Parodies, satires, and modern day adaptations are rich with literary elements. Moreover, they are valuable assets for teaching students about literature. Through creative writing, students learn to use literary elements in context, committing mastery of these terms to memory. It also allows students to connect to the themes in the book in a more creative way, as their adaptation will have to draw from the novel.
Students will enjoy creating their own modern day adaptation, and this is a valuable assignment to help students connect to the themes presented in the story. Have students rewrite the ending by choosing a more contemporary setting, or by choosing a current event that is closely related to the plot of The Outsiders.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a plot diagram for an original story that takes ideas from The Outsiders.
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
Proficient 25 Points | Emerging 21 Points | Beginning 17 Points | Try Again 13 Points | |
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Descriptive and Visual Elements | Cells have many descriptive elements, and provide the reader with a vivid representation. | Cells have many descriptive elements, but flow of cells may have been hard to understand. | Cells have few descriptive elements, or have visuals that make the work confusing. | Cells have few or no descriptive elements. |
Grammar/Spelling | Textables have three or fewer spelling/grammar errors. | Textables have four or fewer spelling/grammar errors. | Textables have five or fewer spelling/grammar errors. | Textables have six or more spelling/grammar errors. |
Evidence of Effort | Work is well written and carefully thought out. Student has done both peer and teacher editing. | Work is well written and carefully thought out. Student has either teacher or peer editing, but not both. | Student has done neither peer, nor teacher editing. | Work shows no evidence of any effort. |
Plot | All parts of the plot are included in the diagram. | All parts of the plot are included in the diagram, but one or more is confusing. | Parts of the plot are missing from the diagram, and/or some aspects of the diagram make the plot difficult to follow. | Almost all of the parts of the plot are missing from the diagram, and/or some aspects of the diagram make the plot very difficult to follow. |