From the Back Cover
Getting your students excited about writing begins with offering projects that are interesting, relevant, and challenging. Don't Forget to Write for the Secondary Grades offers 50 creative writing lesson plans for mature young writers developed by the imaginative and highly acclaimed 826 National writing centers. These lessons cover a myriad of skills (developing characters and voice), interests (novel-writing, songwriting, screenwriting), and even interest levels. (Don't believe us? try out "This Class Sucks" or "My Boring Life" for those especially hard-to-reach writers.) Each unique lesson is written by educators, 826 volunteers, celebrated authors, actors, and writers.
Don't Forget to Write for the Secondary Grades contains:
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A treasure trove of proven, field-tested lessons
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Lessons that are adaptable for all grade levels
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Tips to keep supplies and prep to a minimum
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Evaluation rubrics to guide grading
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Maps to the Common Core Standards
The book's activities are based on proven pedagogy that can help students develop the skills to organize their ideas, craft their arguments, revise their work, state their points of view, peer-edit a friend's work, and generally learn an awful lot about the hard work and craft of writing.
826 National is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in eight cities across the country. Our goal is to assist students ages 6 to 18 with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing. Our work is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. Jennifer Traig is the author of the memoirs Devil in the Details and Well Enough Alone, and the editor of The Autobiographer's Handbook.
Praise for Don't Forget to Write
"There is a revolutionary movement afoot. We strike soon. Our goal is to take over the world and make it much more interesting. These are the plans right here. Take them and spread the word."
--Lemony Snicket, author of A Series Of Unfortunate Events and other dreadful books
"We cannot click our fingers for inspiration but turning to Don't Forget To Write might be the next best thing. These simple lesson plans are fun, clever, and relevant to our students. This is a valuable resource in encouraging young people to explore the creative writing process. The book is an essential part of my teaching."
--Koye Oyedeji, creative writing instructor, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Washington D.C.
"I'm excited to see yet another unconventionally brilliant development from 826 on the craft of teaching creative writing. 826 has proved, over and over, that a sense of humor and the ability to laugh while writing will produce astonishing results."
--Judd Apatow, film producer, screenwriter, and director
826 National (San Francisco, CA) is a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari. 826 assists students ages 5 to 18 with their writing skills, and helps teachers get students excited about writing. With centers in S.F., Ann Arbor, NYC, Chicago, L.A., Seattle, Boston, and DC, 826 provides free drop-in tutoring, class field trips, writing workshops, and in-schools programs.
