How to Teach Creative Writing to Middle School Students

Coming up with creative writing lesson plans for middle school students can be a little tricky at times. High school students are often mature enough to strive for artistic, polished writing, and elementary students have an unvarnished imagination that is easy to direct towards learning, but getting middle school students to open up requires careful planning and good classroom control.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Preparations

1. Make a list of your goals. You should include educational standards in your creative writing program, but you should not be ruled by them. Teaching your students to open up and express themselves is every bit as important as teaching them correct grammar and organization of ideas.

2. Divide your writing assignments into two categories: "loosen up" and "tighten up." "Loosen up" lessons are designed to help your students free up their inner voices. Free writes, brainstorming and sound poetry are some examples of "loosen up" writing. "Tighten up" lessons are geared towards helping your students polish and improve their writing.

3. Combine "loosen up" and "tighten up" lessons into each assignment. For example, you can start a poetry assignment with a free write. Then, you can have them select a passage from the free write to develop and turn into a polished poem.

4. Connect the writing assignment to the core curriculum. For example, if your students are learning about the gold rush, you could create lesson plans which allow them to write a journal from the point of view of someone living through events from that era.

Teaching Creative Writing

5. Vary you classroom setup and teaching style. On some days, lecturing from the front of the room is just fine. On other days, arrange the desks in a circle or in small groups to allow students to share their projects.

6. Make your students feel comfortable. For some creative writing assignments, it is best to not require the students to share their projects. Everyone should participate sometimes, but no one should have to participate all the time.

7. Participate in the creative writing class. Middle school students love to see their teachers required to do the assignments! In addition, it gives them an example of polished writing that they can follow if they want to.

8. Give your students options. Instead of focus on drilling many different creative techniques into their heads, allow them to choose what kind of poem, essay or narrative they want to write.

9. Demand excellence. The best stories, poems and essays often start as sloppy free writes. Real writers take a piece from humble beginnings, through several revisions, to a perfect final draft. Your students should learn to as well!

Tips & Warnings

• Free writes are a great way to get middle school students writing. To hold a free write, tell your students to write continuously for five minutes. They can write about anything they want to during that time but cannot edit their writing or stop before their time is up.
• Never require students to share free writes or other raw, unpolished writing. This kind of writing is meant to be very spontaneous and personal, and students need to feel safe when things come out that they don't want to share.