After reading to or with them a version of the classic story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving, instruct students to compose a written, descriptive character analysis of the story's main characters. Require that students analyze the main characters, Ichabod, Katrina and Abraham, by describing their physical characteristics, relationships, personalities, jobs and families. Complete this written portion of the project before other parts, as it prepares students for components that require familiarity with the characters.
Assign students the task of writing a poem about each main character. Discuss several poetry forms, such as diamante, cinquain, ode, narrative and lyric. Direct students to brainstorm a rhyming list of words connected to each character as prewriting. Instruct students to choose a poetry form to write that fits the character's personality or actions in the story, based on the analysis they have previously written.
Explain that the story takes place in the late 1700s. Washington Irving wrote it in the early 1800s, and it was considered a ghost or horror story. Ask students to consider modern ghost or horror stories and compare them to Irving's legend. Instruct students to write a modern version of the story as it would need to be written by an author if he wanted it considered a ghost or horror story in today's society.
The ending of the story offers several different scenarios as to what might have happened to Ichabod, the main character. Direct students to choose one of these scenarios and develop a sequel to the original story. Instruct them to study the style of writing and vocabulary that Irving used. Students can then write their original sequel to mirror as closely as possible his style and vocabulary.