This is your chance to scare the daylights out of me, or make me laugh til I cry. Maybe you have an idea that is clever and your story will have a twist at the end. It is time to begin your first major writing assignment! I will help you by setting these guidelines to follow and helping you with mini deadlines. If you follow my guidelines you will have a great story in time for Halloween. I will be marking these stories on all writing traits: Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Voice, Sentence Structure, Conventions and Presentation. Each trait is as important as the next, so take special care with each stage of your writing process. The story has to have a Halloween or Autumn theme. These are great themes for using word choice and voice, and adding great detail and description. Remember to write using the senses so that I can picture it as I read the story. October 3-4 - Brainstorming and organizing ideas.                     Opening paragraph completed. Oct 5-10 - Each day add a paragraph to the story. Does the story make sense? Is it moving along at a good pace? Are you detailing one event? Remember we want a 'seed' story, not a 'watermelon' story. Oct 14 - Share draft with classmate to get feed back. Make necessary changes to details to create a clearer picture. Oct 17- 24 - Crafting and editing story. Looking for the million dollar words that make your story 'pop', Getting you final draft edited by myself or a parent. Oct 25-31 - Completing final copy. It should be hand-written double-spaced or typed and have a coverpage with a picture colored. You will present these stories in class, beginning on Oct 27, for those of you who may be ready early. I can't wait to read them!! You will have a considerable amount of classtime to work on these stories, but are expected to also work on them as homework. You must meet the October 31st deadline....... or face the 'Homework Witch!