Celebrate National Encourage a Young Writer Day in Your Classroom
| By Gale Staff |
April 10 is National Encourage a Young Writer Day! Teachers have an awesome opportunity to integrate some fun writing ideas within the day’s lesson plan. Perhaps you can already identify a budding writer in your classroom. Use this national observance to connect and discuss their ambitions and ideas. Or, consider ways to engage the whole class in a storytelling exercise, reaching those who may not yet find joy in writing.
Writing as a craft was established thousands of years ago. Historians have found evidence of writing from several ancient civilizations, leading scholars to conclude that no one society invented writing. Its creation is shared throughout the world, with different cultures forming their own writing systems with distinct structures and styles. From Egyptian hieroglyphics to Chinese characters to Latin alphabet letters, writing can take many different forms. Leverage its diversity to inspire your students’ creativity.
Poems, letters, recipes, journal entries, comic books, short stories—your classes can go in any direction (and in any language). Just get your students excited to write. We’ve collected some of our favorite ideas for teachers who want to celebrate the holiday.
1. Start a Journal
Writing takes practice, and daily journaling is a relatively accessible way to put your thoughts on the page and spark a love for writing. National Encourage a Young Writer Day falls on a Monday. Give each student a blank notebook and give them time to decorate and personalize their new journal. Ask them to write an entry for every day that week (from April 10 to April 14). Entries can be as long or as short as they want but encourage them to simply recount their days. You don’t even have to review their work. Allow them a judgment-free space to practice daily writing.
2. Assign a Fun Writing Prompt
There is no shortage of funny and thoughtful writing prompts. What was the best vacation you’ve ever taken? If you had a time machine, what year would you travel to? Write a short story about your favorite kind of animal. During the days following National Encourage a Young Writer Day, assign one writing prompt for each day of the week. Allow your students the space to be silly or serious. Once they’ve completed the assignment, have different volunteers read their stories aloud.
3. Write a Letter to Your Future Self
This idea takes a little coordination but can be very rewarding. On National Encourage a Young Writer Day, have students write a letter to their future selves one year from now. What advice do they have? What are their current hobbies, and are there any new activities they hope to try? Give each student a stamp and envelope and ask them to address the letters to themselves. Then, next year on 2024’s National Encourage a Young Writer Day, simply place them in the mailbox. It will be such a treat for your former students to receive their letters.
4. Submit a Piece to a Contest
There are many competitions for young writers, and even if their story isn’t selected as a winner, it can still be exciting to enter. Ask your colleagues if there are any district or state writing competitions accepting submissions. Even if the deadline has passed, your students can always craft a piece for next year’s competition. Or, host your own writing competition. Give students a prompt on National Encourage a Young Writer Day and ask for submissions by the end of the week. You and your teaching team can review and choose a winner. Prizes might include a cool pen or flashy notebook. Perhaps they can have their story featured in the school newspaper.
5. Attend an Event
Is your community library hosting anything special for National Encourage a Young Writer Day? Perhaps your local bookstore has an author visiting to read some of their stories. You might even invite a local writer to your classroom as a guest speaker.
National Encourage a Young Writer Day is a platform to celebrate creativity and honor the young writer in all of your students, and the aforementioned ideas are just a start. For more information and helpful tips, you can visit the National Encourage a Young Writer Day page on NationalToday.com (and discover other cool holidays as well). Happy writing!