High School Creative Writing Project for Drafting Dinosaur Tales

Item description

This Creative Writing project for high school facilitates the process of drafting a first-person short story in the fantasy genre featuring personified dinosaurs who experience conflicts that are relatable to a human audience while incorporating details that hearken back to prehistoric times. An important aspect to this activity is the creation of a distinct voice that is consistent with what is known about whichever species of dinosaur is represented by the protagonist.

Included are detailed, visually pleasing directions; a dinosaur research activity; a comprehensive outline for student planning; peer- and self-editing documents; and a thorough rubric for evaluating final drafts. Materials are delivered in a zip file containing both Word Document and PDF versions. 

By engaging with these materials, students will do the following:

• Conduct brief, informal research on any three of the following dinosaurs: Alamosaurus, Megalosaurus, Allosaurus, Diplodocus, Deinonychus, Indosuchus, Saltasaurus, Archaeopteryx, Coelophusis, Protoceratops, Albertosaurus, Carnotaurus, Styracosaurus, Borogovia, Ceratosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Dryptosaurus, Noasaurus, Dilophosaurus, Albertaceratops, Saltopus, Iguanodon, Utahraptor, Sinovenator, Gasosaurus, Nemegtosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Segisaurus, Bambiraptor, Ankylosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Camptosaurus, Microraptor, Suchomimus, Hesperosaurus, and more
• Apply knowledge of the aforementioned dinosaurs to the process of developing distinct, well-rounded characters
• Organize initial ideas in a coherent manner
• Engage the reader with a compelling exposition that establishes a prehistoric setting, characters, and conflicts
• Use many appropriate narrative techniques (dialogue, dialect, description, pacing, etc.) to enhance a science-fiction plot
• 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.

Materials are available for teaching a variety of texts such as:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
• Feed by M.T. Anderson
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
• The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare