Stations, pre-grouped activities in the room, allow your students to get to know each other and some foundations of the class without a lecture.

The students should get 10 minutes per station. They can be done in any order. It is okay if they skim the readings, most of them are short.

For all of these stations, I recommend having things printed and telling students to take notes.

Station 1: Defining CNF

Summarize the definition of CNF given in “What is Creative Nonfiction?” by Lee Gutkind Link

Station 2: Craft Techniques and terms

Find 3 elements that you want to know more about in “The Glossary: A Concise, Evolving Guide to the Elements of Literary Craft” from Craft. Link

Station 3: The Writing Process

Compare the Creative Writing Process and the Academic Writing Process

Creative Writing Process	Academic Writing Process
Generation, coming up with ideas, low stakes writing for oneself	Pre-Writing brainstorming and planning
Translation editing ideas to be seen by others.	Drafting putting together
Review comments, revision, and reflection	Revising fixing major issues in a draft; structure, organization, development, etc.
Publishing sharing	Editing fixing grammar, syntax, diction, and format
	Publishing sharing

Station 4: Your Professor

Read 2 truths and a lie about your professor. As a group, guess which one is the lie. You can ask the professor 3 questions only.

Station 5: Goals

Review our course learning outcomes. Identity any terms or ideas you know, and any terms or ideas you are unfamiliar with.

CLO	How?	Why?
1. Gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view related to the production of Creative Nonfiction	Mix of Manual and Model readings for homework for each phase.	Reading Manual (Craft/How to) essays and Model (creative) pieces helps understand both the process and product of creative writing.
2. Produce well-reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions; and Evaluate evidence and arguments critically or analytically.	Student Craft Talks	Reading Like a Writer helps us assess the choices and techniques of other writers in order to improve our own craft.
3. Identity and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of Creative Nonfiction writing.	The Writing Cycle (draft assignments)	Learning the elements and techniques, and then using them in our own writing helps us hone our craft.
4. Analyze how arts from diverse cultures of the past serve as a foundation for those of the present and describe the significance of works of art in the societies that created them.	Reading and theme Choice	Reading creative nonfiction from a variety of authors helps us see how craft has evolved and how identity and time effect our writing.
5. Articulate how meaning is created in the arts or communications and how experience is interpreted and conveyed through Nonfiction.	Cover Letters and Critique	Using Critical-Creative thinking helps us understand and describe what is successful/effective about a creative piece.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of the skills involved in the process of writing Creative Nonfiction.	The Writing Cycle (Draft) Assignments	Developing your own writing process and understanding what works for you is important to your writing identity. It is also important to understand the peer review, revision, and publishing.
7. Use appropriate technologies to conduct research and to communicate.	Use of CUNY academic commons, media, and print materials.	Engaging in multimodal tools of composing help us fit into our print and digital creative world.

Station 6: Writing

Write a paragraph that explains what writing feels like to you. This is low stakes but will be handed in to your professor as an introduction.