NaNoWriMo

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Comment by Andy Esquivel Jr. on November 28, 2009 at 7:49am

Wow, Deborah! That is so cool. About halfway into November, I realized my kids were not going to hit high word counts. Thinking that next year, I'll encourage them all to set goals of about 10- to 15,000 words. That's closer to about 500 words a day, and for a young teenager, that seems attainable. Thanks for sharing the story.

Comment by Deborah on November 26, 2009 at 5:47pm

This has been probably one of the best things I have ever done. Check out this article The Fort Worth Star-Telegram did on my kids. http://www.star-telegram.com/northeast/story/1788176.html

Comment by Angela Knight on October 23, 2009 at 3:17pm

Senior elective?! Definitely individual... :)

Comment by Christine McLaughlin on October 23, 2009 at 2:51pm

Angela, they are high school students and most of them are seniors. It's an elective. I was thinking individual would be best or maybe with a partner. Thanks for your input.

Comment by Angela Knight on October 23, 2009 at 5:27am

Christine - I would say that it depends on the age of the kids. If they're in middle school or high school, I would recommend individual, especially if the creative writing class is an elective.

Comment by Angela Knight on October 23, 2009 at 5:26am

I received permission to use the lab every day during 2nd hour so the kids could choose typing, handwriting, or procrastinating/researching on the YWP website. Probably because my principals thought I was a little crazy and wanted to see what would happen. :) Fortunately for me, the computer lab wasn't in high demand, and if any of the teachers had a problem with it, it never got back to me. Some of the kids do type insanely fast - not necessarily with their hands on the right keys, but those index fingers fly!

Comment by Andy Esquivel Jr. on October 18, 2009 at 3:06pm

Ron, it is not important whether you type or handwrite your novel; however, the YWP Nanowrimo site has an official word counter. You copy and paste your story there and when you hit your goal, they officially declare you a winner. Handwriting it relies on the writer's word that they reached their goal. Kids can type their stories at home. Remember, 50K words means writing about 1667 words a day for 30 days. It takes longer than an hour to write that much, and this entire venture requires a lot of crazy will power. Typing is usually easier, but I say that because I'm proficient at it.

Comment by Ron Shapiro on October 18, 2009 at 2:32pm

Is it essential to use laptops in class? Or do you have students write longhand in class, and type up their work at home? The available laptops in my school work on a hit-or-miss basis, not always reliable, wasting time booting up then freezing (or some other glitch).

Comment by Angela Knight on October 17, 2009 at 4:30pm

Hello! I've done NaNoWriMo since 2004, and since 2006 with middle school kids, both in class and as part of writing club. I'll be writing with my now-freshman in coffee shops after school this year. Some of them will be writing their 2nd or 3rd or 4th novels.

Comment by Christine McLaughlin on October 16, 2009 at 6:03pm

Hello, I tried it myself last year and made it to about 30K and this year I've decided to try it in my Creative Writing class. There are 24 students and I'm wondering how best to go about it - whole class, teams, individual, or partners. I'm interested in how others have done it in their classes and how or if you graded it.
I'm going to take a look at those work books now.
Thanks!

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