Elective Choices Da Vinci Middle School 6-8 2013-2014 School Year Creative Writing with Mrs.

Awesome
Art Inspired Creative Writing (*Students who take this class must also take the connecting Art class with Mrs. Thomas) Students enrolled in this class will have the opportunity to combine writing and art design. Students will create art pieces using various materials and methods, students will then be able to further explore their art through the means of creative writing. Students will create and produce short stories, poetry, narratives, and other forms of creative writing pertaining to their personal art creations. Newspaper Design and Production (The ZYLAR- Zip Your Lips And Read) (*Students who take this class must also take the connecting Newspaper Design and Production with Mr. Maria). Our class will cover the basics of journalistic writing and newspaper publication. Each student will be responsible for writing articles for each issue of the newspaper. Each student will conduct interviews, research and write stories, take photos or gather supporting graphics from the Internet, and ready his/her pages of the newspaper for publication. The newspaper students drive the newspapers content, so students are expected to develop multiple story ideas throughout the course of the semester, in addition to carrying out the tasks of researching, writing, and laying out their articles. Students are also asked to support other staff members, cooperate with the advisor, and use all computer lab material responsibly. Newspaper students must be mature and able to work both independently and as part of a team. Cinema As Lit Cinema as Literature - The class is designed to show students how film is a form of literature. By viewing classic and modern film, students will learn that good film, like good literature, has certain elements in common. Students will be expected to understand symbols, metaphors, allusions, plot, theme, and other literary elements as they relate to both film and literature. In addition, students will develop an appreciation for the interaction of film elements such as scripting, directing, acting, producing, lighting, sound, music, editing, cinematography, special effects, set design and costuming. Students will learn to recognize such film genres as drama,

comedy, western, science-fiction, mystery, action/adventure, and animation. Students will use their knowledge of the various elements of cinema to analyze and critique films studied in class. This will be accomplished through discussions, compositions, projects and evaluations. Students will use a variety of writing forms that include: note taking, paragraph analysis, and critiquing.