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Student: "So let me get this straight. You want us to write stories about stealing things?!"
Me: "Not just things - super rare, super valuable things!"
Student: " ... Awesome!"
That's the typical reaction I get when I present my week-long Create Your Own Heist Narrative Writing Project to my students, and it never gets old!
Today, I'm sharing this original project with you so you can help your students plan and execute fictional heists and refine their narrative writing skills in the process!
Every year that I read Loot by Jude Watson with my students, I challenge them to plan and execute a heist just like the main characters in the book, Jules and March!
Loot
Loot by Jude Watson is fast-paced and action-packed. Each chapter is only a few pages long, and the end of each chapter leaves you wanting more!
(If you aren't currently reading Loot with your students, or planning to read it, you can still use this narrative writing project in class. Check out the additional resources at the end of this post.)
Students love reading about recently reunited twins, March and Jules McQuinn, as they, and their newfound friends, Darius and Izzy, follow in their late, cat burglar father's footsteps and attempt to steal seven magic moonstones.
My students often express how cool it would be to pull off a heist as we read. While reading one day, I thought, "Why not let them live out their fun, heist fantasy? After all, it would create some amazing and engaging skill-building opportunities!"
So, I got to work and made it happen!
With this narrative writing project your students will:
Research & plan their heists.
Outline their story in chronological order.
Compose narratives with dialogue.
Be introduced to new people, places, and historical events around the world.
Have the opportunity to tap into their creativity!
You'll start by simply explaining the goal of the project to your students.
Goal: Write a story from a first-person point of view in which you steal the rare, valuable item that has been assigned to you.
Research & Planning
Then, you'll assign your students their high-value items from the included spreadsheet. Assign items individually, or let them work in pairs. It's up to you!
Target items on the spreadsheet include Babe Ruth's 1914 rookie card, The Sovereign's Sceptre, The Hope Diamond, and Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night painting, just to name a few! There's something that will appeal to every personality in your classroom!
The spreadsheet includes each item's location as well as helpful tips that will help you know which items are more appropriate for reluctant writers vs. students who are a bit ahead of the game and need an extra challenge, for example. It also includes links you can send your students to make sure that they have a resource that will give them a photo and basic background knowledge of their item to get them started. Students will then spend time researching their items and planning their heist while answering questions on the provided sheets (pictured below) that will help guide them in their research and planning.
Tip #1 - Encourage students to download maps of the buildings their items are located in to help them plan their entry and exit strategies. Many of the items are in museums with floor plans available on their website. Tip #2 - Encourage your students to use Google Earth to get an idea of the building they will need to break into! Is there a lot of traffic in the area? Will they need a getaway driver as a result? These questions can be answered with the help of Google Earth while giving students a view of a city they might not otherwise have known anything about!
Outlining & Storytelling in Chronological Order Your students will then map out their heist on the outline sheet (pictured above). The outline will help them define a clear beginning, middle, and end of their story.
The goal is, as I tell them, to create a bullet-pointed list of events that will occur at the beginning, middle, and end of their story so that when it comes time to write their story in full, they have a roadmap to work from that will help them stay on track. (It's easy for middle school students to get too focused on something like an outfit a particular character is wearing and spend too much time describing it.)
Composing Narratives with Dialogue
When it comes time for students to use their research and outlines to write their complete story, I remind them that they should write the story from a first-person perspective and that we shouldn't just know what the characters are doing; we should also know what they are saying. I then give them a quick refresher on using commas and quotation marks while writing dialogue, remind them that they should start a new line every time a different character starts speaking, and then step back and let them dive into writing!
Common Student Questions
Over the years, I've learned to expect the following questions, so I thought I'd share them with you ahead of time along with the responses I give to them.
Question #1: "My item is REALLY big? How am I supposed to steal it?" Answer: "Your story and the world it takes place in is in your control. Maybe in your story, you come from a family of pilots and have access to a helicopter to move your item. Have fun, and get creative!" Question #2: I feel like no one could get away with stealing this. There's too much security! Answer: So, maybe your character doesn't get away with it. Explore that idea. What if the heist goes wrong and your character gets caught?
Question #3: Do I have to be myself in my story, or can I be an adult? (This one is your call as the teacher, of course, but I let them pretend to be anyone they want to be.)
Question #4: What's a sceptre?
Some of your reluctant writers are going to want instant answers and guidance if they don't already know what their assigned target item is right off the top of their heads. Answer: It's time to research and find out! Here's a link to get you started. There's a lot of history linked to this item. I know you're going to have fun learning about it!
If you want to bring this narrative writing project to your classroom, you can get it on my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking here.
The resource download includes:
1. Step-by-step teaching instructions and a teaching timeline.
2. A spreadsheet with the target items your students will be stealing in their stories, each item’s location, and a link to information about each item to help your students start researching.
3: A research and brainstorming document that students will use to gather research about their assigned target item and brainstorm ideas for their heist narrative.
4. An outline that will help students map out the order of events in their narrative.
5. Suggestions and tips for helping students as they write, edit, and finalize their narratives.
6. Post project suggestions for showing off student work!
Additional Resources
As I said earlier, if you aren't reading Loot with your students, you can still use the narrative writing project in class!
You can pair this project with a fun short story about a heist. You can also watch an episode of History's Greatest Heists with Pierce Brosnan to introduce students to the project. I like to play this episode after we finish reading Loot because the heist in the episode is referenced in the book.
Just a heads up, they do show the reenactment actors drinking and smoking cigarettes during one scene in the episode I linked above. I just explain to my students ahead of time that the heist took place in the 60s and that the show and actors are trying to accurately portray what happened.
Also, when your students ask you who Pierce Brosnan is, you may feel old like I did! Ha!
I hope your students have an awesome time planning and writing about their heists! May the creativity flow and the laughs be plentiful in your happy classroom!
Until next time!
Lauren
Opmerkingen