Stretch-Run Syllabus

Conference Drafts
Each of you will submit one more conference draft between now and Apr 24. The due dates are in the righthand column. They are also here:

· Mar 27: Julia / Antoinette / Hannah..........Conference → Apr 3
· Apr 3: Natalie / Olivia / Ceri-Lune..........Conference → Apr 10
· Apr 10: Carmen / Jessica / Lita..........Conference → Apr 17
· Apr 17: Lily / Lauren / Laura..........Conference → Apr 24
· Apr 24: Imani / Sarah / Jasmine..........Conference → May 1

Jury Portfolio
Your jury will consist of one revised and fully polished story. This must be one of the two stories you submitted for conference. I’ll give you a handout that explains how I’ll evaluate juries.

Weekly Schedule
In general, Mon-Wed-Fri will be focused on writing. We’ll start those days with a five-minute “Flash-or-Flush” prompt. That will be followed by a 45-minute stretch of uninterrupted writing. Instead of saving that work and submitting it at the end of the week, I’ll check your word count each writing period. The requirement is that you write for the full 45 minutes. The goal is to get to 500 words (11.11 words per minute!). As long as you’re writing the whole time, you don’t have to worry about whether you get to 500 words or not. On the other hand, if you get there in under 45 minutes, keep going. The most important thing is the uninterrupted time you spend writing, not the word count.

Tue-Thu will be focused on reading and elements of craft. Tuesdays we’ll read an exemplary short story together aloud and discuss it. On Thursdays we’ll also read: this time a novel the whole class will be reading together.

Readings
Senior Readings are starting up this Friday. The schedule is in the righthand column and here:

· Mar 27: Rachele Hatter and Persephonae Velasquez
· Apr 10: Elaine Crutchley and Hannah Irvin
· Apr 17: Michael Lambert and Erika Wade

All senior readings start at 7:00 p.m. Attendance is required. Absences must be prearranged or excused.

Your grade-level readings are also coming up. Practices will begin the week prior to your reading.

· Apr 2 (Thu): 9th Grade Reading
· Apr 15 (Wed): 8th Grade Reading
· Apr 28 (Tue): 7th Grade Reading

All grade-level readings start at 3:15 p.m. Attendance is required. Absences must be prearranged or excused.