“Fiction: In and Out” is a unit designed for the Language Arts teacher in the middle school. It gives an overview of the short story and some innovative ways of looking at the dynamics of short story writing. Besides the objectives of reading, understanding and appreciating the short story and each of its elements, there is an objective with using the short story as a catalyst to creative writing.
One of the main “hands on” materials in the unit is the character chart. This character chart outlines traits which a character should reveal if his or her character is to be real. lesson plan within the unit which deals with several of the uses this chart can have in stimulating creative writing, character understanding, class interrelationship and self knowledge of the student. It is a fun activity and the chart is something you can just take away with you.
(Recommended for 6th, 7th and 8th grade Language Arts)
Key Words
American Short Stories Elements