will be read
aloud to the group and we will choose the best three submissions
(more or fewer will be chosen according to quality of work).
We will also go over what needs to be changed, rewritten, and
edited. Students still continue emailing Ms.
Kristen. The communication helps them with their work in-between
visits and answers their many questions.
3rd Visit
All
Day Workshop
The
students must submit their newly edited work. The author will
go over the submissions and check for content, punctuation,
and syntax. The students will then go over their work, (again)
as well as that of fellow Guild Members to see what corrections
are still needed, and what work will eventually be qualified
for publication - and what will not. A title for the book will
also be suggested and chosen on that day.
Email between
author and students is a given throughout the rest of the process.
4th
Visit
All
Day Workshop
The
4th author visit again is a rewriting and editing session.
We also read and discuss one of RL Stine’s books from The
Goosebumps Series.
School
Art teacher or Computer instructor will work with the children
on this day to begin cover design. Students will supply ideas,
drawings and photos. Font Style and coloring will also be discussed
and chosen. The students will learn that a book shouldn’t
be judged by its cover...but a good-looking
cover is indeed a plus.
Should
a school be unable to fulfill this aspect of the book process,
the Publisher will supply a suitable cover.
5th
Visit
All
Day Workshop
Judith
Kristen arrives for bio/photo session and writing workshop.
The students will submit their bios and a black and white photo
of each student will be taken to be placed above their book
bio insert. We will also go over all work ready for submission.
Those students who have not corrected them properly, failed
to follow instructions, or failed to do so entirely, will be
dropped from publication. They learn the meaning of DEADLINE
MEANS DEADLINE.
Progress
on cover design will be checked.
6th Visit
All
Day Workshop
Author
and Writers Guild read and discuss Dickens, A
Christmas Carol. We check our work once again for errors
and read it aloud for flow and ease of reading.
7th
Visit
All
Day Workshop
Once
again we check our work for errors. Guild Members read aloud
and consult with fellow guild member about the quality of their
work. The cover must also be completed on this day. All work,
bios, student photos and cover artwork is then submitted to
the publisher.
8th
Visit
All
Day Workshop- Galley revisions
The
published work will be ready to look at in galley form. The galley is
the work the students have submitted in exactly the style and
layout that it will appear in the book. This is where the final
corrections are made - the last step before we see the book
in its true form. After this NO FURTHER
CORRECTIONS CAN BE MADE WITHOUT SERIOUS PUBLICATION DELAYS
AND HEAVY PENALTY COSTS FROM THE PUBLISHER!!!
9th
Visit
PUBLISHED
BOOK!!!
The
9th visit is party time! The book has arrived in its final
form! Every member of The Writers Guild is now officially a Published
Author!!!
Each
student and teacher involved will receive a free copy
of
their book.The book will appear on all major book vendors web-sites:
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Booksamillion, etc.
