Making writing assignments relevant to your students is the only way to truly inspire them to dig in deep and create a high-quality product they can truly be proud of. Writing contests offer an exciting way to accomplish this. Below I have listed a few for the upcoming 2013/2014 school year. Many of these contests have amazing prices ($1000-say what?) and chances for students to publish their writing in an online or print format. I am so excited to introduce these to my students and make it a part of my writing curriculum this year.
The YES Magazine National Student Writing Competition asks students to read a non-fiction (yay Common Core!) socially relevant article and respond to a prompt regarding the article. Winners will have their response published in YES magazine in their print edition and online. TEACHERS win a classroom set of YES posters.
Due Date for teacher registration is October 18th and student submissions are due November 22nd.
Totem's Head Story Contest is an exciting (and 21st century skills) chance for a student to create an amazing fiction story using an interactive webpage. Students must start their story with this line "So there I was.." and following several steps complete a 1500 words or less adventure story that models Poe or Hitchcock. My kids are going to rock this assignment out.
Due date for submissions is December 31st.
The Letters to Literature contest from Read.gov combines reading with a writing assignment and offers a $1000 reward. Yes please! Students must write a letter to an author of a book, poem or speech and tell them how the text affected them personally. The best part? It has to be a persuasive letter!! I'm so excited I could crush a grape!
Finally, The Legacy Project is offering the Listen to a Life Contest for students ages 8-18 years old. Students must interview a grandparent (or grand-friend) about their life and write a 300 word story about this person and their legacy. Grand Prize? A computer! I swear!
All of the websites include previous winner entries to use as exemplars for students. These are great ways to show students what a high quality WINNING piece of writing looks like. We can't reach the top bar until we know how high we need to jump!
Have a great weekend! Work week starts on Monday!! I am spending the weekend with my high school best friends and the boys in Baltimore for an Orioles game and a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium.
One last summer hurrah before reality begins!
:) P
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