NaNoWriMo: A Teacher's Best Kept Secret to Inspire Young Writers!

I confess to experiencing a slump every October. While I am no longer in the classroom, I don't think I'll ever forget the weariness that set in this time of year. The beginning of year hype, drummed up by the convocation keynote and the "thumbs-up, go-get 'em" attitude from administrators, no longer inspired me.

One year, I secretly downloaded a free "Count Down App" on my Iphone. (I hang my head in shame). I indulged in watching the clock countdown to the last day of school.

In 2011, I was assigned to teach two elective creative writing classes. I looked forward to August and September because of the synergy coursing through my students' veins. New clothes, back-to-school pep rallies, kept learning engaging. October was ripe for writing scary stories and a dead-poet unit.

By November 1st, my students were experiencing sugar withdrawals from eating excessive amounts of Halloween candy. Major store chains began selling Christmas trees; giving my students the illusion that winter break had begun.

As a result, border-line panic hit. How could I hold my students' interests? Afterall, this was an elective!

An ELAR teacher on my campus learned about NaNoWriMo and passed along the word. Seriously, it was like manna from heaven!

What is NaNoWriMo YWP? NaNoWriMo YWP stands for National Novel Writer's Month Young Writer's Project. The goal for students is to plan and write a novel between November 1st and 11:59 PM on the last day of November.

This short video will allow you to see the benefits of the NaNoWriMo project.

I can tell you first-hand how the NaNoWriMo experience transformed my classroom and created pathways to authentic student learning and engagement.

In addition to the benefits expressed in the posted video, here are three additional ways this project transformed my classroom.

1. NaNoWriMo became a path to student engagement and creative written expression.

I always looked forward to introducing the lesson: "You are going to write a novel." Some students looked terrified at the novel-writing challenge, but by the time November 1st arrived, they were anxious to start their stories.

This is because NaNoWriMo has abundant resources to support students and teachers. For example, mid-October, I began integrating the Writer's Notebook into daily lessons. (See NaNoWriMo resource link here: https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/pages/writer-resources). Using a class account, my students were able to download and save a user-friendly file to a flashdrive or to their student document file. Students could complete self-paced lessons on plot mapping, character development, etc.

Students used Google docs to draft and write their stories. This allowed me to watch their novels in progress! I discovered Twilight fanfiction, zombie apocalypse stories, tragic romance dramas, adolescent underdog sagas, and coming-of-age stories. My students begged to keep writing to the last minute of class!

8th grade students write their novels using Google docs

6th grade students brainstorm topics for their novel

2. NaNoWriMo became a path to collaborative learning.

Collaboration is a future-ready skill our students will need to succeed in their careers. If you doubt this, think of ONE job where collaboration is not needed. Hmmm.

However, our educational system is designed to privilege isolated learning often under the guise of "individualization."  Walk down the halls of your school. Are desks in rows? Are students required to finish their homework alone? Would these student supporting student interactions outside of school be considered a form of cheating?

NaNoWriMo breaks down invisible barriers and allows students to become resources to one another.

For example, my students became collaborators in their writing. They would share their drafts with each other to find ways to develop a character or to resolve a problem in their story. Some students were natural born editors and helped others with the conventions of writing. Some students were especially creative and saw places where a plot twist could enhance a scene.

As my role shifted from being a "sage on stage" to a facilitator of student learning, natural relationships developed.

6th graders share drafts and get feedback from peers

3. NaNoWriMo became a path to authentic publication.

What if students could submit and have a completed novel published AND receive free copies of their book? I know. I didn't believe it either...until Melanie.

Melanie was a newcomer and her first language was Mandarin. She was also an avid reader. Think about the student who sits alone at lunch and reads or walks down the hall with their nose in a book, well, that was Melanie.

Melanie with her published novel

When I introduced my students to the  NaNoWriMo writing project, Melanie seemed relieved. Her writer's notebook replaced her nose-in-book lunch periods. She began coming to my room after school to talk about her NaNoWriMo draft.  Melanie shared her ideas and I was able to affirm her. She didn't need my ideas, Melanie needed to know that the answers were inside of her.

When the NaNoWriMo window closed, Melanie continued editing her novel. She had read the fine print on the NaNoWriMo YWP site. Little did I know that she had spent the winter break polishing and submitted a fifteen chapter novel, until she handed me an autographed copy! Inside the cover she had written:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't say that enough. And, please, please, please wherever you read this, remember that you made half of it.
My heart felt thanks,

Melanie (last name omitted)

I recently reconnected with Melanie this fall. She is now a student at a Texas University on a full scholarship. While I am not able to say with conviction NaNoWriMo was the turning point in her life, I do believe she was given the confidence boost she needed.

Make this November part of your classroom success story by taking the first flying leap today!

Confession Reflection:

• What are some contributing factors to teacher post-convocation stress? How might unconventional projects like NaNoWriMo alleviate stress?

• What ELAR/English Common Core or state standards (TEKS)  are supported by projects like NaNoWriMo?

• How would projects like NaNoWriMo support student agency?

• Do you know of an educator who would benefit from the NaNoWriMo project? If so, spread the word!

To learn more about NaNoWriMo Young Writer's Project visit their website at:
https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

This link will connect you to step-by-step instructions on how to sign up, set up your virtual classroom,  how to enroll your students, and resources to get your students started: https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/pages/for-educators

How to Not Beat a Dead Horse when the Sky Continuously Rains Cats and Dogs (and other Worn-out Phrases)

Does your head spin after reading four out of five essays in which a student claims they are able to "run as fast as a cheetah"? Does the phrase "It's raining cats and dogs" play in your head like a broken record? Do you feel like pulling your hair out when you hear similar expressions?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, this blog may be right up your alley.

Here are five insights from my own teaching experience that will help you avoid beating a dead horse and keep learning fun and relevant.

1. Add sparkle to creative writing experiences.

At the beginning of the year, I had my creative writing students brainstorm a list their favorite expressions, namely idioms, on individual strips of paper. The idioms were added to the mix of other student created prompts and placed in a shoe box dubbed our class "prompt generator".

It never failed for the worn-out expression "raining cats and dogs" to make the list. The day the prompt was selected, I felt a twitch forming in my left eye. Lo and behold, one of my students, Jared (not his real name) did something so creative!

He fused the prompt with a previous prompt and drafted a story titled: The Day it Rained Cats and Dogs was the Day the Animals Escaped from the Zoo! Jared collaborated with a first grade classroom who then illustrated the story! Jared shared his story with his elementary illustrators on World Read-Aloud Day using Skype.

2. Ditch idioms from the stone-age and teach in context. 

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, pop artists like Taylor Swift's mega-hit, Shake it Off, or Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling contain a plethora of figurative language expressions. If you're in need of a fun and relevant activity, I suggest creating a Scavenger Hunt, old school style, and have students work in teams to find these jewels tucked away in their favorite songs.

Another activity is to have students collect phrases that have emerged in their lifetime. I had a middle schooler explain to me what a person meant when they used the expression, I can't unsee it. Online Memes are also popular for holding modern day phrases.

During book clubs or when teaching poetry, my students would play "I spy". During read-alouds, my students knew to be listening for figurative language expressions. We would add these expressions to others on a word wall. The expressions had meaning and context and students were able to access and include these phrases in their own writing.

3. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

One year I had my middle school students work in small groups to  investigate the origins of an expression or develop their own theories. Idioms such as when pigs fly and don't let the cat out of the bag have fascinating histories!

I got the idea after an art student gave me a coffee mug he had designed in art class that showed a pig flying. It was one of my favorite mugs, until he shared the gruesome story involving pigs leaping to escape from being slaughtered!

I began challenging my students to investigate the history of idioms. They discovered that some of our common figurative expressions date back as far as 397 A.D. If my students were unable to find the origin of a expression, they were encouraged to generate a hypothesis. It proved to be a productive way to get my students researching and reporting their findings.

Hint: I found that my middle schoolers (especially boys who were gamers and liked gore) would hit the pavement running if I said something to the effect, "Be careful sharing these stories with others who have a weak stomach."

4. Step out-of-the-box and create opportunities to celebrate diversity.

Students who come to us from different cultures have their own figurative language expressions. I suggest giving students who come to our school from other countries, the opportunity to share expressions unique to their culture (and in their first language).

This is an awesome way to celebrate our differences and learn from one another.

Here is an example. Create a template that include these questions:
1. What is the saying?
2. What language or dialect?
3. What is the literal English translation?
4. Is the saying a proverb? If so, what is the lesson?

A fun extension activity is to play pictionary or heads-up and include the expressions.

5. Keep an open mind to new interpretations.

One year I was assigned a social skills class for middle school students on the autism spectrum. My students took words and phrases literally which presented unique challenges. One of my students, Kristy (not her real name) was especially puzzled by the idiom "it's raining cats and dogs."

Kristy showed me a picture she had drawn of a landscape  with soft, squiggly lines falling from the sky.

I thought, "I've really blown this lesson!"

I stopped and asked Kristy to describe her drawing.

She pointed to the squiggly lines and explained matter-of-factly, "Oh, instead of raining cats and dogs...I changed it to worms...you know, just in case it's only sprinkling."

Have a great 2017-2018 school year and go break a leg!

Confession Reflection:

• How does figurative language enrich our oral and written language? How are these expressions reflective of  history and diverse cultures?
• Why would it be important to teach these expressions in context rather than in isolation? (Worksheets, multiple choice, matching activities).
• Are there some figurative language expressions that we should abandon? Why or why not?
• How many idioms can you spot in this blog? 

Definition: 

figurative language (n.) language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation.  Idioms are under the umbrella of figurative language and include English colloquials as "hold your tongue" or "easy as pie."