Creative Writing Unit Plan for Fantasy Fiction and Tall Tales (Google Drive)

Save time without sacrificing rigor in the high school Creative Writing classroom with this Common Core-aligned unit plan and these comprehensive, low-prep materials for engaging students fully in the narrative writing process. Materials are made for Google Drive. (Alternatively, printable versions are available.) Included are the following:

• A detailed, standards-based unit plan articulating the unit's transfer goal(s), essential question(s), enduring understanding(s), learning target(s), academic vocabulary, formative assessment(s), summative performance task(s), and learning plan(s)
• A Google Slideshow addressing the conventions of the fantasy genre.
• Representative fantasy narratives ("The Wife's Story" by Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Chaser" by John Collier, and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet)
• Worksheets to facilitate analysis of representative literature
• Detailed directions
• A comprehensive outline for student planning
• A document to facilitate the editing process
• A comprehensive rubric for evaluating student writing

With these materials, students will do the following:

• Develop greater understanding of the conventions of the fantasy genre.
• Analyze how John Collier used figurative language (simile, metaphor, and euphemism), characterization, direct description, and foreshadowing to generate a compelling fantasy narrative in "The Chaser."
• Analyze how Ursula K. Le Guin used characterization and grammatically improper language to develop an anthropomorphized protagonist in "The Wife's Story."
• Develop a greater understanding of how Stephen Vincent Benet used hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and other literary devices to convey an exaggerated narrative in "The Devil and Daniel Webster" that is consistent with the supernatural fiction and tall tales.
• Organize initial ideas in a coherent manner.
• Engage the reader with a compelling exposition that establishes setting, characters, and conflicts
• Use many appropriate narrative techniques (dialogue, dialect, description, pacing, etc.) to enhance a plot that is consistent with the fantasy genre
• Draft a coherent, cohesive, and appropriate narrative that builds toward a particular tone and outcome (a sense of mystery, suspense, etc.)
• Use precise words and phrases, active verbs, and sensory language to convey a compelling story
• Draft a reasonable and unrushed conclusion that resolves conflicts and conveys a theme
• Show mastery of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

Unit plans are available for a variety of writing tasks:

• Writing Adventure Fiction - Google and printable versions
• Writing Dinosaur Tales - Google and printable versions
• Writing Fairy Tales - Google and printable versions
• Writing Fantasy Fiction - Google and printable versions
• Writing Gothic Fiction - Google and printable versions
• Writing Realistic Fiction - Google and printable versions
• Writing Science Fiction - Google and printable versions