Writing: NaNoWriMo in the Classroom

For some people, November means cool weather, making hot chocolate to drink in front of a warm fire and pulling out the scarves and mittens, but for others, it means staring at computer screen and tapping keys a lot. I'm one of the latter group of people, and we participate in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which is a contest to write a 50,000 word novel in just a month. This year is my second time participating. I began doing NaNoWriMo as a personal challenge, but this is also a challenge that I hope to bring into my classroom as part of my language arts curriculum.

Retrieved from: http://www.steamboatbooks.com/event/nanowrimo-2015-national-novel-writing-month-kickoff-bud-werner-memorial-library

Inside the classroom, NaNoWriMo works quite similarly to Genius Hour where students are given time in class to work on a project of their own choosing, except that NaNoWriMo is a more focused project where students have to write a novel instead of choosing any type of project. Laura Bradley is one teacher who has her students participate in NaNoWriMo each year, and who has written extensively on both her personal blog and on Edutopia about her students' successes at completing their novels and about how to encourage and support them throughout the project. She has gotten great feedback from her students, such as:

"I looked forward to English class EVERY DAY. I always had new things to add to my novel so I would come in all happy even if my day started terrible. It always made me happy to walk into Mrs. Bradley's room and see her open up the laptop cart." - Michaella, 13

If you are not a novelist yourself, you may be confused about why a teacher would give up valuable class time for writing time. Perhaps you even agree with the idea that students should do creative writing since it is a good way to practice the writing skills required in the language arts curriculum with projects that interest them, but don't see why such a large project is necessary. When students participate in NaNoWriMo, they are learning far more than just how to properly use grammar and communicate an idea or theme. Writing a novel requires different skills that aren't as necessary in short stories and poetry, such as character development and subplots. Same as with short stories, the act of writing allows students to understand better what authors are doing in their novels, and so it helps improve their reading ability. Writing a novel also teaches students skills that aren't directly connected to language arts, such as organization, dedication, and persistence. A novel is a long project, and in order to successfully complete the project, students needs to use the planning skills that they have developed in other courses, or else their novel is likely going to become quite disorganized over the course of writing. Another wonderful thing about writing novels is how they tend to pull in elements from other subjects, causing writers to research topics ranging from history to science, making the project cross-curricular. Although writing a novel is quite difficult, Laura Bradley explains that "given a meaningful challenge, plus resources, support and lots of time to write, students will write with enthusiasm".

Miles Klee. (2013, Nov 1). Keep Calm and Write 50K [graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.dailydot.com/lol/weird-twitter-nanowrimo-openers/

The most important thing about a successful NaNoWriMo project is the transformation that happens in the student afterwards. Emily, Amanda, and Jacqueline are three girls who, because they participated in an after school writing program, gained confidence and the ability to speak up about important issues. The writing program and the supportive community formed around it encouraged skills that these girls may not have realized that they were capable of otherwise. The reason these girls developed these skills was because of the growth mindset that creative writing boosts. Michael Michalko writes about the Seven Tenets of Creative Thinking where he makes statements such as everyone is creative, creative writing requires hard work, and there is no single correct answer. When students believe these things, they will push past obstacles and create some amazing novels, and they will also carry this mindset with them into other areas of their life. 

Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/nanowrimoywp

The official NaNoWriMo organization supports student writers, and has a section of their website dedicated to them. On this website teachers can find lesson plans that directly link the NaNoWriMo project to the language arts curriculum and that give helpful suggestions for how to prepare students for the project. The organizers also realize that younger students do not have the same abilities as older ones, and so they have created word count guidelines for grades 1 through 12.