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The Write Time with Kwame Alexander & Tyler Jones
It’s a knock out: Talking about Becoming Muhammad Ali with Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander’s newest novel Becoming Muhammad Ali, co-authored with best-selling author James Patterson, takes up the childhood of Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky. Tyler Jones, a teacher-leader with the Louisville Writing Project, interviews Kwame about this knockout novel for this month’s Write Time. Catch the interview when it first streams on Facebook February 23 or catch it on NWP Radio after February 25.
Join a conversation (or several) with YA authors
Once again this semester the Augusta University Writing Project invites you to join virtual conversations with authors about writing, literature, reading, and more. It’s free to register and you are invited to join whether you’ve read works by the author or not. It’s a great way to meet authors and other teachers of writing.
Celebrate the light of Amanda Gorman
So, Amanda Gorman has signed a modeling contract and will perform at the Superbowl. When was the last time our country was so excited about poetry? We can’t remember such a time. Don’t miss the opportunity to capitalize on this moment. In “Opening Our Classroom to Light and Joy” Tanya Baker reflects on the moment and shares a few resources for teaching Gorman’s inauguration poem “The Hill We Climb.”
Free to dream, safe to thrive: Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action 2021
February 1–5, 2021 is the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, a national movement meant to center the lives of Black students and their families, as well as their history and futures in classrooms and schools across the country. The week of action was started as a one-day event in one school community in Seattle in the fall of 2016; the school’s act of commitment to their Black families was a spark. Christina Cantrill’s latest post has resources, creative challenges, and online events that support the week of action; writing resources are gathered here too.
We all have space to squeeze in a 100-word story
When YA author and NWP Writers Council member Kim Culbertson wrote about 100-word stories at Write Now at Medium, calling them “small, bright things,” folks wanted more of her insights into teaching with them. In this one-hour CoLab, Culbertson walks through four approaches to using and writing 100-word stories in the writing and literature classroom. Kim’s original post has been updated to include the recording.
“Trash drafting” might help the drafting/editing distinction click for students
When Paul Thomas saw a Twitter thread by SciFi/fantasy writer Elizabeth May that ended in the intriguing phrase of the Trash Draft, he immediately saw important lessons for his own student writers. Check out his exploration of Trash Drafting as something that might help our student writers work through the drafting/editing process.
Put sound, music, and student voice at the heart of podcasting projects
There’s student voice, and there’s students’ actual voices. Podcasts give students the opportunity to share their voices with sound-rich journalistic or story-based compositions. Join a free, two-part workshop on February 22 and 24, hosted by KQED, the National Writing Project, and PBS Newshour’s Student Reporting Labs, to learn how to create your own podcast. Collaborate with your peers and discover ways to use audio storytelling to promote deeper learning in a range of learning environments.
