Vermont Writes Day II -- Update
Thanks to all who participated in today's Vermont Writes Day II. You can still post at http://vermontwrites.ywpvt.net this afternoon and evening. (no login required.) (Final Vermont Writes Day will be held on May 5. One prompt will be on Farming -- What does it mean to Vermont? More to come.)
Info on Vermont Writes Day II:
- We've received hundreds of submissions and know of dozens of schools that participated;
- We had not planned to compile info on number of schools participating. HOWEVER, to salve our curiosity, let us know if your school took part in the March 17 write-in by emailing us.
YWP is suggesting three prompts for today's write-in:
- Green. Put this phrase in a story, poem or essay: "I've never seen such a brilliant shade of green..."
- "Lately I've been struggling with . . . . " Write a story, poem or essay that starts with this line.
- Luck. Tell a story about one time when you had good luck - or wish you had some.
Young Writers Project is a nonprofit dedicated to helping students become better writers.
Final notes on the First Vermont Writes Day on January 27:
We know of 54 schools that participated involving at least 12,000 students. Wow!
We sent the best of the "Dear President Obama" letters to President Obama.
Other notes:
- Hinesburg Community School and Underhill Central School -- among others -- stopped everything to write at the same time.
- A school for autistic kids participated.
- Gov. Jim Douglas went to a class at Spaulding High School and wrote for seven minutes and then shared his piece. Writing, he said, is "a lot more work than vetoing or signing a bill." Hats off to the Governor.
- Plymouth Elementary School invited parents to participate.
- Clarendon Elementary School got into a great discussion about all the writing that was done in one class.
- Knowing that Vermont is still a bit in the Jurassic Period of the Digital Age, we had anticipated that most kids would be using pencils. Nonetheless we had nearly 500 posts -- and hundreds of comments -- on our special site, vermontwrites.ywpvt.net Check it out!
THANKS to everyone.
For a list of schools that participated in the first Vermont Writes Day, click here.
To read some of the news stories and blogs about the event:
Times Argus: Spaulding Students Show Off the Write Stuff."
News story on the Day in the Free Press.
WCAX coverage Jan. 27. (Be patient it takes a while to load.)
Sharon Davison's kindergarden not only wrote but recorded themselves reading their pieces!
Rutland Herald announces the day.
Thanks again!
geoffrey gevalt (gg)
ywp director
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Vermont Writes Day II Poster.pdf | 39.68 KB |
| VWDII School List by Town.pdf | 24.44 KB |
oooh fun!
This sounds great gg,
I passed it on to all of the english teachers in my school, in hopes of sparking interest, and perhaps inspiring a regular writing prompts for my school with some way of publishing within the school.
I'll keep you posted about their response
: )
kk. ha. I stole.
This may sound like a stupid
This may sound like a stupid question, but are we allowed more than 7 minutes? Like if we really get into the zone can we keep writing until we've finished? Or is it supposed to be a timed thing to see what people can come up with in 7 minutes?
there are no stupid questions...
...we are suggesting seven minutes. If people and schools want to go longer, that's cool with me. But I think that seven minutes gets folks to think.
gg
Vermont Writes!
GG-
Clarendon Elementary School 5th Graders will participate!
Milton's In
Hi Geoff- Milton MS/ HS is in!
re Milton...& Clarendon
EXCELLENT!
Other schools out there going to participate?
geoff
Vermont Writes
Northfield Elementary School (5th grade)participated, but did not realize the work had to be submitted the same day. I am told they will try again for the 2nd one in March.
thanks
Kelly A. Driscoll-Smith
Parent
Kelly A. Driscoll-Smith
Morrisville's Ready to Write
Morristown Elementary School
Peoples Academy Middle Level
Peoples Academy High School
Peoples and Morristown...
...Great news.
gg
Add Spaulding to Vermont Writes Day...
We received an email telling us that Spaulding High School will be participating on January 27 in our Vermont Writes Day project.
yippee.
(sorry)
gg
Vermont Writes Day
Hey Geoff G.,
The whole Charlotte Central School will be writing for at least 7 solid minutes at the same time on the 27th...great idea! Thanks,
Molly McClaskey
Vermont Writes Day
The Schoolhouse will be participating!
Ludlow Elementary 2nd
Ludlow Elementary 2nd Graders will be participating.
another school
Wallingford Elementary
hm...
How do I get my school to participate?
(I go to FHTMS in S. Burlington)
Thanks!
Me too..but I guess it's too
Me too..but I guess it's too late :)..well my class talked about it but we never had a chance!
[§ambo]
And we mean ALL of Spaulding
Greetings all:
When GG says that Spaulding is participating, he means that the entire school will- faculty, staff, administration, and anyone who happens to be in the building at the time! Happy writing!
love2write95- the best way is for you to go the administration, show them this website and ask "What do you think? Can we do it? Will you write with us? " and see where it goes.
More schools...
Plymouth Elementary is participating and is inviting parents and guests to take part as well.
Classes at Main Street Middle School in Montpelier will be participating...
gg
...and more schools
Rice Memorial High School
Marcotte Middle School
Shrewsbury School
Swanton School
Enosburg Middle School
...
to name a few.
If your school is NOT participating HOUND THEM on Monday to participate. See the Principal. Talk to your English teacher. This is a no brainer, little effort thing that could be fun!
cheers
gg
Joining you are:
Blue Mountain Union PreK-12 all participating
Also, Crossett Brook, Brewster Pierce Memorial School, and Ferrisburg Central school.
"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."
-Jean-Paul Sartre
Fletcher Elementary School is IN!
Hello -
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the 7 min. write - I presented this at staff meeting last week and we are incorporating it into our School wide meeting at the end of day with special writing paper for the occasion and we will present random readings from writers over the morning announcements that week.
Oo--that sounds fun!
Oo--that sounds fun!
"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."
-Jean-Paul Sartre
A few more schools that we know of...
Christ the King in Burlington
Christ the King in Rutland
Montgomery Elementary School
Woodstock Union High School
Hinesburg Community School (entire school stopped what it was doing and wrote from 8:23 to 8:30 a.m.)
Leicester Elementary School
Vermont Academy
Westford School
I can't open the Vermont
I can't open the Vermont Writes page! Every time I do, IE shuts down completely. Anyone else having this issue?
Also, I had all of my classes write by hand, but because of the new semester, they won't have a chance to post until Friday. Is it possible to leave the page open until then?
Sue Brennan
Spaulding
Yes sue...
We'll keep it open. And I'll check on the IE issue.
geoff
UPDATE: I am having no trouble with Internet Explorer. We had not had any trouble yesterday. Perhaps it has something to do with your settings. Not sure.
TRY FIREFOX.
good luck
geoff
Thanks, Geoff
Geoff,
Great experience having Governor Douglas in the classroom. The kids enjoyed the cameras, press and, of course, the writing. Some great thoughts were shared!
I'm excited to say that beginning next week students in all three of my freshman English classes will be exploring and contributing to the site.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Tim Dobson
Spaulding High School
Very cool, Tim...
Glad the day was so great. And we welcome the new students.
Make sure you emphasize to them that the space is for writing and for sharing work and constructive comments. Some kids when they first come in tend to chat, particularly in the seven-word story box.
Thanks again for your support.
(And did you snag a copy of the Governor's writing? And what did he write about?)
gg
Gevalta
I think you may have forgotten to shove a "< /b>" (without the space, of course) in there somewhere.
/gradster(1)/ - watching over
Secretary of Bureaucracy, ASAP.
http://nmhwu.wordpress.com/
-A
2nd day
the middle school in my school (christ the king rutland) participated in the first one(like u said!) and i am going to try to get all the classes to. do u think 2nd grade and up would be good? or is that too young to start?
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"Could a dead, frozen heart break? It felt like mine would!"
Edward Cullen
Minight Sun
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"Could a dead, frozen heart break? It felt like mine would!"
Edward Cullen
Midnight Sun
2nd grade is not too young
agharvey,
Thanks so much for working to generate energy in your school for Vermont Writes Day II. We loved all the participation we had from your school on the first Vermont Writes Day and would be thrilled to see even more.
Second grade is definitely NOT too young to participate. We had lots of participation from kindergartens on up last time and it was really great. In fact, one kindergarten teacher posted a video of her students reading their writing out loud on her Web site. It was awesome! Check it out by clicking on the link above.