Youth Writing Festival
A Youth Writing Event for Middle School Students and Their Teachers
A writing festival is…an opportunity to play with voices and words...an opportunity to share your writing and celebrate yourself
as a writer...an opportunity to create poetry, fiction, memoirs.
Who can participate?
Any middle school student or teacher who likes to write or wants to start writing should check this out!
Morning Sessions
The day includes:
- in the morning, two mini-sessions that focus on improving writing skills and style.
- in the afternoon, a writing celebration for students and teachers.
Sign up for mini-sessions on your registration form.
Students, please read the session descriptions and indicate your top three choices on your registration form. When you arrive, you will receive a registration packet listing your sessions. We will do our best to give you your top choices.
A. Playing With Poetry (Mrs. Brosch)
Have you dreamt of writing the perfect poem? Do you have emotions, experiences, and opinions that are dying to get out, but you're just not sure how to get them onto paper? Try Playing With Poetry! We will practice several strategies to help bring your inner-poet out into the open.
B. I’ve Got Rhythm—How about You? (Mrs. Griner)
Rhythm is not only for music. Sentences can simply tell the story or they can unwrap the story with rhythm and cadence. In this session writers will observe how published authors use rhythm in sentences to unwrap the story. Mindful of rhythmic styles, writers will then construct their own stories with sentence fluency.
C. 64 Gigs of Memory (Mr. Anians)
Flash drives, jump drives, external hard drives, and online storage -- everyone is clamoring to find more digital space for their pictures, music, videos, and memories. In this session, you will write about a special memory you have stored in your "internal" hard drive.
D. Creating Characters in Fiction (Mrs. Baken and Ms. Dougherty)
Through a series of writing prompts, students will build complex and well rounded fictional characters. We will consider the many elements that make up a well-rounded character such as physical traits, personality traits, likes and dislikes, quirks and ticks, wants and desires, etc.
E. Memoir: A Written Account of One’s Memory of Certain Events or People. (Mrs. O'Brien)
Take a quick jog down “Memory Lane” and find the key to unlock the specific details of a particular event that, or person who, somehow made a difference in your life.
F. Home(Mrs. Roslawski)
Writers will take a guided “walk” through their mind to bring up images and smells and sounds and textures that make up home. The resulting rich piece of writing could be prose or poetry, but no matter what the form, it will be a writing piece close to the writer’s heart.
Tips for Teachers
Teachers, please follow these tips to ensure that you and your students have a good time. One teacher may attend free for every five paid student registrations.
Before the Festival:
- Promote student participation.
- Remind students to return entry forms to you with their $20 registration fee. (Schools have the option of paying for students with a credit card or a P.O.)
- Remind students to bring a lunch.
During the Sessions:
- Participate in the sessions just like the student writers.
- Write with the students.
- Consider how to adapt or extend activities in your own classroom.
During Lunch:
- Sit with your students.
- Engage students in conversations about their writing or sessions.
- Conduct a mini-sharing session at your table.
- Help students choose one piece (or an excerpt from a piece) to share with the large group after lunch.
