Issues to consider
Whether we are bringing a new and exciting challenge like NaNoWriMo to our students or working out of a textbook, we teachers know that we need to look ahead in anticipation of problems that our students might encounter. Our best days in the classroom happen when we plan carefully so that all students can be successful.
Here are some issues to consider based on my NaNo experiences with 8th graders:
Here are some issues to consider based on my NaNo experiences with 8th graders:
- They need lots of time to think about, brainstorm, plan, percolate and get excited about the novels they will write. Each year I have tried to start the planning work earlier than the previous year, and now I've found that it's best to start right away, as soon as the school year begins. There is plenty of curriculum from the YWP to keep your students busy, and the work they do planning their novels can support reading and literary analysis standards as well.
- Whatever program your students will be using for their novels (we use Google Docs), take the time to get them familiar and comfortable with it. That way they will be ready to write without getting distracted by a new program.
- Writer's Block: If your students are like mine, they have probably never been asked to write for extended periods of time every day for a month. There's a good chance they will encounter writer's block and struggle to keep writing. I provided a big list in front of the room of suggestions for how they might combat getting stuck:
After we had been working on our novels for about a week, we created another list of suggestions based on what they had learned to do when they got stuck. I've learned that it really pays off to ask students for their own tips and tricks!
We also loved using the Dare Machine on the Young Writer's Program website. Students often thought the dares were too silly or didn't fit in with their stories, but they discovered that just trying a dare or two (or just reading the ideas) helped to get them back to writing. And sometimes if they incorporated a silly dare into their story, it gave them other ideas they could use as well. (If the YWP site disappears, I have recreated the Dare Machine here. Your students might also enjoy creating their own Dare Machine based on their clever ideas.
We also loved using the Dare Machine on the Young Writer's Program website. Students often thought the dares were too silly or didn't fit in with their stories, but they discovered that just trying a dare or two (or just reading the ideas) helped to get them back to writing. And sometimes if they incorporated a silly dare into their story, it gave them other ideas they could use as well. (If the YWP site disappears, I have recreated the Dare Machine here. Your students might also enjoy creating their own Dare Machine based on their clever ideas.
- Decide how you will handle electronic communication between students during class. Will you let them share documents so they can give each other feedback? What if they use the comment feature to chat off-topic during class? Don't assume they will write uninterrupted all period. Make your expectations clear early on.
- Assessment: how does one assess and grade a project like this? If you give your students a rubric at the start of the project, and take time to tie your mini-lessons to specific aspects of the rubric, your students will learn to work towards effective writing as they draft. Asking them to pull short passages from their writing that demonstrate their development as a writer is a great way to provide mini-assessments throughout the project. Check out this rubric from the Young Writers Program for grades 6-12.
- Rather than waiting until their novels are complete, I assess excerpts that they choose to share with me. At various times during the process, I ask students to read through their novels and find excerpts that demonstrate certain aspects of narrative writing. They copy / paste their excerpts into a new document (or post them on their blogs) and write a paragraph explaining what made their excerpt effective. Students can share excerpts that demonstrate effective writing of setting, conflict, dialogue, development of character, resolution of conflict, etc. These shorter, revised pieces of writing are similar to the kinds of writing I used to have them do. This time they just happen to come from a much longer draft. Here are some more tips for assessing students during NaNoWriMo.
