What to do after NaNoWriMo If you found a month madly dedicated to one project exhilarating amidst the exhaustion :-) there are more challenges throughout the year, some lasting a month, some a week, some 3 days, some 24 straight hours. :-) (The NaNoWriMo folks aren't affiliated with any of these except Script Frenzy.) From the I Wrote a Novel, Now What? page at the NaNoWriMo site which might have more challenges added throughout the year (plus a few free contests). DecemberNaNoFiMo.org - National Novel Finishing Month (December). Varies or throughout the yearNaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month (Year-Round). JanuaryJanNoWriMo - Goal: Write either 50k or your own word-count goal in January. FebruaryFAWM - February Album Writing Month (February). MarchNaNoEdMo - National Novel Editing Month (March). AprilScript Frenzy - NaNoWriMo's sister challenge (April). MayNational Picture Book Writing Week - (First week of May). JuneComiKaze - Create a 24 page comic in 24 hours. September3-Day Novel Contest - (September).
Common Core Argument/Opinion Writing Annotated samples of real student work from around the country. This Common Core instructional resource will help educators and students develop a clearer understanding of effective writing as described in the Standards and provides examples of writing integrated within the curriculum. This section focuses on CCSS.W.1: "Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence." Grades K-5, On-Demand Writing Common Core writing samples showing student responses to the same prompt across grade levels. Prompts and source texts included. Brief User Guide for On-Demand Argument/Opinion Writing Defines On-Demand writing and explains how these samples were collected and organized. 1-pg doc. Go to Resource Grade K, Prompt for Opinion Writing Go to Resource Grade K Fall Sample, The Best Pet Go to Resource The Best Pet (Original Student Work) Go to Resource Grade K Spring Sample, Dog is the Best Go to Resource Go to Resource
About a little thing called 750words on 750 Words Pros and Cons of Cell Phones Like many technologies, cell phones are mixed blessings. They keep us from being stranded for hours on the side of the road, but can be distracting while driving, which may lead to accidents -- although you can, at least, call emergency services immediately with your cell phone if the distraction led to the accident. Cell phones have affected our lives to the extent that local and state governments change and create laws regarding cell-phone use to try to moderate the negative features and accentuate the positive. Pro: Keep in Touch Did you forget to tell your husband to pick up milk on his way home from work? No problem -- just call him on his cell phone. Con: Keep in Touch Although keeping in touch seems positive, there's a dark side to it as well. Pro: Saving Money Many cell-phone plans include free features, such as long distance and a certain number of free text messages. Con: Spending Money Con: Safety There are several safety issues associated with cell-phone use. About the Author
Script Frenzy A Simple, Two-Paragraph Template that Helps Kids to Really Argue - Dave Stuart Jr. In the last post, I shared the new argumentative focus I’m experimenting with for the article of the week (AoW) assignment. Rather than choosing just any type of article, I’m looking for articles that argue. (By the way, in case you aren’t aware of this, Kelly Gallagher is the person from whose work I first learned about AoWs. More of his work is here. It’s not exactly the discovery of the polio vaccine, but still, it’s pretty cool. I like this new focus because one of my key hopes for AoW is that my kids won’t merely become aware of something that’s happening in the world–like, in last week’s article, the growing popularity of largely unregulated e-cigarettes–but that they’ll also see current issues as argumentative conversations, held at water coolers and bus stops and in editorial pages and the blogosphere. But I want more than that–I also want each article to allow my students to join in on the conversation. But what scaffolding, you may ask. Here’s the two-paragraph template:
Dragon Writing Prompts Flashbake: Free version-control for writers using git For the past couple weeks, I've been working with Thomas "cmdln" Gideon (host of the fabulously nerdy Command Line podcast) on a free software project for writers called "Flashbake" (which is to say, I described what I wanted and Thomas wrote the code). This is a set of Python scripts that check your hot files for changes every 15 minutes, and checks in any changed files to a local git repository. Git is a free "source control" program used by programmers to track changes to source-code, but it works equally well on any text file. If you write in a text-editor like I do, then Flashbake can keep track of your changes for you as you go. I was prompted to do this after discussions with several digital archivists who complained that, prior to the computerized era, writers produced a series complete drafts on the way to publications, complete with erasures, annotations, and so on. Enter Flashbake. It's all pretty nerdy, I admit. I love adapting programmers' tools for my writing.
Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers (Kennedy and Jerz) (Dennis G. Jerz, Seton Hill University)