White Oak Middle School is participating in National Novel Writing Month which occurs annually in November. By the end of the month, every student will have written the first draft of their novel.  Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Kelley introduced the sixth grade to NaNoWriMo by dressing as their favorite characters in Charlotte’s Web.

The planning began weeks ago as Mrs. Cooper (librarian), Mrs. Kelley (6th Writing Teacher), Mrs. Walker (7th Writing Teacher), and Mrs. Velde (8th Writing Teacher) met to develop the curriculum and scope of the project.  Using the NaNoWriMo for Young Writers resources, the teachers were able to help the students set appropriate word count goals, help students plan the elements of their novels, and provide pep talks and support along the way.  NaNoWriMo has an exceptional curriculum for grades K-12.  The NaNoWriMo Young Novelist Workbook can be downloaded as a pdf for free. Students use the workbook to develop their characters, setting, and plot before beginning to write their novel. The writing teachers chose to provide every student with their own writer’s notebook. The students are diligently planning and writing their novels as we speak. 

To kick off NaNoWriMo for the entire school, Alexander London skyped in with our students. Mr. London had wonderful advice about providing plot twists and developing dynamic characters. Mr. London also stated, “The most important aspect is to write every day-even if what you write isn’t any good! Keep writing!”

The students at WOMS are busy letting their creativity flow…

Stay tuned to see their finished novels!