Instructional Module/Training Plan Template
AET/520 Version 3
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University of Phoenix Material
Instructional Module/Training Plan Template
Part I: Vital Information
Author
Thomas E. Day
Instructional Topic
Creative Writing
Instructional Module/Training Plan
Title
How to write “Flash Fiction.”
Learning Setting
Online University
Audience
Adult learners who desire to learn to write effective stories with
an average length of 750 words, and which do not exceed 1250
words.
Delivery Modality (online, hybrid,
face-to-face, and so forth)
Online
Total Time Allotment
Six weeks
Instructional Module/Training Plan
Goal
Learners will write three “Flash Fiction” stories by the completion
of their instruction.
Two Performance-Based Objectives
1. The adult learners will be able to accurately identify
and describe the conflicts in three short “Flash
Fiction” stories presented in a 30 minute online quiz
using no more than 75 words per story description
conflict.
2. The adult learners will be able to identify “Point-ofView” (PoV) in five short “Flash Fiction” stories
presented in a 30 minute online quiz with 80%
accuracy.
Learners will assess the instructional content as well as the
instructor’s ability to assist the learners in assimilation of the
course material. Some of the summative assessment questions
would be;
 Did the course help the learners how to analyze “Flash
Fiction.”
 Did the course help the learners to effectively create their
own “Flash Fiction.”
 Did the course meet the learner’s expectations? Why, or
why not?
 Would the learner take another course from this instructor.
Why or why not?
Summative Assessment Description
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Part II: Development
Attention Getter
Attention Getter: The learners will interview
each other as if they were celebrities who
played the role of a character in a flash
fiction story. For example; Chris, and
Heather are taking the creative writing class
and are interviewing each other. Each
person has chosen a character that they will
say they are representing from one of three
stories. Chris has chosen to be the “Hit
Man” from the story “The Hit Man” by T.
Coraghessan Boyle. Heather will then ask
Chris interview questions from a template
sheet of questions. When Chris is done
answering questions, he will then interview
Heather. Since this is an on-line course the
participants should read the three chosen
stories before-hand.
o The purpose of this attention getter
activity is two-fold. First the learners
have the opportunity to get to know a
bit about one another through the
interview process (an ice-breaker
activity), and second the learners
quickly involved in the analysis level of
creative writing.
o The students will have two books they
will be working from in this creative
writing class on Flash-Fiction:
 “Creative Writing – Four
Generes in Brief” edited by
David Starkey. Note: The three
stories chosen for the
icebreaker-interview will all
come from this book.
 “Field Guide to Writing Flash
Fiction” edited by Tara, L. Masih
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o The students will have the following
handout for the ‘attention getter icebreaker:’
 A template with pre-printed
interview questions. The
purpose of pre-printing the
interview questions is to train
the learners about how to ask
engaging interview questions,
and to ensure that answers
convey information about the
person being interviewed.
Detailed Input of Content
In this Flash-Fiction creative writing
course the learners will gain an
understanding of:




how to create a character.
how to create and set a scene.
the correct ways to write dialog.
the ways to present point-ofview
 how to begin and end a story.
 the importance of conflict and
resolution.
 the elements of fiction writing (in
medias res, denoument,
imagery, etc.).
o Set your scene with a 3-D character
that will hook your reading audience
into a captivating story that cannot be
put down!
 You will need to know how to
weave the elements of the flash
fiction story into a wash-cloth
sized fabric.
“A good book is twice as good if it is short!”
- Baltasar Gracián
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Part III: Implementation
Instructional Strategies
This training module will employ both direct and indirect
instructional strategies to teach the objectives of (1) finding
the main conflict in a short flash-fiction story, and (2) in
determining the point-of-view (PoV) of the story.
Direct Instruction
A flash-fiction story will be posted on-line for the
learners to read through. This story will not be in the
learner’s materials and so they will only be able to access it
on the day their on-line class begins. At the end of the story
the instructor will ask and answer two questions about this
story in particular. The 1st will be, “What is the main conflict
in this story,” and the 2nd will be, “What is the PoV of this
story. Once the learners have read the story and studied
the questions and answers, they will be assigned reading
from their books on conflict and PoV.
Indirect Instruction
Online discussion of conflict and PoV will follow the
readings
with
students
posting
their
thoughts/questions/comments by the 3rd day of class. Each
learner will be required to make an “initial post” that is a
statement about what they have read to the first DQ
question, and they will then be required to make at least
three commenting posts to what others have written for their
initial-posts. The reasoning behind this is that each student
needs an opportunity to begin grasping the concepts of
conflict and PoV by utilizing the lower order thinking skills as
defined in Bloom’s taxonomy.
The activities of determining a character that they will
pose as from one of the three short stories assigned will be
the next portion of the lesson and this will involve the higher
order thinking skills of Blooms Taxonomy. Student will be
placed in groups of two or three (by the instructor) based on
the character they choose to represent. Each learner must
then determine a conflict that has occurred in their life and
figure out both how the character in the story they read
would react to that conflict and from what PoV that conflict
should be told. Once this is completed they will post their
character, their conflict, and their PoV choice into their
individual learning forums. Learners will have by day 4 to
make this post and must respond to the posts of the
members in their group by day 5.
Formative Assessment
This qualitative assessment will occur in three
parts:
1. At the completion of the direct
instruction the learners will
determine if they feel they have
a basic grasp of the concepts of
the main conflict of a story and
PoV by filling out an online
questionnaire with space for
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comments.
2. At the completion of the indirect
instruction of activities the
learners will complete a
questionnaire with their group
member/s and post those for
discussion and comment.
3. At the completion of the
assignment the learners will
individually post their personal
assessment of the activities to
determine if they feel that they
were using higher order thinking
skills, and to determine if they
feel they met the objectives of
the training exercise, and
additionally an assessment of
their team member/s
contributions. At this time the
learners may also choose to post
additional methods they feel
would improve the process as
well as activities they would like
to try out.
This formative assessment strategy was chosen
because it involves (1) Questioning, (2) Discussion (3)
Peer/Group assessment. Additionally the assessments
look at the level of learning to have the learners think
about ways to improve the process of meeting their
primary objectives.
Closure
The primary purpose of this training module is to
involve the learner in the processes of deep thinking so
that they meet their objectives as completely as
possible. The activities should be both challenging and
enjoyable to the learners, and allow them to quickly
move from a direct basic instruction to an indirect
instruction where they utilize critical thinking and
research skills to formulate a foundation for a short
story of their own. The formative assessments have
the learners thinking individually and together in a
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reflective fashion about the objectives.
Closure
The primary purpose of this training module is to
involve the learner in the processes of deep thinking so
that they meet their objectives as completely as
possible. The activities should be both challenging and
enjoyable to the learners, and allow them to quickly
move from a direct basic instruction to an indirect
instruction where they utilize critical thinking and
research skills to formulate a foundation for a short
story of their own with the key elements of a main
conflict, and the correct point-of-view. The formative
assessments have the learners thinking individually and
together in a reflective fashion about the objectives.
Materials and Resources
The learners will need to have access to the
internet for their online discussions. All materials
needed for the course will be posted online and the
syllabus will be available for all in the course materials
section, as well as the required reading materials. The
students may additionally purchase the books for the
course if they wish through the school’s bookstore.
The internet and the school library will be available for
the learners at all times, and rubrics to guide the
students will be available at the time the lessons are
initially posted.
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