“The concepts that students have of their own abilities and worth are constantly shaped by their classroom experiences, especially their interactions with other students.”Graham Nuthall, ‘The Hidden Lives of Learners’

Some problems with creative writing in English classrooms:

oIt is often a lonely activity

oIt is often quickly forgotten

oIt is often only read by other students as rabid pen-wielding peer assessors armed with mark schemes and poised to strike

oIt can feel clandestine, with talent a guilty secret

oIt doesn’t travel

oIt can have a faintly metallic aftertaste of institutional obedience

The effects make themselves visible in Q5 and Q6 answers in GCSE Language Paper 1 (AQA), where often in mocks:

•students have lost the sense that anyone is going to read what they are writing

•the sense of audience is tenuous

•they have not thought of themselves as engaging in role play

•they do not have a confident sense of themselves as successful writers

One response:

Before they hit GCSE, write a class novel

together

Co-operative writing[involving mutual assistance in working towards a

common goal; a business or other organization which is owned and run jointly by its members, who share the profits or

benefit]

Example 1

1982

You turn the corner.

You must either …………. (turn to page ..)

or ………………….. ………(turn to page ..)

Your first page

You chose to …………..

Your mission is over.

Your second page

You chose to ………..

You are successful in …………………..

Now turn to page ……..

Your third page

turn a corneropen a door

open a trapdoorclimb up or down a ladder

open a gateinvestigate a crack in the wall

pull a levercross a river or stream

push away some creepersgo straight ahead

turn leftturn right

break through a rockfallscale a rope hanging down

fall down a holestop for food and water

cavernroom

chambercave

hallwaydungeon

fight someone or something open something search something

have to escape from something

eat or drink something solve something build something play something have to cross something

e.g. chessboard, river

goblin

faun

troll

giant

wizard

guard

skeleton

ogre

maiden

You see a rusty iron ladder leading to a slime-encrusted door high in the grimy wall to your left. It catches your interest, and you climb the ladder carefully. On the last rung, your foot slips and the rung collapses. It takes all your strength not to fall back into the passageway.

You scrabble at the door with bleeding fingers, and to your relief, it opens easily. You enter a cold, musty room lined with mildewed glass cases. The light is dim, and the air seems thick with spores from the fungus creeping over every surface.

You approach the nearest glass case, and cautiously rub its surface with the hem of your tunic. Perhaps treasure, long forgotten, might lie within, you whisper to yourself. You bend down to peer in.

To your surprise, the case contains the stone head of a princess, and her eyes flicker open as you shine your lantern at her, emitting an eerie green glow. Around the room, a similar glow suddenly appears in the other cases.

“We are the lost princesses of Collasta,” she hisses in a voice like a knife scraping on steel. “Why do you dare to break our sleep?”

You must make a quick decision.

Will you:

a) bend closer and attempt to calm this monster? Turn to page 67

b) Draw your sword and smash the case before she can speak again? Turn to page 62

11

67

“How can I help you?” you whisper, holding your hands out to show you are not touching your sword.

The stone princess blinks and a warm light fills the room. The fungus seems to melt away and, as you glance about, you can see clearly the faces of 11 beautiful girls smiling at you from the walls.

“We have been waiting for you for 2000 years,” she says. “Your offer of help has released us from the icy spell in which the Warlock imprisoned us, and for that we thank you. Take your reward from the chest in the East corner, and may your journey be prosperous and fulfilling.”

You cannot believe your luck. Inside the chest is a copper goblet and an silver pocket watch. You place both inside your pack, bow to the smiling princesses and return to the passage, finding a new strength in your arms to lower yourself over the broken rung of the ladder, and continue deeper into the heart of the mountain.

Turn to page 29.

62

You use all of your remaining strength to smash the case and grab the head. But before you can dash it to the ground, she sinks her fang-like teeth into your arm, leaving you bloodied and howling with rage.

You dart forward to pick up the head again, but slip on the slimy floor and are temporarily winded.

As you lie gasping for breath, you are now eye to eye with the green-eyed gorgon, and she is a truly terrifying sight. Her mouth is open in a snarl and her emerald eyes flash with unearthly fire. Dust seems to be pouring from her hair in a choking whirlwind.

“May the curse of Collasta be upon you!” she shrieks, as rock begins to crumble from the ceiling above you and the floor cracks into pieces.

Your sword is useless to you now, and you can only scrabble at your pack in useless panic as roof caves in.

Your mission is over.

Example 2

The City of Ash

It was a pleasure to burn.It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning.

The Firemen and Firewomen

•Torch any buildings where books may be being hidden

The Rulers

•Guardians of the book ban

Citizens

•For or against the ban, encouraged to report any suspicious behaviour

You have the last book.

The Rulers’ Palace

The Fire Station

The City Library

The Prison

The Law Courts

The Shrine

Day 1:

A typical day in the life of their character

Literacy input

consideration of writing style and impact via

vocabulary choices and sentence structures

communal readings where students need to listen to each other to pick details that may inform what they

write next

Day 1:

A typical day in the life of their character

Day 2:

A rumour of revolution spreads

Day 3:

The day of revolution

 Co-operative writing

•Offers an opportunity for students to see themselves as novelists•Generates a real audience in the moment of writing as well as after the writing is complete•Involves listening to others and construction of a network of ideas•Fosters confidence and motivation amongst all abilities•Promotes co-operative, creative interaction

“The concepts that students have of their own abilities and worth are constantly shaped by their classroom experiences, especially their interactions with other students.”Graham Nuthall, ‘The Hidden Lives of Learners’

The Future…

…further opportunity to

trace track the process of

construction..?

…further experiments with

collaborative academic writing..?

@commahound

Charlotte Wright, Brigshaw High School