I am all about the three C’s! Communication, Creativity and Collaboration. These skills I believe are the essence for a happy and productive life. I elaborate on this theme in my online learning lesson for classrooms.
I created my writing contest because it allows children to practice the three C’s. And it allows teachers an opportunity for students to put the three C’s into practice. When we enable students an opportunity to put into action what they have learned, we help them reinforce the learning.
Writing improves communication skills by providing a vehicle for expression. It provides a path for relating thoughts and feelings and the sharing of ideas.
Writing also reinforces what we learn. It helps to support the long term recall of information. So after learning something knew, if we write it down, we are giving our brain a double dose of learning recall. Writing helps students master what they have learned.
I love to stretch the creativity muscle. It’s one we need to exercise to keep our imaginations sharp. When we help students to engage in storytelling we are helping them develop important skills. Using my writing contest for creative or free writing time, give students an opportunity to explore writing styles, experiment with vocabulary, and also delve into problem solving by figuring out the resolution of the story they are creating. When we give students creative writing time where they know they aren’t being graded on every mistake, students tend to take more risks. And when they complete a story, they build confidence with their achievement.
So why write? Because writing encourages creativity and exploration.
Teachers you can use my 9th annual Be-a-Famous Writer Contest as a writing theme for your students. This year I have chosen the word Dragon for students to write about. So many classic fairy tales have dragons in them that I thought students would enjoy this topic. Plus author Josh Funk, who wrote Dear Dragon, is a judge this year and will provide a copy of his book to the winning classroom.
The contest is free to enter and the winning schools have their classrooms filled with books in every format from my amazing sponsors who all support literacy. Mackin, Tales2GO and Cantata Learning. Check out my prize page for complete details. Also Our Story Begins, edited by Elissa Brent Weissman will be a prize. It’s a compilation of childhood works by some of today’s foremost children’s authors and illustrators, sharing the moments that inspired them to write or create as well as their earliest works. Chris Grabenstein, who was a judge last year is featured in the book. The contest opens October 15th for entries.
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