What is its intent?
Year 9 students at this time of year usually work upon a ‘ghost’ project.
To offer students more project-based work, and a gifted and talented extension, without creating undue work for staff involved. Emphasis is to be on the students accessing the gifted and talented spectrum if they wish.
How does it fit with previous gifted and talented writing projects?
Having previously worked with gifted and talented students on newspaper projects and ongoing creative writing projects, I hope that this will be self-running where possible.
Through ongoing critique, via professional discussions with colleagues and more formal thoughts via this blog, I hope to make some of this G&T part of normal practice.
What will be the format for the project?
Each week/section of work will have a rubric that broadly fits in with the following formative levelling system (in additional to summative levelling requirements):
Level 7 – 1
Level 6 – 2/3
Level 5 – 4
There will be, though, an additional G&T option for each piece of work. Students that want to increase their skills via the project will be encouraged to self-select themselves for that section.
I hope that teachers might feel inspired to include reference this project in a suitable part of their current Year 9 curriculums as an extension homework.
Week/Section 1
Research of the market of children’s stories and ghost stories.
What were the most popular children’s stories? What makes a ‘ghost’ story? How many books are aimed at sound readers and how many aimed at otherwise? What is the purpose of selling a book?
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Evaluates the characteristics of both children/teenage and ghost stories through drawing comparisons. | Compares children’s and ghost stories. | Analyses the characteristics of the two genres. | States generalisations of the two genres. |
G&T = identifies key qualities of successful books in the children and/or ghost genre, showing incisive research and succinct evaluation in doing so.
Week/Section 2
Analysis of the components of a ghost story.
Reading ‘Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror’. See the Key Objectives for ideas of how to broach this.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Evaluates two stories, drawing comparisons between | Compares children’s and ghost stories. | Analyses the characteristics of the two genres . | States generalisations of the two genres. |
G&T = Able to draw on a range of classical ghost styles of writing/twists in order to develop a range of writing possibilities.
Week/Section 3
Inferential language and sentence structures used in different ghost stories
Students writing key sentences in a ghost story.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Evaluates use of inferential sentences, and structures used too. | Able to write a substantial number of inferential sentences, exploring various structures as well as word choices for effect. | Uses inference for effect across a useful number of sentences. | Uses interesting words and inference. |
G&T = beginning to write ghost story, aiming to balance narrative and inferential aspects with self-referential commentary throughout.
Week/Section 4
Structures of a ghost story.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
G&T = beginning to write ghost story, aiming to balance narrative and inferential aspects with self-referential commentary throughout.
Week/Section 5
Writing a ghost story.
Completing the creative writing, and asking about quality control.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
G&T = completes the ghost story, with drafting elements evident for a deadline.
Week/Section 6
Differentiating a ghost story.
Differentiating to Barrington Stoke Standards.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
G&T = entire story is differentiating to Barrington Stoke Standards.
Week/Section 7
Marketing a ghost story
Sending to primary schools, secondary schools and (possibly) schools abroad. Creation of a website? FB page? Twitter account?
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
G&T = writes actual marketing copy and solicits attention in real-life media outlets.
