Using Microsoft Word’s “Track Change” feature as well as Wix.com for a project in Creative Writing

Class or Subject Area: English / Foreign Language

Specific Learning Objectives:

Writing (advanced): Students narrate a story.

Writing (advanced): Students write clear detailed descriptions of imaginary events and experiences.

Writing (advanced): Students write a short critical review of a piece of fiction giving reasons for their opinion.

Grade Level(s): 10-12

Activity Summary:

Students work on a draft copy of a short story they need to write (about 450 words).

Teacher uses Microsoft Word’s “Track Change” feature to edit students’ draft copy.

Students publish their story on Wix.com.

What you need:

Microsoft Word

Access to Internet

Access to Wix.com

How it works:

Students write a short story according to constrained writing techniques loosely based on Charles Baudelaire’s French poem, “Correspondances” (see Directions for the students below).

They submit their first draft copy to the teacher who uses Microsoft Word’s “Track Change” feature to make comments and offer suggestions.

They submit a second draft copy which is reviewed the same way by the teacher.

They work on their final version which is reviewed a last time by the teacher before publication on Wix.com.

Preparation:

Make a list of themes you want your students to include in their short story. Those should be related to the contents of your curriculum.

Explain the many meanings of “correspondance” (French for correspondence):

- similarity, analogy

- exchange of letters (or the letters themselves)

- [only in French]: connection between places or modes of transportation

Assign each student two of the themes on your list:

Have them write a short story including those themes and edit their text.

Have them publish their final copy on Wix.com.

Directions for the students:

Each student receives the following written instructions:

STUDENT	PLACE	THEMES
Pierre	Madrid’s railway station	a map of rome a CD-ROM

Your task is to write in 450 words minimum a short story including :

• a place (a raiway station or a train coming from or going to that railway station)
• an anecdote
• A THEME (also used as the title of your story)

In the example here above, Pierre should write a story whose action happens in Madrid’s railway station (or in a train coming from or going to Madrid). The whole story is about a CD-ROM (that someone lost? is seeking? is keeping safe?). At some point in the story, Pierre has to allude to a map of Rome; that map has no relevance to the story; it is merely anecdotic.

The story

• is a fiction (all characters are imagined, without any reference to real people, dead or alive);
• is coherent (with an opening, a plot, a resolution)
• describes a word altogether realistic and contemporaneous

Illustration

• image : your story comes with a black and white picture (2’’ x 2’’, jpeg format)
• sound : your story comes with a soundtrack (mp3 format)

Notes

• do not share with your classmates the contents of your assignment before completion of the project
• use web resources to help you with realistic descriptions of the assigned places and avoid stereotypes!

Sample:

Here is a sample planner for a class of 7 students in AP French:

ETUDIANT	GARES	THEMES
Etudiant 1	Berlin, Zoo Station	une tasse en porcelaine de Chine UN SAC A MAIN EN CUIR ROUGE
Etudiant 2	Londres, Waterloo Station	une montre ancienne UN EXEMPLAIRE DU JOURNAL « LE MONDE »
Etudiant 3	Los Angeles, Union Station	des soeurs jumelles UNE MONTRE ANCIENNE
Etudiant 4	New York, Grand Central Station	un exemplaire du journal “Le Monde » UN BOUQUET DE ROSES
Etudiant 5	Gare de Lima	un couteau de cuisine un hôtel UNE TASSE EN PORCELAINE DE CHINE
Etudiant 6	Gare de Moscou	Un sac à main en cuir rouge UN COUTEAU DE CUISINE
Etudiant 7	Gare de Beijing	un bouquet de roses DES SŒURS JUMELLES

Notice that the anecdotic theme assigned to a given student becomes the main theme for another student, which allows hyperlinks from text to text when the work is published on line, hence the title for the activity: “Correspondances”.

Here is the 2011 project published on Wix.com.