Welcome to Honors AliensA Creative Writing Unit Using the majority of

Writing Common Core State Standards

Katina ChildersRichard Allen Academy, Dayton, OH

kchilders@raa.echalk.com

A stand alone unit or combine with a novel such as The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Adopted from:Baines, L. & Kunkel, A. (2003), Teaching adolescents to write: The unsubtle art of naked teaching. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

This unit asks students to create their own alien planet & species, wage war and learn the art of negotiation…all through the craft of writing.

Students will write descriptive, narrative, argumentative, and poetry pieces as well give oral presentations and use technology and artwork to visually represent.

What is Honors (RAS) Aliens?

Students use a brainstorming sheet to consider all aspects of their alien species including: Name of species & planet Physical description Personality traits History of their species (long-term)

◦ Dwelling place◦ Economic system◦ Government◦ Family structure◦ Travel◦ Weapons◦ Special gift/ talent◦ Belief system

THEN- write a Descriptive Piece based on their creation.(*This may include all steps of the writing process & can include mini-lessons such as a “colorful adjective” mini-lesson aimed to strengthen descriptive writing with more specific/ interesting details.)

STAGE ONE: Creating your world

Artwork by Richard Allen Academy students

Get students out of their seats for a game of “truth or myth” Talk about what makes a myth & have students create a narrative of

their own origin myth. Example:

Handout 4: Creating an Origin Myth Instructions: Using the provided myth of origin as a model, your group is to create a

myth of origin for your invented alien race. Please incorporate the alien concepts of your species into a myth that explains the origin of one or more aspects of your invented society. This myth should be written as a short story (not an explanation of what it would be about).

  The Legend of Bob the Burrito Before the organisms on Shipotle existed, there was Bob, the all-knowing, all-

powerful Burrito. Bob was an omnipotent being, but he had nobody to witness his all-knowing greatness. Bob decided that he would create a species in order to gain followers and feed his already over-filled ego. He traveled from planet to planet searching for a suitable home for his disciples………

Stage Two: Creating an Origin Myth

Stage Three: A Heroes Journey

After studying Joseph Campbell’s Stages of a Heroes Journey and watching a youtube clip or two displaying the Heroes Journey through many movies, students create a Hero for their people. They should establish what hero did to be heroic and they should follow the stages of both narrative writing and a heroes journey.

For my 7th/8th grade students, I found it helpful to have them create timelines that showed the parallels between narrative (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution) writing and the Stages of the Heroes Journey (such as the hero in his mundane world, the call to action/ refusal of the call, etc.)

Stage 3 Supplement: An Ode to a Hero

This artwork byMilton-UnionHS Students

Stage 4: Presentations & Note-taking

Once all revisions & edits have been completed in the writing, artwork has been created, and students are fully invested in their species and planets, it’s time for them to showcase their masterpiece!

Students present their writing and visual representations to their classmates who are told simply that it is in their best interest to take diligent notes.

(Side note: For my Junior High kids, this meant a mini-lesson in note-taking.)

Students are now told that they will be attacking one of the other planets in the classroom.

They must plan a reason for the attack, based on textual evidence (their notes & their own papers), a war strategy devised for maximum destruction, and intended outcomes (gains/losses).

Anything that has been presented is FAIR GAME but they can not MAKE UP anything new.

Stage 5: IT’S TIME FOR WAR!!

NOTE: Student presentations and writing now become “informational non-fiction text” that can be used as textual evidence.

A mini-lesson on Classical Argument is highly effective here.

Argumentative Paper will include:- Introduction & Statement of

Background (What do you want or why are you offended?)

- Proposition (Thesis- declaring war)

- Proof (Your plan of attack including how & why you know that you will win)

- Refutation (Recognizing their counter-attack & why it will fail)

- Conclusion (Recap all of your points)

War Declaration

We want what you have!

We are highly offended!!

*Include hyperbole, onomatopoeia, & a a rhetorical question.

At this point, students find out that while they were away fighting, their planet has been under attack.

Due to the unexpected attack from a second planet, all alien cultures have suffered massive casualties, and expended most of their weapons.

They are now anticipating a retaliation from the planet they attacked which will surely mean annihilation for their planet/aliens.

The Scenario: While You Were Away

This can be done in two ways or together if time permits:

◦ Each species can write two peace proposals (one as the aggressor, one as the attacked) for the consideration of the other planets. (Opposing species could “peer edit” for mistakes in the proposals and figurative language requirements that they may well choose to use against their opponents.)

◦ Species can send representatives (and receive representatives) from other planets to discuss possible peace. This can result in a formal peace proposal or each side can take notes on what the other is offering/willing to surrender.

Stage 6: The Art of Negotiations

** Again, you could add figurative language requirements such as synecdoche, parallel structure, and/or understatement to this writing assignment.

Stage 7: War or Peace?

Publishing: LetterJames Publishing: Wordle

Students must decide how they want to gamble with the fate of their species – Do they trust their opponent’s offer for peace? Would they fare better to keep fighting?

FINAL FATEThe decision for peace or war will ultimately decide whether their Invented aliens will live or die.

If all accept peace, then all will live.

If all except ONE accepts peace, then the one who chooses to attackWill annihilate the peace-seeking planets. If more than one groupdeclines peace, then it will be up to YOU to decide who survives and who faces annihilation.

With my districts implementation of FIP and FAMS, I catered my rubrics to cover the Clear Learning Targets established for each form of writing.

For instance, for the argumentative piece, we were working on CCSS W.1.8a-e.

W.1.8a says:◦ Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from

alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

◦ I can statements for this target include:- I can introduce a claim/ reason for declaring war.- I can acknowledge claims made by the opposition (what they have for

weapons, defense, what they have that I want, etc.)- I can organize my reasons (for attacking) logically.- I can provide & organize my evidence (for attacking) logically.

Formative Instructional Practices

The rubric for this target could be developed as a checklist or could look like this:

Formative Instructional Practices Cont.

For more information:

Contact: Katina Childers @

kchilders@raa.echalk.com

I am happy to share lesson plans, brainstormingsheets, rubrics, and ideas for adaptation.