How to Kit

Writing Ideas

NWT Literacy Council

Box 761
Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N6
Toll Free: 1-866-599-6758
Phone: 867-873-9262
Fax: 867-873-2176
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.nwt.literacy.ca
 Celebrate Literacy in the NWT

Other How to Kits & Literacy Activities

This How to Kit was developed to help organizations celebrate NWT Literacy
Week. This is one in a series of How to Kits available to download on the NWT
Literacy Council website at www.nwt.literacy.ca.

How to Kits developed to date:

• 1-2-3 Rhyme With Me Valentine’s Day, Easter,

• Book Making Birthdays
• Books in the Home • Literacy Games for Adults
• Community Book Swap • Literacy Treasure Hunt
• Culture and Traditions • Puppet Making
• Election • Pyjamas and Book Party
• Environmental Print Games • Readers Theatre
• Facilitating a Workshop • Reading Circles and Story
• Family Literacy Activities Extenders
Night • Scattergories
• Family Reading Party • Storytime on the Radio
• Games Night • Talking Books
• “Get Caught Reading” and • Writing Contest
other literacy promotion ideas • Love You Forever
• Involving Families in • Picture and Word Bingos
Children’s Learning • Literacy Games
• Literacy Activities for • Read for 15 Community
Holidays – Thanksgiving, Activities
Halloween, Christmas,

Other activities:
• Literacy Bingos • Memory Game
o Reading Bingo • Learning Activities Cards
o Picture Bingo • Baby Book Project
o Word Bingo • My Family Booklet
o Plain Language Bingo • On the Right Track

Please feel free to photocopy and use these activities in your programs and
adapt them to meet your needs.

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 Writing Ideas

Writing Ideas
The NWT Literacy Council sponsored the NWT Writing Contest for 10 years.
We’ve received many wonderful stories from Northerners of all ages that have
been published in our annual book, Northern Writes. We would like to encourage
communities and people to continue writing their stories, poetry and
autobiographies. Communities can hold writing workshops, writing and poetry
contests and produce booklets with community members’ writing.

This How to Kit can be used by teachers and adult educators, or can be used for a
writing workshop for community members to encourage writing of all ages in
your community.

In this kit you will find:

• Prewriting ideas
• Writing techniques and ideas
• Writing contest tips and ideas
• Publishing your winning stories

We hope you will continue to promote and celebrate northern writing

as part of literacy activities in your community.

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Prewriting Activities
Prewriting is the first step in the writing process. It helps the writer choose a
topic or, when a topic is already assigned, helps the writer decide what they will
say about the topic. It also gives the writer a chance to organize his or her
thoughts. The idea is to generate as many ideas as possible, some of which will
be eliminated during the next step in the writing process. It is best to do a pre-
writing activity before you actually begin writing your story or essay.
Prewriting activities give learners a place to start and make them aware of places
to get ideas from in the future. Learners who have a place to start will be more
motivated to continue developing their ideas and their own writing voices.1 This
section has eight activities and five handouts that instructors can use with
learners in a classroom, or a workshop with adult learners..

We use these symbols for:

Activities

Handouts

1
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Learning Activities
Prewriting
5 Handouts

Activity 1 – Why Write?

Discuss with learners the different kinds of writing that they can do for the
writing contest. Ask them to look at Handout 1 and guess and match the
description to each kind of writing. Ask learners what the purpose of each
writing is and who the audience is.
Handout 2 lists a bunch of audiences and purposes and learners write down
what kind of writing fits for each one. There may be more than one answer for
each list item.

Activity 2 – Brainstorming
Brainstorm: As a group choose a topic and jot down all the possible terms that
emerge from the general topic you are thinking about. All learners can generate
ideas, with one person acting as scribe. Donʹt worry about editing or throwing
out what might not be a good idea. Simply write down a lot of possibilities.
Group: Put the items that you have listed into groups that make sense.
Label: Give each group a label. Now you have a topic with possible points of
development.
Write sentences: Write a sentence about each label. Now you have a beginning
sentence for each group of terms.

Activity 3 – Clustering
Put the subject in the center of a page. Circle or underline it. As you think of
other ideas, link the new ideas to the central circle with lines. As you think of
ideas that relate to the new ideas, add to those in the same way. The result will
look like a web on your page. Locate clusters of interest to you, and use the
terms you attached to the key ideas as starting points for your paper. Use
Handout 3 as a guideline for clustering.

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Activity 4 – Free-writing
Ask learners to free-write on a general topic for 5-10 minutes non-stop. Tell
learners to keep on writing even if nothing specific comes to mind. Generating
ideas is what is important, not the grammar or the spelling.
After learners have finished free-writing, ask them to read over what they have
written and highlight the most prominent and interesting ideas. Learners can
use these ideas for their writing. Refer to Handout 4 for a list of ideas for free-
writing. Get learners to do this many times before they actually start writing
their draft.

Activity 5 – Journalist Questions

Who, What, When, When, Why and How can be used to generate information
about a topic. This is a great way to begin a writing assignment. Review the
questions guide with learners on Handout 5 before they start to write.

Activity 6 – Generating Ideas for Writing

Ask learners to draw a rough sketch/map of their community or a neighborhood
where they once lived or live now. Ask them to draw the map, label particular
objects where things happened. For example: hereʹs where I first fell off my
bike...hereʹs the house where my best friend lived...hereʹs the rock I fell off and
broke my arm. Ask learners to show the map to the class and explain your map;
describe the neighborhood and what went on. Ask them to pick a story from
their map that they would like to write about. Handout 6 provides instructions
and an example sketch/map.

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Activity 7 – Prewriting Activity
• Give each learner any book or magazine to use. The instructor should
have a selection also, in order to model the process.
• Ask them to open their book or magazine at any page and choose a word
at random--the first word that jumps off the page at them--and record this
as Word #1; close the book. Continue this until each learner has four
words recorded.

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 Writing Ideas

• Learners then focus for about one minute on each word separately, and list
all their thoughts, ideas and associations that the word generates.
• Learners then begin to make connections among the four words and their
lists of personal associations by writing phrases, sentences, and ideas that
demonstrate a relationship among the words.
• Learners now have some ideas for writing.

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Activity 8 – Another Prewriting Activity
Ask learners to bring pictures of people, or your can supply them (photographs
or pictures clipped from magazines). Each picture should show several people in
sufficient detail to reveal size, facial expression, dress, and other characteristics.
Ask learners to examine their pictures closely, and explain that they will need to
use their imagination for the activity. Some questions the instructor might ask
are:
• Who is the main character in the picture?
• What is an appropriate name for this character?
• How old is this character?
• What emotions is this character showing in the picture? Describe the
evidence that you have for this (e.g., facial expression, gestures).
• What kind of work might the character do for a living? Give reasons to
support your decision.
• What might the person be thinking or saying? What makes you imagine
this?
• What other characteristics are revealed by the characterʹs dress and stance?
• What might have happened before the picture was taken? What might
happen next?
• How are the other characters in the picture related to the main character?
What evidence makes you think so?
• What is the attitude of the main character to the other characters? What is
the attitude of the other characters to the main character? What are some
possible reasons for these attitudes?
• What might it be like to be the main character or one of the other
characters?

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• Instruct learners to record ideas briefly, using phrases and words rather
than sentences.
• Learners then may take the opportunity to develop their ideas further.

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Prewriting
Handout 1

Different Kinds of Writing

Match the definition with the correct piece of writing

Something that you write in Functional Writing

everyday. Your personal thoughts
and ideas.

Uses lots of adjectives and paints a Research Report

vivid picture in your mind.

Writing that you have to do in your Journals

daily life, like filling out forms,
writing a note or grocery list

Meant to inform the reader about Expository Writing

something. It can
• Tell what happened when . .
• Write a report on …
• Explain how to …
• Describe how to …
Explain how to ….

Must research information and tell Narrative Writing

about a specific topic.

Tells a story, has a plot, Descriptive Writing

characters,setting and theme.

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Prewriting
Handout 2

Why Write?
What kind of writing would fit for each statement? Use the information about
the different kinds of writing on Handout 1 to answer the questions. There may
be more than one answer.

Audience
• A boss or supervisor functional writing
• A communications expert
• The general public
• Family members, friends, strangers
• Older and younger people
• People with disabilities and able-bodied people
• Women and men
• People from different cultures
• People with different literacy skills

Purpose
• Enable the audience to do something after they read the document
• Prevent or achieve something
• Change the audience’s behavior
• Give the audience information
• Gather information about the audience
• Gather information from the audience about other things
• Respond or understand something
• Tell a story
• Persuade people to do something or think a certain way
• Give direction
• Explain how to do something

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 Writing Ideas

Prewriting
Handout 3

Clustering
Clustering is a nonlinear activity that generates ideas, images and feelings
around a stimulus word. Start with a topic in the center. Think about words that
describe the topic. Then think about more words that describe those words.
Use the map below as a guideline to constructing your own cluster map.

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Prewriting
Handout 4
Free Writing Ideas
• I like being a parent because …
• I find parenting hard because …
• The night my son/daughter was born ...
• My first pregnancy was ….
• I am very good at …
• The world would be a better place if everyone …
• I like being with people who …
• One thing that I could teach someone else is …
• One thing that I would like to really learn about …
• A person, I learn a lot from is …
• If I were not here today …
• My first camping trip …
• The most exciting thing that ever happened to me was …
• The scariest thing that ever happened to me was…
• The perfect parent would be …
• A story an Elder told me once was …
• I enjoy going out on the land because …
• My mother taught me how to …
• The thing I enjoy most is …
• The thing I enjoy least is …
• If I won a million dollars I would …
• If I could do anything it would be …
• If I could be an animal it would be …
• If I were not here tonight or today I would be …

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• I enjoy this session because…

• I would like to work on …
• Some changes I am going to make are …
• The things that I do well are …
• If I could go anywhere it would be

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Prewriting
Handout 5

Journalalist Questions

Use these questions to generate ideas for your writing.

• Who? Who are the learners? Who is affected? Who are the primary actors?
Who are the secondary actors?

• What? What is the topic? What is the significance of the topic? What is the
basic problem? What are the issues?

• Where? Where does the activity take place? Where does the problem or
issue have its source? At what place is the cause or effect of the problem
most visible?

• When? When is the issue most apparent (past, present, future)? When did
the issue or problem develop? What historical forces helped shape the
problem or issue and at what point in time will the problem or issue
culminate in a crisis? When is action needed to address the issue or
problem?

• Why? Why did the issue or problem arise? Why is your topic an issue or
problem at all? Why did the issue or problem develop in the way that it
did?

• How? How is the issue or problem significant? How can it be addressed?

How does it affect the learners? How can the issue or problem be resolved?

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Prewriting
Handout 6

Generating Ideas for Writing

Draw a rough sketch/map of your community or a neighborhood where you
once lived or live now and label particular places where things happened. For
example: hereʹs where I first fell off my bike...hereʹs the house where my best friend
lived...hereʹs the rock I fell off and broke my arm.
Show your map to others in the class and explain your map; describe the
neighborhood and what went on. Pick a story from your map to write about.

Each week we
In the summer we go to family
Example: played baseball all literacy nights
night long. I broke my at the school.
leg on 3rd base one
year.
Park
School

My family lived We went to

in a small 2 church every
bedroom house. Sunday. Father
There were 5 John baptized
Home children and my me when I was
mom and dad. 8 years old.

Great Bear Lake

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

To write, learners need to generate, organize, and communicate ideas. Often

learners would rather not plan before writing. These learners would prefer to
ʺjump inʺ and just start writing. For some learners, it is important that they go
slowly and take time to think about what they want to say before writing. In
general, learners should be taught that writing is not an emergency event and
that the processes of planning, thinking, and organizing are just as important as
the final product.
Learnersʹ ability to generate and organize their ideas can impact the richness of
their final piece of writing. In order to generate and organize ideas well, learners
must be able to get started and concentrate on the task and monitor the quality of
their work. Depending on the type of writing task, learners also may need to be
able to present their perspective and think creatively to come up with new ideas.
For example, learners may need to decide what to write about, develop a topic,
research a topic, produce original thoughts, elaborate on ideas, use prior
knowledge, think critically, and apply new and learned concepts. All of these
skills can help a learner with generating organizing their ideas when writing.
Here is a simple guideline to follow when helping learners with writing:
1. Begin with a topic the learners are interested in.
2. Talk over what they want to write. Help the learner write ideas or words
they may need.
3. Write a rough draft. Explain to the learners that all writers use a rough
draft.
4. Encourage learners to proofread their work. Underline words they are not
sure of. This is a good time to practice dictionary skills.
5. Read over the piece of writing together. A piece of writing can always be
changed, or you can add more information.

This section has 10 activities and 14 handouts that instructors can use with
learners.

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We use these symbols for:

Activities

Handouts

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Learning Activities
Writing Techniques and Ideas
14 Handouts

Activity 1 – Writing Process Guidelines

Review Handout 1 together and discuss the writing process. Tell learners that
you are going to go through the process together as a group and then they will
have a chance to write about something they are interested in.

Activity 2 – Writing Warm-up

I like…… because is a really fun writing warm-up you can do with learners. This
activity works for a range of learners. Ask each person to fill out Handout 2.
Each person writes down what they like and why. For example
• I like eating apples …..because they are juicy and tasty.
• I like going out on the land …..because it gives me meaning and purpose.
Cut the sheet of paper in half so you have all the ‘I likes’ in one pile and the
‘becauses’ in another pile. Mix up each pile and then read them out. You will
get really silly sentences like “I like eating apples because it gives me meaning and
purpose.” The more people you have for this activity the better.

Activity 3 – Planning and Organizing

After learners have generated some ideas, they must decide what they will say
about their chosen topic. When learners develop an initial plan for their writing
they must consider the purpose, audience, point of view, and format. These
elements have implications for both the planning and the drafting of the written
product.
To develop an initial plan for drafting:
Using such structures as outlines, story frames, maps, diagrams, charts, and
concept webs, learners organize the information they have generated during pre-
writing. Refer to Handouts 3, 4 and 5 to review examples of categorizing ideas,
an outline, and mind map.

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Activity 4 – Draft
Tell learners to use the information on their graphic organizer to start their
writing. Tell them to:
• Not worry about spelling and punctuation
• Think about the audience and purpose
• Write the main idea in the first sentence of the paragraph
• Write sentences that related to the topic
• Write a concluding sentence
Handout 6 provides learners with information on purpose, audience, point of
view, information needed and format.

Activity 5 – Share and Revise

Learners are not always willing to share their writing. Conferencing is a skill
that needs to be modeled and reinforced often. Talk about the purpose for
revising. Reinforce that ‘messiness’ (crossing out, underlining, writing between
the lines, numbering to reorganize, cutting and pasting) is okay and shows
thinking.
Model conferencing to learners first and then ask them to do it with a partner.
Handout 7 and 8 provide guidelines to conferencing and a checklist.

Activity 6 – Edit
Peer editing is a great way for learners to practice their editing skills and
sometimes it is hard to notice your own mistakes. Handout 9 provides a
checklist for editing and Handout 10 provides tips for editing.

Activity 7 – Descriptive Writing

To teach descriptive writing:
• Bring in old magazines or old calendars (anything with colourful photos or
drawings) and have learners choose a picture to describe. Then have
learners mount the pictures along with their descriptions in the class.
• Focus on the five senses. Think about a season and brainstorm words for
taste, touch, smell, sight and sound.

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• Ask learners to bring in something that is important to them. Ask learners

to write a description of the object. Then ask them to write about why the
object is important. Ask them to read their stories aloud.
• Help learners describe a place that is special to them. Guide them through
an imagery activity to help them recall details. You might say something
like: “I want you all to imagine a place that is special to you in some way.
You are in that place now. What can you see around you? Are there any
other people there? Are there animals? Buildings? Furniture? Trees?
Plants? What does the air feel like on your skin? Warm? Cool? Hot?
Humid? Dry? What sounds can you hear? What can you smell? Can you
taste anything? What are you doing there?” While the details are fresh,
have them jot down words and phrases about their special place. Then,
they can use these ideas in a paragraph.
• Handout 11 provides learners with an extensive list of descriptive words.
Learners are also asked to write a descriptive paragraph about:

• The day your child was • Your favourite food

born • A bad day
• A family trip • A good day
• Your favourite birthday
party

Activity 8 – Narrative Writing

A narrative tells a story. Ask learners to sit in a circle and tell a story. Start the
story with “If I won a million dollars…..” or “Once when I went out on the
land….” Ask everyone to contribute something to the story.
Next give each student a story starter. Some story starters are on Handout 12.
Ask them to start the story and then pass it to the next person until everyone has
had a chance to contribute to each story. Read back the stories to the class. Ask
learners to pick out the 5 Ws in their stories. Tell learners that using the 5 Ws can
help with writing a narrative.
Ask learners to read Handout 13 and then write a narrative paragraph using one
of the writing prompts.

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Activity 9 – Other Ideas for Writing

• Learners write from a given last line. Examples:
o You can bet I never did that again.
o It disappeared into the murky depths of Great Bear Lake.
o The survivors would never be the same again.
• Pretend you are an object such as a hamburger, an old shoe, a light switch.
Write about your complaints. You are the pilot of a plane that has just
taken off from the airport. A passenger crashed through the door. Write
about what you would do. You are trapped in an elevator. Describe how
you feel and how you would handle the situation.
• Select five (or more) unconnected words and write a story in which you
manage to use all of the words in a way that connects them.
• Up Here, a northern magazine, has asked you to write a feature story on
living in the North. Your job is to write the article and write the captions
for the two photographs that will accompany the article.
• Take a series of photos and ask learners to describe what is happening in
the photo or use the photo as a prompt to create a story around it.
• Put a picture on the overhead. Explore the meaning of the picture by
asking the 5Ws. Ask learners to respond in writing.
• Give learners a digital cameral or Polaroid camera and ask them to take
pictures in the community. Ask them to write a story about the pictures
they have taken. They can take pictures of:
o Interesting people, buildings or sites
o Their children
o Elders
o Traditional activities

Activity 10 – Helpful Writing Techniques for Stories

Handout 14 provides learners with an overview of helpful writing techniques for
writing a story.

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 1

Writing Process Guidelines

The writing process guide describes eight basic steps:

1)Plan Think about what you want to write. Read. Talk to others.
Brainstorm. Collect your ideas. Make a topic list. Choose a
topic.

2)Organize Make an outline, a mind map, or a web.

What ideas go together? What order makes sense?

3)Draft Write your thoughts down. Don’t worry too much about spelling
or punctuation. Take your time. Read over what you’ve written
to help you write more. Talk to someone if you get stuck.

4)Share Read your writing out loud to someone. Ask for feedback: “How
does this part sound?” or, “Which sounds better, this or this?”
Talk to other students about grammar, spelling, etc.
Take notes about any feedback you get. Give polite feedback to
others.

5)Revise Does the story make sense? Do the parts fit together? Are the
transition words clear? Move parts of the text around. Add
words or sentences. Take words out of sentences. Try different
words.

6)Edit Check grammar, spelling and punctuation.

7)Prepare final copy Proofread and make changes.

8)Print Use a word processor to make a final hard copy.

Where possible, use a word processor to compose, revise, and
publish.

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TOWER - Writing Process

The TOWER writing process describes 5 steps.

Think Choose your topic.

Brainstorm points and/or gather information about your topic.
Jot down any ideas and information that might be useful. Do
this in note form or use a web.

Organize Read over your notes or web. Decide if you have included
enough details. Decide if you need to leave anything out.

Write Write your first draft. Don’t spend too much time on spelling
or punctuation at this stage. Double-space so that it is easier
to make corrections.

Edit Make corrections in a different colour.

Read your writing. Does it say what you want? Did you
leave anything out? Is there any unnecessary information?
Read your writing out loud to someone else or let someone
else read your writing.
If you have a lot of changes to make, write a second draft.
Check for spelling, run on sentences, sentence fragments,
grammar and punctuation.

Rewrite Rewrite in pen or type.

Include a title, your name and date.
Read it over carefully.
Share your writing with others.

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 2

I like …. because …..

I like

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

because

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 3

Categorizing Ideas
The learners decided to write about someone who has lots of smarts. This person
sings, dances, paints pictures, and plays guitar.

Look at this sample web/ map.

Sings: Dances:
9 Country and western 9 Learned when young
9 Love songs 9 Took lessons
9 For dances & weddings 9 Teaches children

Topic sentence

My friend puts her

smarts to good use.

Paints: Plays guitar:

9 Watercolors 9 Likes to
9 Landscapes & entertain
portraits 9 Plays for a
9 To relax living
9 Has natural
talent

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Now you try! Brainstorm for a topic sentence. Put it in the circle.
• In the squares, write your ideas about a person you admire. You may
want to write about an animal you like.
• Write what your person or thing can do. Then write some ideas how and
why they do it.
• Then write a sentence about each.

Topic sentence:

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 4

Outline
Making an outline is a good way to plan for your writing. Follow these steps.

1. Write your topic.

2. Write your outline, using key questions for your main idea. For example:
What traditional medicines did First Nations People use? What did they use
them for?
3. Use the Roman numerals for main ideas.
4. Use the capital letters for supporting details.

For example:

Topic:
__________________________________________________________________

I. _____________________________________________________________________
A. _______________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________

II. ____________________________________________________________________
A. _______________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________

III. ____________________________________________________________________
A. _______________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 5

How to Mind Map4

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or
other items linked to a central key word or idea. It is used to
generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study,
organization, problem solving, and decision making.

• Use key words, and/or pictures.

• Start from the center of the page and work out.
• Make the center a clear and strong visual image that depicts the general
theme of the map.
• Create sub-centers for sub-themes.
• Put key words on lines. This reinforces structure of notes.
• Print rather than write in script.
• Use color to depict themes, associations and to make things stand out.
• Anything that stands out on the page will stand out in your mind.
• Use arrows, icons or other visual aids to show links between different
elements.
• Donʹt get stuck in one area. If you dry up in one area go to another branch.
• Put ideas down as they occur, wherever they fit. Donʹt judge or hold back.
• Break boundaries. If you run out of space, donʹt start a new sheet; paste
more paper onto the map. (Break the 8x11 mentality.)
• Be creative. Creativity aids memory.

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Examples5 6

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 6

Planning7
When planning your writing you need to consider purpose, audience, point of
view, how your will gather information and the format.

Purpose
Ask yourself ʺWhat is my purpose for writing this piece?ʺ Some purposes for
writing are:
• To express personal feelings or viewpoints
• To imagine ʺWhat if ...?ʺ
• To narrate
• To entertain and/or amuse
• To describe
• To inform or explain
• To persuade or convince
• To request
• To inquire or question
• To explore and experiment with ideas and formats
• To clarify thinking

Audience
Ask yourself ʺWho is my intended audience?ʺ Some possible audiences are:
• Familiar, known audiences: self, friends, peers, family, teachers
• Extended, known audiences: community, student body, local media
• Extended, unknown audiences: wider range of media and other
publications

7
Source: http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/write.html

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Information Needed
You need to decide what information you need and how you will get it. Some
ways of getting information:
• To conduct interviews
• Go on field trips to gather information
• Brainstorm and construct a list of questions
• Library and Internet research

Format
Use audience and purpose to determine format. You will have the opportunity
to write in a variety of narrative, descriptive, expository, and poetic formats such
as:

• campaign speech • horoscope

• advertisement
• diary/journal • interview
• article
• readers theatre/role • obituary/eulogy
• advice column
play/monologue • news article/editorial
• autobiography
• book review • poem/song
• biography
• report/essay • anecdote/personal
• ballad
• fable/fairy tale experience story
• comic strip
• greeting card • sports column
• letter of
• game rules • short story
complaint/request/
• directions • research paper
inquiry

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 7

Peer Conference Guidelines

Step One – Sharing
The author decides how his or her work will be shared. Will it be:
• Read silently by the conference partner(s)?
• Read aloud by the writer?
• Read aloud by the conference partner(s)?
• A combination of the above?

Step Two – Focus of Conference

The writer identifies what aspects of the written work will be the focus of the
conference (e.g., the beginning paragraph, figurative language).

Step Three – Response

The conference partner states at least:
• One thing he/she considers that the writer has done well
• One thing he/she especially likes
• One suggestion which addresses the focus of the conference as identified
by the writer

Step Four – Changes

The writer retains the right to the written work and is responsible for making the
final decision about any changes.

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Handout 8

Writing Conference Checklist

Author: _________________________ Date: _____________________
Title: _________________________ Format: _____________________

Self Reflection
I read this piece: once ____ twice ____ several times ____ aloud to myself _____
Once change I decided to make is _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
I think this makes sense because __________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
The part I like best is _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Peer Conference
Conference Partner Name: _________________________________
Something you did well in this piece is _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
I especially like _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Something I suggest you consider is _______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Do you need an extended teacher conference? Yes ____ No ____
If yes, state at least two specific things you would like to discuss:
1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 9

Editing/Proofreading Checklist

Author: _________________________ Date: ______________________

Title: _________________________

My purpose is __________________________________________________________

My audience is __________________________________________________________

The form of my writing is ________________________________________________

Things that I like about this draft are: ______________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Things I think need improving are _________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
Editor (circle one) Self Peer Writing Group Teacher

Item Comment

Capitalization
• Is the first word of each sentence
capitalized?
• Are all proper nouns capitalized?

Overall Appearance
• Is the handwriting legible?
• Is the word processing format
consistent?

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 Writing Ideas

Punctuation
• Is end punctuation (.?!) correct?
• Is the internal punctuation (,;:)
correct?
• Are apostrophes, hyphens and
dashes correct?
Are quotation marks used correctly.

Spelling
• Does it look right?
• Does it sound right?
• Did you use a diction or ask a peer
or teacher for help?

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 10
Tips to a Successful Proofreading Conference

• Sentences: Do they end with full-stop punctuation? Is there noun-verb

agreement? Are they varied in length and complexity? Are they interesting?
• Paragraphs: Is there a new paragraph for each new idea or for each new
speaker? Are all new paragraphs clearly identified? Does one paragraph lead
logically into the next paragraph?
• Standard Usage and Grammar: Read the piece aloud to yourself or a peer.
Does the language sound correct? Check a language text or talk to a peer if
you are uncertain.
• Spelling: When proofreading a piece, if a word looks misspelled, try to spell
the word in different ways: sound it out, check the dictionary, or ask a peer.
Then record the word on your Personal Spelling List for future reference.
• Punctuation: Read the piece aloud to decide if the punctuation creates pauses
and stops that sound right. Check another piece of literature or a language
text to determine appropriate punctuation.
• Capitalization: Check for capital letters at the beginnings of sentences and for
proper nouns.

Be honest and fair when conferencing!

Remember, it is your job to help your partner become a better

writer.

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 11

Descriptive Writing
Have you ever picked up a book, and been so caught up in the words that you
felt like you were right there in the story? Have you ever read a book and felt
like there was a movie playing in your head? If so, you have experienced good
descriptive writing.

Descriptive writing, sometimes called ʺshowing writingʺ is writing that describes

a particular person, place or event in great detail. Descriptive writing uses a lot
of flowery adjectives and adverbs to describe what is going on or how something
appears. If you were going to describe biting into an apple, you would not
simply say: ʺHe bit into the apple and it tasted goodʺ. Descriptive writing would
convey the same sentence as follows: ʺHe slowly closed his teeth on the ripe,
succulent, ruby colored apple. The crunch of his teeth piercing the appleʹs skin
was deafening and the sweet juices of the apple ran down his chin. The taste of
the meat was as sweet as candy and he felt euphoric.ʺ8

A good stock of descriptive words will help you with your writing. Here is a list
of descriptive words you can use in your writing.9

Ability - Condition
able confident gentle lucky smooth
adequate courageous hardy manly spirited
alive curious healthy mighty stable
assured daring heavy modern steady
authoritative determined heroic open stouthearted
bold durable important outstanding strong
brainy dynamic influential powerful super
brave eager innocent real sure
busy easy intense relaxed tame
careful effective inquisitive rich tough

8
Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/J001156/forms%20of%20writing/em_descriptive.htm
9
Source: http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/riverval/newtroy/descriptivewords.htm

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capable energetic jerky robust victorious

cautious fearless knotted secure virile
clever firm light sharp zealous
competent forceful lively shy
concerned gallant loose skillful

Anger - Hostility
agitated combative evil irritated rude
aggravated contrary fierce mad savage
aggressive cool furious mean severe
angry cranky hard nasty spiteful
annoyed creepy harsh obnoxious tense
arrogant cross hateful obstinate terse
belligerent cruel hostile outraged vicious
biting defiant impatient perturbed vindictive
blunt disagreeable inconsiderate repulsive violent
bullying enraged insensitive resentful wicked
callous envious intolerant rough wrathful

Depression - Sadness - Gloom

abandoned depressed forsaken low ruined
alien desolate gloomy miserable rundown
alienated despairing glum mishandled sad
alone despised grim mistreated scornful
awful despondent hated moody sore
battered destroyed homeless mournful stranded
blue discarded hopeless obsolete tearful
bored discouraged horrible ostracized terrible
burned dismal humiliated overlooked tired
cheapened downcast hurt pathetic unhappy
crushed downhearted jilted pitiful unloved
debased downtrodden kaput rebuked whipped
defeated dreadful loathed regretful worthless

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degraded estranged lonely rejected wrecked

dejected excluded lonesome reprimanded
demolished forlorn lousy rotten

Distress
affected displeased hindered puzzled tormented
anguished dissatisfied impaired ridiculous touchy
awkward distrustful impatient sickened troubled
baffled disturbed imprisoned silly ungainly
bewildered doubtful lost skeptical unlucky
clumsy foolish nauseated speechless unpopular
confused futile offended strained unsatisfied
constrained grief pained suspicious unsure
disgusted helpless perplexed swamped weary
disliked

Fear - Anxiety
afraid dreading insecure overwhelmed tense
agitated eerie intimidated panicky terrified
alarmed embarrassed jealous restless timid
anxious fearful jittery scared uncomfortable
apprehensive frantic jumpy shaky uneasy
bashful frightened nervous shy upset
dangerous hesitant on edge strained worrying
desperate horrified

Inability - Inadequacy
anemic disabled incapable powerless unable
ashamed exhausted incompetent puny uncertain
broken exposed ineffective shaken unfit
catatonic fragile inept shaky unimportant
cowardly frail inferior shivering unqualified
crippled harmless insecure sickly unsound
defeated helpless meek small useless
defective impotent mummified strengthless vulnerable

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deficient inadequate naughty trivial weak

demoralized

Joy - Elation
amused enchanted good jubilant smiling
blissful enthusiastic grand magnificent splendid
brilliant exalted gratified majestic superb
calm excellent great marvelous terrific
cheerful excited happy overjoyed thrilled
comical exuberant hilarious pleasant tremendous
contented fantastic humorous pleased triumphant
delighted fit inspired proud vivacious
ecstatic funny jolly relieved witty
elated glad jovial satisfied wonderful
elevated glorious joyful

Love - Affection - Concern

admired conscientious giving mellow reliable
adorable considerate good mild respectful
affectionate cooperative helpful moral sensitive
agreeable cordial honest neighborly sweet
altruistic courteous honorable nice sympathetic
amiable dedicated hospitable obliging tender
benevolent devoted humane open thoughtful
benign empathetic interested optimistic tolerant
brotherly fair just patient trustworthy
caring faithful kind peaceful truthful
charming forgiving kindly pleasant understanding
charitable friendly lenient polite unselfish
comforting generous lovable reasonable warm
congenial genuine loving receptive worthy

Movement
amble flow pad skim toddle

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blunder fly parade skip topple

bolt frolic pivot slide track
bounce gallop plod slink traipse
bound glide plunge slither tramp
canter hasten ply slump travel
catapult hike pounce sneak tread
charge hobble prance speed trek
clatter hop prowl sprawl trip
clump hurdle race spring tromp
coast hurtle ramble sprint trot
crawl hurry range stagger trudge
creep hustle roam stalk tumble
cruise jog roll stampede turn
dance jump romp step twirl
dart lead rove stomp twist
dash leap rush straggle undulate
dawdle linger sail stretch vault
dive limp sashay stride waddle
dodge loaf saunter stroll wade
drag lumber scamper stumble walk
drift lunge scoot struggle wallow
duel lurch scuff strut waltz
file lurk scurry swagger wander
flee march shake sway wend
flip meander shimmy swept wiggle
flit mosey shuffle swerve wobble
float navigate skate swing zip
flounder pace skid tip toe zoom

Quantity
ample few lots paucity scarcity
abundant heavy many plentiful skimpy
chock-full lavish meager plenty sparing
copious liberal much profuse sparse

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dearth light numerous scads sufficient

empty loads oodles scant well-stocked

Sight - Appearance
adorable crooked fuzzy muddy skinny
alert crowded glamorous murky smoggy
beautiful crystalline gleaming nappy sparkling
blinding curved glistening narrow spotless
bright cute glowing obtuse square
brilliant dark graceful round steep
broad deep grotesque rotund stormy
blonde dim hazy pale straight
blushing distinct high poised strange
chubby dull hollow quaint ugly
clean elegant homely shadowy unsightly
clear fancy light shady unusual
cloudy filthy lithe sheer weird
colorful flat low shiny wide
contoured fluffy misty shallow wizened
crinkled foggy motionless

Size
ample elfin immense miniature stupendous
average enormous large minute tall
behemoth fat little petite tiny
big giant long portly towering
bulky gigantic mammoth prodigious vast
colossal great massive puny voluminous
diminutive huge microscopic short wee
dwarfed hulking middle-sized small

Smell - Taste
acrid fragrant putrid sour sweet
antiseptic fresh ripe spicy tangy

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bitter juicy rotten stale tart

choking medicinal salty sticky tasty
clean nutty savory strong tasteless
delicious peppery smoky stuffy

Sound
babble coo / cooing hoarse quack thunderous
bang crack hoot quiet tick
bark crackle howl raspy tinkle
bawl crash hullabaloo resonant toll
bay creak hum roar toot
beat croak hushed rumble tootle
scream /
bellow crow husky trill
screaming
blast crying jingle screech twang
bleat deafening loud shriek twitter
boom /
drone melodic shrill voiceless
booming
bray drumming meow silent wail
bubble faint mew sizzle warble
buzz fanfare moan snap wheeze
cackle fizz mumble snarl whine
caw gibberish murmur snore whir
chant grating mute snort whisper
chatter groan mutter soft whistle
chime growl neigh splash yap
chirp grumble noisy squall yell
clangor grunt patter squeak yelp
clank gurgle peal squeal zap
clash harsh peep thrum zip
clatter high-pitched pop thud
click hiss purr / purring thump

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Time
ancient daylight late outdated sunrise
annual decade lengthy periodic sunset
brief dusk long punctual swift
brisk early modern quick tardy
centuries eons moments rapid twilight
continual evening noon short whirlwind
crawling fast noonday slowly years
dawn flash old speedy yearly
daybreak intermittent old-fashioned sporadic young

Touch
boiling dirty grubby shaggy stinging
breezy dry hard sharp tender
bumpy dusty hot silky tight
chilly filthy icy slick uneven
cold fluffy loose slimy waxen
cool flaky melted slippery wet
creepy fluttering plastic slushy wooden
crisp frosty prickly smooth yielding
cuddly fuzzy rainy soft
curly gooey rough solid
damp greasy sandpapery sticky

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Your Task
Write a descriptive paragraph about:

• A family trip • Your favourite food

• Your favourite birthday party • A bad day
• Going hunting or trapping • A good day

Step One: Choose a topic

• Brainstorm descriptive words to describe the topic.

Step Two: Find Synonyms

• Write down 10 descriptive words from your brainstorm.
• Think of synonyms for your words and write them in the second column.
• Use a thesaurus on-line to find different synonyms.
• Use a traditional thesaurus to find additional synonyms.

My Chart of Synonyms
My A synonym that I A synonym from
A synonym from a
descriptive thought of for my an on-line
traditional thesaurus
words word thesaurus

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Step Three: Write Your Paragraph

Write your paragraph using the descriptive words above.

Topic Sentence
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Supporting Sentences
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 12

Story Starters
 Cut these out and put them into a hat or jar. Ask each
participant to pick one.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. The most frightening thing ….

2. When I was young….

3. If I had a million dollars I would….

4. Life would be way more fun if….

5. My camping trip was….

6. Going out on the land….

7. When I looked up into the sky….

8. One night long ago….

9. There was once this guy named ….

10. My favourite thing to do is ….

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 13

Narrative Writing
Narrative writing:
• Tells a story. This is something we do everyday when we tell someone
about what we did or what happened. It can be a story, event or
experience from the past or something that happened recently.
• Has order. It has a beginning, middle and end. Narrative writing tells
what happened first, then, next and finally.
• Answers the questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

For example: I’ll never forget the night we had roast duck at Buffalo Lake.
We took the dog and our boat and kicker in the back of our
truck. We stayed there for three weeks. There were lots of
fish, but we got tired of fish. Later we took our boat across the
lake to hunt chicken. We didn’t get any chicken, so we got in
the boat and started to go back to our camp. After we got out
on the lake, the kicker wouldn’t work. We floated on the
water for a while. Just then some ducks flew over and landed
on the water not far from us. At first, we laughed! Ducks!
Then the men loaded their guns fast and shot five ducks. After
that, we tried the kicker again. It started. There was just
enough gas to get to the shore. That night we had roast duck
to eat. So did the dog.

Who is in the story?

______________________________________________________

Where is it happening?
___________________________________________________

When is it happening?
___________________________________________________

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Why does it happen? ____________________________________________________

What happens? List below

Topic Sentence
__________________________________________________________

Events 1. __________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________

Closing Sentence
________________________________________________________

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Your Turn!
Write a narrative using one of the writing prompts below. Make sure your
paragraph has a beginning, middle and an ending that makes a point. Refer to
your transition word handout to help you with transition words. Use the writing
process for your paragraph.

1. Childhood Event: Choose a vivid time from your childhood -- you might
think of the first time that you rode a school bus, of a time when you went to the
principalʹs office, the first A you earned on a test or paper, earning money to buy
something that you really wanted, and so on.

2. Achieving a Goal: Write about a time when you achieved a personal goal --
you might have killed your first caribou, learned a new skill, won an award, etc.

3. The Good and the Bad: Write about an event in your life that seemed bad but
turned out to be good. Maybe you got injured and while you were waiting for
your broken leg to heal, you learned how to use a computer. What makes the
event change from bad to good may be something that you learned as a result,
something that you did differently as a result, or something that happened that
wouldnʹt have occurred otherwise.

5. Standing Up: Write about a time when you did something that took a lot of
nerve, a time when you didnʹt follow the crowd or a time when you stood up for
your beliefs. Whatever you choose, think about the details of the event and write
a paragraph that tells about what happened.

Topic Sentence
________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

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 Writing Ideas

Supporting Sentences

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Closing Sentence

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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Writing Techniques and Ideas

Handout 14

Helpful Writing Techniques for Stories

Titles
• Keep your titles short and snappy. A good general rule is to keep your titles
from one to three words, no more than five.
• A good title gives the reader a hint of what the story is about.
• The title is your first chance to grab the attention of a reader.
• Has your title been used? Check with Books in Print (at your library), or do a
search on www.Amazon.com.

Word choice
Cute, bright,
Be specific. Choose colorful, detailed words that paint
lovable, silly,
pictures. Instead of using a general word like ʺflowerʺ, be
fun, heroic,
specific. Which type of flower? A rose? A daffodil? A
petunia? For example, which sentence do you like hilarious,
better?

1. ʺSome rabbits lived with their relative under a tree.ʺ

2. ʺOnce upon a time there were four little rabbits and their names were-
Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter. They lived with their mother
underneath a very big fir-tree.ʺ

Description
• Use the five senses.
• Avoid wordiness. Keep your sentences short.
• Keep paragraphs short.
• Keep your writing active by using lots of verbs.

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The hook
• Jump right in. You need to grab your readerʹs attention from the
very beginning, or he/she may not keep reading.
• Introduce your main character, a setting, and a problem, and then keep
your story moving.
• Use dialogue. Young readers like lots of dialogue, so get your characters
talking

Characters

• Use active characters.

• Good main characters are likable but not perfect.
• Show your characterʹs personality by repeating gestures
and mannerisms or speech or dress.
• Pick character names with care. A reader can tell a
Harold, Lucy,
lot about a character just by his name. Nicknames Jo-Jo, Moon,
are especially good. To help your readers keep Little Tree,
your characters straight don’t use names that are too Kindred
similar in spelling or sound. Some good sources
for names: baby books, phone books for last names.

Plotting plots
To outline or not to outline, that is the question. Some writers outline their
stories before they begin. Other writers start writing with no idea how it will end
until they get to the ending. There is no ʺright” way.

Have a strong plot. The more tension there is in a story, the stronger
the story. Give your character a problem right from the start, add
some complications along the way, get him to solve the problem, and
you have a plot.

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Endings
Endings need to rap everything up. Endings should leave the
reader feeling satisfied. A good way to learn what makes an
ending work is to take a big stack of books and read only the
endings. Just read the last lines or the last paragraphs. After
awhile you will get a feel for how a story should end.

Point of view
Generally younger childrenʹs books are written with a single point of view. This
means that the story is told through the eyes and thoughts of the main character.
Most books for young readers are written in the third person (he said, she said.)
A few are written in the first person (I said.). This is hard when the main
character is a child.

Revision
Here are some things to ask yourself while you are
revising:
• Have you chosen each word carefully?
• Is your title catchy?
• Does your beginning hook the reader?
• Is there a problem or goal in the beginning of your
story?
• Are your characters well-developed?
• Is there plenty of dialogue?
• Does your main character solve the problem?
• Is the solution believable?
• Is the ending satisfying?

Adapted from Bethany Robertsʹ Writing for Children Workshop: Writing Tips on Writing for Children
http://www.bethanyroberts.com/writing_for_children_tips.htm#titles )

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 Writing Ideas

Writing Contest Tips and Ideas

One way to encourage writing in your community or school is to hold a writing
contest. Several communities in the NWT have held yearly writing contests and
they have been very popular. They have asked their local grocery story to
provide gift certificates as prizes or asked the NWT Literacy Council for book
prizes. They have also published a book with all the winning stories. Check out
this site to view Fort Resolution’s Writing Booklets
http://www.nwt.literacy.ca/adultlit/adultlit.htm.

This section has:

• Steps to organizing a community writing contest
• Community writing contest rules
• Community writing contest entry form
• Posters for advertising
• Mini-posters for handouts
• Certificate of achievement

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Steps to Organizing a
Community Writing Contest
Running a Community Writing Contest

1. Find volunteers in your community to help organize and run the writing
contest. You will need someone to promote the contest, receive entries,
judges, and people to organize the celebration of writing at the end.
2. Set a deadline for entries to the writing contest and assign a person who will
accept the entries. Depending on the number of entries, you may have to set
up a way of keeping track of the entries.
3. Decide on your contest rules, age categories, and writing
categories. You may want to have authors include drawings
as part of their entry. We have included a sample to get you
started.
4. It is nice to give out prizes for your community writing
contest. Prizes can be books, pencils, or bookmarks. You
can ask local businesses for donations or contact the NWT
Literacy Council at 867-873-9262 if you would like book
prizes.

Promoting Your Writing Contest

5. Put together information packages with the contest rules, categories, and
entry form and distribute them to schools, college, library, band office, etc.
6. Put posters up around the community, advertise on the local radio station, or
green screen, and hand out personal invitations at the school, library, adult
education centres, Elders’ centre, and health centres. Tell everyone about it!
Posters and mini-notices are included in this package.
7. You can build some excitement for the contest by having a special event with
local authors. You could also invite an Elder to tell a traditional story.

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Ideas for Judging a Writing Contest

8. Set categories for the entries

There are a number of different categories you can have in your writing
contest:
• Fiction
• Non-fiction
• Poetry
• Legends
• French entries
• Entries written in an Aboriginal language

You can also have age groups within each of the different types of categories.
The NWT Writing Contest used the following:
• Children Age 5
• Children Ages 6-7
• Children Ages 8-9
• Children Ages 10-11
• Youth Ages 12-14
• Youth Ages 15 – 19
• Adults (20+)
• Adult Education Learners

9. Set some basic guidelines for judging the entries

The guidelines you set should recognize that most writers in community
writing contests are not professional writers but have a good story to tell.
Don’t worry too much about grammar and spelling. Focus on content and the
amount of effort that goes into the writing. Spelling and grammar can always
be edited. Originality, creativity, and effort can’t.
If you suspect an entry has been plagiarized, talk about it with other judges
and the contest organizers. Plagiarized work should not be rewarded.

10. Judging Process

• Make photocopies of all the entries and sort them according to age group
and category.
• Identify your volunteer judges and pair them up in teams of two.

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• Assign a category to each team of judges. For example, one team will read
all children’s poetry categories. Another team will read all youth non-
fiction categories etc.
• Both judges read all the entries in their category and age groups and
decide on their top three - five choices.

Celebrating the Winners

11. Have a community event to celebrate the writers in your community. One
community holds a coffee house after each writing contest and winners read
their stories. You could give out certificates and prizes to the writers.
12. Ask the local paper to do a story about the community writing contest and
print the winning entries.
13. You could publish the winning entries in a little booklet, make copies, and
have it available in the community.
14. The NWT Literacy Council wants to know about your writing contests. Send
us an email to let us know how it went. We’d love to receive any publications
that you do.
15. You can send an electronic file with your winning entries to the NWT Literacy
Council and we will put them on our website at www.nwt.literacy.ca.
16. Thank your sponsors on the radio and by writing them a letter.

Make the event a yearly event.

Ask the local band office, Co-op, Northern Store, local

business, or the NWT Literacy Council for donations of
prizes.

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 Writing Ideas

Community Writing Contest Rules

(A sample of the rules from the NWT Writing Contest)

How To Enter
1. Fill out an official entry form with each entry you send in. Entries
without an entry form will not be considered.
2. Your entry must be mailed or dropped off by (date) _______________.

What You Can Enter

1. Your entry must be original. A person who submits an entry that is
plagiarized will be disqualified from the contest. Plagiarism is copying
someone elseʹs words and/or their ideas and saying they are your own.
2. Only unpublished material will be accepted. Copyright remains the
property of the author.
3. Your entry can be in any of the official languages of the NWT. They are
Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, English, French, Gwichʹin, Inuktitut,
Inuvialuktun, Inuinnaqtun, North Slavey, and South Slavey.
4. Your entry can be on any topic and in any form, such as a poem or short
story.
5. You can send in more than one entry: but you can receive only one prize.
6. Your entry must be typed or handwritten very clearly, double-spaced, on
8-1/2 x 11 inch paper.
7. Your entry can only be a maximum of 5 pages long. Entries longer than 5
pages will not be considered.

Who Can Enter

1. This contest is open to all residents of the community of
_________________, NWT.
2. Only the author has the right to submit an entry.

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How Entries are Judged

1. A panel of judges will judge the entries.
2. Each entry will be judged for content, originality, style, and effort.

Winners and Prizes

1. All authors of winning entries will be contacted.
2. All authors of winning entries will receive a prize.

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 Writing Ideas

Community Writing Contest

Entry Form
Author’s Name: ___________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Contact Info: Home: ___________________________________________

Work: ____________________________________________
Fax: ______________________________________________
Email: ____________________________________________
Age: __________
Is your entry: Fiction _______ Non-fiction: ________ Poetry ________

Signature of Author: __________________________________________________

Your signature shows you agree with and accept all the contest rules.

Mail entries to:

________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Contest Deadline is _________________________

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Writing Contest

Prizes!

Enter Today!
Deadline for entries: ________________
Drop off your entries at: _____________
Sponsored by:_______________________
For more information call: _____________

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 Writing Ideas

Writing Contest Writing Contest

Enter Today! Enter Today!

Prizes Prizes

Deadline for entries: ________________ Deadline for entries: ________________

Drop off your entries at: _____________ Drop off your entries at: _____________
Sponsored by:_______________________ Sponsored by:_______________________
For information call: _________________ For information call: _________________

Writing Contest Writing Contest

Enter Today! Enter Today!

Prizes Prizes

Deadline for entries: ________________ Deadline for entries: ________________

Drop off your entries at: _____________ Drop off your entries at: _____________
Sponsored by:_______________________ Sponsored by:_______________________
For information call: _________________ For information call: _________________

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2006 Community Writing Contest

presents

This certificate is presented to you in recognition of your entry in the

2006 Community Writing Contest.

Signature: ___________________________ Date: ______________

 Celebrate Literacy in the NWT

Publishing Your Winning Stories

Once you have chosen the selected winners for your writing contest you can
publish their stories in a booklet. You may have three top winners and some
finalists. You can publish just the winners or you can include all the finalists in
the booklet. You can create your own booklet by using WORD or some other
word processor or you can get it published professionally. One community
asked a local artist to make drawings for each story for the booklet. The pictures
really added to the stories and celebrated the artistic talent in the community.

This section has information on:

• Fort Resolution’s Writing Contest Winning Stories
• Tafford Publishing, an on-demand publishing company in BC.

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Fort Resolution Writing Contest Booklets

Fort Resolution has held several writing contests over the past several years.
They have held Elders, youth and adult writing contests. They gave out gift
certificates from their local co-op as prizes. They had a great response from the
community with many entries. The next several pages are excerpts from their
youth writing contest in 2002.

Winning Stories

Forward

The Fort Resolution Community Writing

Contest for 10 – 14 years olds was held in
November, 2002. Rowan Cardinal’s
“Christmas Eve” was the first prize story.
Charlene Giroux’s “My Camping Trip” won
second prize, and Jennifer Sanderson’s
“Drugs and Alcohol” earned third prize.

Contest entries were judged for grammar

and structure as well as content and
creativity. The purpose of the writing
contest was to inspire the development of
writing skills. The ability to express ideas
and convey information in writing is and
always has been crucial to academic and
professional success. Hopefully, other
young Northerners will follow the excellent
example set by the three authors of this
booklet and discover the power and the joy
of writing well.

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 Writing Ideas

Trafford Publishing www.trafford.com

Why consider a print-on-demand publisher?

Trafford Publishing provides a cost effective and time efficient option for
teachers or other people interested in publishing a book. Trafford Publishing
provides a multitude of services, which save time and money. They also provide
support and expertise to ensure that your book meets industry standards.

Make sure you carefully read all the details related to your publishing package
and Trafford’s services. Trafford provides detailed information about their Print-
On-Demand publishing services online @ www.trafford.com

What services does Trafford Publishing provide?

• It provides promotional material like bookmarks, postcards and posters
• It promotes the book through the company announcements to the book
industry and a webpage
• It provides royalties to your school or organization. The company issues
royalty cheques quarterly based on books sold at the retail price.
• You can buy additional books at the ‘print cost’ price for fundraising
purposes.

Other benefits:

• Authors control the book design, appearance and retail price.

• You keep your copyright, and all other marketing rights.
• Trafford handles publishingʹs administrative and legal requirements.
• Choose between six publishing packages.

Trafford’s support personnel

• Trafford assigns a support person to work with you throughout the project.
• A Toll Free number is available.

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Proofs and sign off

• You receive a ‘proof copy’ of the book for final approval. Review your book at
this time to ensure everything is exactly as you want it.
• When you are satisfied with the book complete a ‘sign off’ form and send it to
Trafford.
• They will print your complimentary books with any additional purchases you
might wish to make. In addition, Trafford will prepare your promotional
material and webpage.
• The books, postcards, posters and bookmarks arrive about three weeks after
the ‘sign off.’

Costs
• The publishing packages run between $799.00 for the most basic
service and $2549.00 for more advanced services. Depending on
the package, you will receive between 10 and 40 books. If you
need more copies, you can order any quantity at any time, and
pay 40% of the retail cost.

Additional costs for consideration

The Publishing Package cost covers all your publishing expenses. You may need
other funds for:
• Special paint, tools and/or paper for illustrations (not required)
• Purchase of additional books
• Purchase of additional promotional material
• Postage for your additional purchases
• Purchase of additional advertising packages
• Promotional items and expenses for your book launch activities

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