While picture books are always great writing models, short
stories can be very effective, too, especially for the middle and high school
classroom. Gary Soto’s classic Baseball
in April contains eleven stories of adolescence. The collection portrays
Hispanic characters in California dealing with universal themes of friendship,
family relationships, and self-confidence.
“Growing Up” has a particularly compelling plot of a tenth
grade girl who gets her wish of staying home from a family vacation. Yet while
her family is away, she worries and regrets her decision. “Growing Up” should
strike a chord with middle and upper grade students through its emotional
center and imagined scenario of staying behind with your friends while your
family travels. Ask your students to write about why they might want to be
excused from a trip and if being mature means separating yourself from your
family. What would they do at home on their own? Would their parents trust them to obey the rules? How would they feel about being separated from their parents
for the first time? After responding in personal narratives, students could
then go on to create a fictional character staying home from a family vacation.
Some students might want to make a comparison to the popular
movie, Home Alone. A humorous
approach is just as acceptable as a serious one, especially since in both the
movie and Gary Soto’s story, family relationships and maturity are explored.
“Barbie” in Baseball
in April should also resonant with students. This tale revolves around
the acquisition of a longed-for doll with a disastrous result. Students should
find plenty of inspiration to write about a time when they finally received an
object they wanted only to have it ruined. Like the other short stories in this
collection, “Barbie” is a great example of a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Short stories are a unique art form in that they establish a fully drawn character with a specific problem that is resolved in a few pages. Young
writers often run into trouble when attempting fiction. They envision
themselves writing a novel with hundreds of pages. But before you can tell a
long story, you need to be able to effectively tell a short one. Reading and
responding to short stories will help young writers strengthen their skills.
No comments:
Post a Comment