With this short creative writing course, your 3rd through 6th grader will compose a short creative writing piece based on a historical event and continue to develop the joy of writing.

Special Notes: All course materials are provided FREE. If you’d like to continue your writing lessons, sign up for Creative Writing for Grades 3-6: First Person Perspective next semester.

Parent Involvement: Parents should expect to be heavily involved in their student’s work. Skills will be taught each week, and then students will complete homework and submit for feedback. Timeliness of submissions is crucial for students to get timely feedback and stay with the rhythm of the course. Most students will need parental guidance and accountability for class time each week and for homework.

Total Classes: 6

Class Dates:  Thursdays, September 19 to October 24, 2024.

Starting Time: 10:00 AM Eastern (9:00 Central; 8:00 Mountain; 7:00 Pacific)

Duration Per Class: 30 minutes

Prerequisite: Students should be able to easily compose 10 sentences when given a topic, preferably in their own handwriting. Parents can choose to take narration while the student composes the writing aloud. Basic elementary school punctuation mastery is recommended (or parents can edit with students prior to submission.) The final story submission will need to be polished and typed. Note: Many students can invent language at a skill level beyond their ability to handwrite or type their work in a reasonable amount of time. This course can work for the child who struggles with handwriting and/or typing if the child’s oral language skills are ready for the class and parents are willing to write/type for the child.

Suggested Grade Level: 3^rd to 6^th grade

Suggested Credit: ½ semester Creative Writing or English. For a full semester, follow with Kat Finds a Friend, a St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Story: Living History Through Literature.

Instructor: Mandi Gette, MA, MAS

Course Description: Learn how to write an historical fiction story! The instructor will coach students through a process for writing a story based on an historical event. Character development, setting, conflict and resolution, and grammar will be topics of instruction. Students will produce a polished story as an end project for the course. As a bonus, students will be instructed on how to self-publish their story in book form, so they can add it to the family library or gift it to someone.

Course Outline: 

Week 1: Setting the Stage (characters, era, event, factual history)

Week 2: Writing the 10-sentence story skeleton

Week 3: Continuing to write. Developing characters, creating realistic resolutions

Week 4: Finish writing the story. Editing Final Copy

Week 5: Preparing the story for publication. Illustration options

Week 6:  Online Book Party. Students will be able to come on camera and read a selection of their book.

Course Materials: All materials are provided FREE by the instructor.

Homework: Students will read the course material, submit the assignment for each step of the course, and then submit a final project for teacher grading. Students will spend an average of 2 hours per week on homework in addition to class attendance.

Fee: For all 6 classes: $117 if you register on or before July 15, $137 if you register after July 15. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registrations are not guaranteed. There is a $20 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)