Call for Submissions—
New Ways in Teaching Creative Writing for the ELL Community
Seeking contributors with exciting and effective lesson plan ideas for using creative writing in the English language classroom.
Submission Deadline: October 1st, 2016
If you would like your submission to be considered for inclusion in this groundbreaking volume, please follow the guidelines below and submit to the co-editors, Patrick T. Randolph and Joseph I. Ruppert, at their email address: [email protected].
Scope and Purpose
For decades, creative writing has long been ignored as a pivotal craft for helping ELLs enhance their writing skills. Recently, however, the tide has dramatically turned. There has been a huge and constant wave of interest in using creative writing to evoke more learner interest in the writing process. A number of instructors have used creative writing to improve their ELLs’ writing skills and help them gain confidence along the way. This volume will be the first of its kind.
New Ways in Teaching Creative Writing for the ELL Community will be an eclectic collection of ELL classroom-centered activities contributed by professionals who have developed these ideas in their respective ESL or EFL environments. We look forward to receiving lesson plan ideas from English language teachers, graduate students, and directors who have creative and innovative methods that focus on using creative writing as a tool to help enhance our ELLs’ writing skills. We also encourage our contributors to submit a sample of their student’s work for the volume.
We are looking for activities and exercises that would later develop into distinct chapters for the following areas:
- warm up tips/ideas
- on words (e.g., creating words, writing about words)
- on poetry (e.g., haiku, free verse, 6-word novels, 100-word poems)
- on fables (e.g., creating new fables, creating dialog for fables)
- on fiction (e.g., flash fiction, short stories, children’s stories)
- digital writing (e.g., fan fiction)
- on play writing (e.g., short one-act plays, dialog techniques)
- on letters (e.g., creating letters home, writing letters to the future)
- on creative essays (e.g., essays exploring a utopia, a new religion, a unique school)
- on journals (e.g., using journals as short story starters, creative nonfiction)
- on research skills (e.g., paraphrasing through poetry, summarizing fables)
- on presenting students’ work (e.g., poster sessions, poetry reading ideas, play
productions)
Audience
The book is primarily directed at teachers who work in Intensive English Programs or for instructors who work at English Language Institutes. However, contributors should feel free to explore options for various populations and settings such as EFL learners, adult education, and young writers (K-12). In addition, consider adding a reference to instructional websites in the appendix of your submission.
Format
This series offers at-a-glance, simple lesson plans. All contributors should follow as closely as possible the format below:
Length
400-800 words
Section Parts
- Title top online casino for machine games
- Contributor’s Name and Email Address
- Level/s (beginning, intermediate, advanced, all levels) for which the lesson is most appropriate
- Aim/s of the Lesson (e.g., motivation, developing fluency, accuracy, critical thinking)
- Class Time
- Preparation Time
- Resources Needed
- Procedure (please be as clear as possible)
- Rationale (e.g., concepts, theories, research findings which support your ideas—research in neuroscience or second language acquisition preferred)
- Caveats or Options (for caveats, explain possible trouble areas; for options, offer alternate ideas or consider different contexts)
- References and Further Reading
- Appendix (e.g., a student sample of the idea, worksheets, Internet references)
- Short 50-word bio
Note: Please provide a note or reference if your lesson plan is based on another source.
Acceptance Process
Contributors should follow the format of the series as closely as possible and use APA for formatting and referencing. As above, submissions should be meticulously reviewed and checked for clarity and accuracy by the contributor before submitting. All submissions will be carefully vetted by the co-editors and given a final review by the TESOL Book Publications Committee. There will be no automatic acceptances.
Copyright
TESOL asks all contributors to assign their copyright to the association. The author(s) will be asked to sign a contract during the production cycle for the volume. Please do not submit work that has been previously published,* is currently under consideration elsewhere, or already under contract, and do not submit work for which you wish to retain copyright. All contributors will be given a TESOL Press permissions form to use and are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use previously published material. *Note: If you have previously published a lesson plan and you own the copyright, then you may submit your work to the project.
Sample Contribution
Title: A Breath of Life
Contributor: Patrick T. Randolph
Levels: Intermediate to Advanced
Aims of the Lesson: Introduce the idea of a breath poem; develop an understanding of powerful word use; help students understand syllable use; help students understand the importance of conceptual images through language; promote critical as well as creative thinking.
Class Time: Approximately one hour
Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes
Resources Needed: A sample of two to three breath poems. For examples, go to eslliteraryreview.webs.com
Procedure:
- Copy a breath poem on the board and read it to the students. Then, ask what senses, feelings, and emotions it evokes. Next, ask the students how many syllables they count in each line (3-3-4).
- For more syllable practice, choose five-seven more words and ask the students to identify how many syllables there are in each.
- Now, model a breath poem by writing one together on the board.
- Next, have the students pair up and write their own breath poems. Be sure to emphasize that the images and sounds of the words are important. Do not focus only on syllable count.
- Have the students write their poems on the board. As a class, check to see if they have followed the 3-3-4 syllable count and planted powerful word images in the reader/listener’s mind. During this process, show the importance of selecting strong or powerful words versus weak words (e.g., “very sweet smile” could be changed to “cinnamon smile”).
- Finally, have the students write two-three breath poems as homework. These will be reviewed the following day in class.
Rationale: “Clutter” is a problem writing instructors deal with on a weekly basis. This activity shows students how to select the proper word or phrase for the proper situation. They learn the concept of powerful versus weak words and how to implement powerful words in their writing. They also require new, fresh, and useful vocabulary for their academic careers (Randolph, 2013).
Caveats: As above, be sure to model this kind of poem and write one with the students. It will comfort the students and allow them to see how easy and fun these poems are to write.
Options: If students are familiar with the 6-word novel, you may want to introduce the activity with that concept.
References: Randolph, P. T. (2013). Creative writing and critical thinking with breath poems. The CATESOL NEWS, (45)2.
Appendix: A student sample
Rain on the Campus
Gentle rain;
Wet petals
come quietly.
—Lijuan Wang