The Foundation for a Meaningful Life
Kindergarten - Grade 9 in Southborough, MA
Kindergarten - Grade 9 in Southborough, MA
News Archive
Fantastical Writing
Fifth grade writers have been delving into the genre of fantasy-writing this month as they craft stories with unusual settings, wacky creatures, and unexpected plot twists. Students started the year focusing on personal narrative writing, and the fantasy unit allows them to build on the same fundamentals of good writing, such as a well-structured plot arc and fully formed characters, in a genre designed to spark their creativity.
Students had a lesson on constructing fantasy worlds considering examples from J.R.R. Tolkien, The Matrix, Alice in Wonderland, and Harry Potter. English teacher Camden Fort also shared different constellation myths with students. The fantastical tales crafted around Orion the Hunter and Ursa Major expanded their understanding of how setting, character, and plot can enrich a fantasy world as they craft their own stories. Before starting the writing process, students participated in a character brainstorming activity to help them develop rich, multidimensional characters for their stories. They began by creating the characters and mapping out their unique motivations and roles within the narrative. From there, they delved deeper into planning out each character’s appearance, personality traits, and goals. Camden guided the students in creating character trading cards to underscore the importance of crafting compelling characters. The cards feature vibrant illustrations of each character, along with scores evaluating their likeability, competency (how skilled the character is), and activity (whether the character drives the plot or is shaped by it). This helped students see that perfect characters aren’t engaging notes, Camden. “When all three character stats are maxed out, the character feels flat. It’s the flaws that make them interesting.”
Students will spend the next few weeks refining their drafts and making edits. During this time, they’ll inhabit imaginative worlds where anything is possible - like a mysterious chocolate that opens a portal to another dimension, a villainous character named Mr. Donut causes mayhem, or a brave protagonist is on a quest to rescue all the animals in a kingdom from the clutches of an evil ice wizard. The two biggest themes of the unit have been the importance of setting and characters, says Camden. “They’re creating a fantasy world and putting their characters in it to see what happens.”
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48 MAIN STREET
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA 01772
main number 508-490-8250
admission 508-490-8201
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA 01772
main number 508-490-8250
admission 508-490-8201
