When I was first told I’d be teaching a Creative Writing class, I panicked! There was no curriculum, and creating one from scratch felt impossible. However, over time, I developed my own Creative Writing Curriculum for High School and learned a lot!
Designing a creative writing curriculum for high school can feel like a daunting task. You want to inspire creativity while teaching essential writing skills, but finding the right balance isn’t always easy. That’s why a well-planned Creative Writing curriculum in high school is essential.
In this post, I’ll outline the key components of an effective creative writing curriculum for high school, using examples from my own High School Creative Writing Curriculum to help you envision a program an English teacher AND a high schooler can love!
Want to skip the prep? Grab my complete 9-week done-for-you High School Creative Writing Curriculum!
Why Teach Creative Writing in High School?
Creative writing classes provide your high schoolers with the opportunity to express themselves, think critically, and develop a love for writing. In addition to nurturing creativity, these classes teach valuable skills like:
- Analyzing mentor texts
- Applying literary devices
- Drafting, revising, and editing their work
These days, students rarely write for fun. I bet many of your students have never even considered doing so!
Creative Writing shows students that writing doesn’t have to be arduous. They don’t always have to stress about “getting it right.”
Plus, just getting students to write can go a long way in increasing your high schoolers’ writing fluency. Before you know it, they’ll be considering their word choice and adding sensory details to even essay writing!
In this post, I talk about more benefits of teaching a Creative Writing class.
But, in my opinion, the top reason to teach one? It’s going to be fun for you!
With the right curriculum, your students will gain confidence in their writing abilities while learning to appreciate the art of storytelling.
What Should a High School Creative Writing Curriculum Include?
A successful creative writing curriculum for high school should offer a mix of activities that engage students, teach essential high school writing skills, and guide students through the writing process.
You can base your Creative Writing units upon anything you wish to focus.
For example, you can have Creative Writing units on different genres (such as memoir writing, science fiction, and children’s books). You could focus on different types of poetry, moving students through new formats. Or you could even break your class into poetry vs. short story.
As long as you focus on building vocabulary, teaching the writing process, and allowing students to have fun, you’ll have a successful Creative Writing Curriculum!
(Want tips for actually teaching that Creative Writing class? Check out this post!)
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #1: A Plan for the First Day of School
Every good English Language Arts class should start with a bang! Or, maybe just a poem!
If possible, try not to just spend the first day of school reading your Creative Writing syllabus. Your Creative Writing students signed up hoping for something a little different, so give it to them!
One of my favorite ways to begin a Creative Writing class is by having students write an “I Am” Poem. You can grab my free lesson here. It’s a great way to show students that they will be expected to write daily, allow them to get to know the other Creative Writing students, and help them get comfortable showing their work to others.
Of course, there are many different ways you can start your class. Maybe you have students listen to an amazing slam poet. Perhaps you ask students to define poetry.
Whatever you do, just make sure it sets the right tone for the rest of the school year. Like a short story, every Creative Writing elective needs a good beginning.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #2: Bell Ringers and Warm-Ups
Begin each class with engaging activities to spark creativity and get students thinking. I recommend choosing a bell ringer that emphasizes the skills you want your Creative Writing students to really focus on. After all, whatever you choose will be the concept that your high school students practice every single day!
In my High School Creative Writing Curriculum, I offer two different kinds of warm-ups: Journal Writing Prompts or Poem of the Week activities.
Journaling with High Schoolers
Journal prompts are perfect for encouraging free writing. If you want students to just get comfortable writing and getting their ideas on paper, this is the best way to go! You might ask students to “Describe your happiest memory in vivid detail” or “Imagine a world where emotions are traded like currency. Write about a character navigating this system.”
Plus, if students are journaling every day, they’ll always have a bank of ideas to refer to for bigger projects later.
If, however, you want to spend more time analyzing writing and getting technical, Poem of the Week Activities are phenomenal!
Analyzing Poetry with High Schoolers
They provide an excellent opportunity to analyze a mentor poem, focusing on literary devices like alliteration, metaphor, or personification. Afterward, students can challenge themselves to include these techniques in their own creative work.
With my Poem of the Week Activities, I always encourage students at the end of the week to write their own poem using that week’s poem as a mentor text. It’s a great way to make writing a regular part of your schedule while challenging students to try different techniques.
This post has more information on using poetry analysis as a daily warm-up.
In addition to helping Creative Writing students hone their skills, starting every class with a regular warm-up is solid classroom management.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #3: Literary Terms Lessons
Throughout your Creative Writing class, your high schoolers should be learning to talk like a writer! Make sure they leave your classroom with all of the jargon of a poet by teaching essential literary terms.
Consider a Figurative Language Creative Writing Unit
My first Creative Writing unit focuses on figurative language. This gives me time to teach students some basic terms that we’ll be using throughout the rest of the class. (As a bonus, knowing these terms will help any high schooler in their other English Language Arts classes!)
We spend a lot of time talking about sensory details and creating new and different ways to describe sensations.
(This free Figurative Language Tasting Activity is a high schooler favorite! You can learn how to do your own figurative language tasting in this blog post.)
Learning figurative language terms first allows students to begin thinking about the impact of word choice and how to create mood and tone in their writing. Later, when I add in poetry terms or we discuss specific skills, students have a bank of terms to build upon.
Starting with figurative language is also a perfect way for students to warm up to writing, begin practicing different writing skills, and build up their writer’s toolbox.
I use this Figurative Language Scavenger Hunt to introduce the terms to students.
Focus on whichever literary terms will best serve your students throughout your Creative Writing course.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #4: Skill-Building Workshops and Mini-Lessons for the Writing Process
Every great writer hones their craft through practice and learning.
Skill-building workshops and mini-lessons are an essential part of any Creative Writing curriculum. These focused lessons provide the foundation for stronger writing. (You can find a list of writing skills I like to cover in this post.)
I’m a fan of the workshop model because it focuses on giving students time to really practice their craft. You give them a short lesson. Then, students spend the rest of the class trying to apply the new concept or skill with independent work.
As students work, you can move freely around the classroom providing feedback and helping writers who are stuck. Sometimes, like in my Writing Dialogue Lesson, I do have students do partner work, but for the most part, independent work is the focus of these workshops.
(More on teaching with mini-lessons in this post.)
Writing Skills Lessons to Consider
Topics might include using precise and concise language, writing authentic dialogue, or mastering the “show, not tell” technique to add depth to storytelling. Students have to really think about their word choice and focus on sensory details.
By breaking these writing skills into manageable lessons, students can focus on refining specific aspects of their writing. They can begin to develop their own writing process.
If you’d like, you can even organize your writing skills lessons into thematic units.
Maybe you have a poetry unit. In this unit, you’d focus on figurative language, analyze some poems, and then have students write their own.
Alternatively, you could have a thematic unit around a genre of writing. Maybe students write a science fiction or fantasy short story.
After my Figurative Language Mini-unit, I have students work on their poetry writing skills. They learn about different types of poetry and write cinquains, haikus, odes, and limericks before we move on to longer works like a short story.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #5: Creative Writing Projects
Once students have practiced individual skills, it’s time to put them together in a longer piece of writing. Projects allow students to apply the skills they’ve learned in a meaningful way.
In a high school Creative Writing curriculum, these can take the form of imaginative and structured assignments. Depending on the focus of your Creative Writing Class, you might want students to write poetry, short stories, or both.
Unless your students are all advanced writers, I recommend creating projects that include lots of scaffolding.
The Fairy Tale Retelling Project
For example, my Fairy Tale Retelling Project challenges students to reimagine a classic fairy tale with an original twist. This is great for new writers because they don’t have to come up with a brand-new short story from scratch.
I talk more about the Fairy Tale Retelling Project in this blog post.
The Author Study Project
Another great idea is an Author Study Project. In this project, students to analyze a favorite author’s style and create writing inspired by their techniques.
I have more information about setting up an Author Study Project in this post.
Depending on the author a student chooses to emulate, you can have them write a short story or a collection of poems.
Other Project Ideas
One last idea is a Creative Writing unit centered around children’s books. You can have high school students write their own children’s books and maybe even read them to younger children for real-world experience!
These projects not only showcase creativity but also deepen students’ understanding of storytelling techniques.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #6: Peer-editing Activities
This will probably be your high school students’ least favorite aspect of your Creative Writing curriculum, but make sure you have them read each other’s work.
In my High School Creative Writing Curriculum, I include detailed daily lesson plans. Most of the lesson plans for writing activities include tips for having students share and edit one another’s work.
I even suggest having Creative Writing students share a poem they write on day one (this FREE “I Am” Poem Activity).
You can do formal peer-editing activities, have students hang up their writing and do gallery walks, or even read poems aloud for your students.
Just make sure you’re spending time fostering students’ confidence in sharing their work.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #7: Seasonal and Thematic Writing Activities
I’m a sucker for adding some seasonal fun to my classroom whenever I can. Luckily, when you’re teaching a Creative Writing class, you’re free to get, well, creative!
Tie your curriculum to the calendar with seasonal and thematic writing activities. These assignments keep students engaged and bring fresh inspiration to the classroom.
In October, students can write spooky 2-sentence horror stories. Meanwhile, December provides the chance to analyze the holiday-themed piece “Nicholas Was…” and craft their own festive narratives.
You can even try to time teaching the limerick around St. Patrick’s Day!
Seasonal projects bring excitement to the class while honing specific writing skills.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #8: Assessments and Reflection
Assessments and reflection are critical to helping students grow as writers.
A well-rounded creative writing curriculum includes tools like a Literary Terms Test to measure understanding of key concepts and peer or teacher feedback sessions during workshops to refine drafts.
While a test might seem like the most “uncreative” writing assignment you can give, we English teachers know that sometimes a test is necessary. You might be required to give a final exam at the end of your class or you might need a non-writing grade to balance out your gradebook.
Use those literary terms you’ve been teaching throughout the class to create a final exam test or assessment for your students.
Creative Writing Curriculum for High School Students Feature #9: Flexible Curriculum Planning
Flexibility is key when teaching a creative writing class. A flexible curriculum allows you to adapt lessons and activities to your unique schedule and your students’ needs.
I can’t tell you how many times I had my weeks planned out, only to discover that students needed more time for brainstorming, writing, and peer-editing. Make sure you always have a backup plan for when the muses are refusing to speak to your students!
My High School Creative Writing Curriculum includes a 9-week suggested calendar, but it can be easily customized to fit your specific requirements. This ensures that you can deliver engaging, student-centered instruction without feeling constrained by a rigid plan.
It’s a complete language arts course designed to teach students essential vocabulary, writing skills, and editing techniques.
Get Started with Your Creative Writing Curriculum
Whether you choose to DIY your Creative Writing Curriculum for High School, or you grab a ready-made class like my High School Creative Writing Curriculum, make sure you’re checking off all the boxes of your students’ needs.
If you’re ready to inspire your students with a dynamic and engaging creative writing program, check out my High School Creative Writing Curriculum. With resources like journal prompts, writing workshops, and seasonal projects, you’ll have everything you need to create a memorable class that will easily become students’ favorite of the school year!