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The
Writing Workshop
approach
This page explains
why we do what we do in The Writing
Workshop's writing workshops.
Write a new piece every week
Why? Regular writing exercises
the imagination, encourages creativity, and helps participants get
used to writing on demand. It also means that by the end of a program,
each young writer has a portfolio of work.
Weekly writing exercises, sometimes
funny, sometimes serious
Why? Often starting a piece is
the hardest part: the blank sheet of paper sitting there on the table.
Writing exercises help provide structure and impetus, introduce new
writing forms and are good fun.
Example: What is a couplet? Two
lines that rhyme. Here's the first line: "I sat on a pencil;
it really hurt." Complete the couplet.
Two 7 year-olds came up with:
(a) "So I had to go to hospiturt" and (b) "So I rubbed
it with yoghurt."
Read or perform our writing out
loud
Why?
To gain confidence in public speaking, to improve understanding and
feel for the tone of a piece, and for the "voice" of individual
characters, to enable feedback from the workshop leader and other
group members.
Finished work published in the
Cape Writing
section of this website
Why? A young writer has conceived
and written and revised and improved and polished a wonderful piece
of writing. Now what? Children frequently ask "How do I get this
published?" Cape Writing was devised to provide a site for finished
pieces, a place where friends, relatives and other children can read
the work.
Achievement certificate at the
end of each term, and awards for two or more programs
Why? Completing a creative writing
program, writing and revising a portfolio of works, helping other
group members with their pieces and gaining new enjoyment of and insights
into literature and writing: surely this deserves reward! Continuing
recognises that engagement with writing and reading is ongoing, and
increasingly rewarding.
Performance readings twice yearly
for family and friends
Why? To share the pride in work
around, and to provide a real entertainment.
Small, themed age groups from
Kindergarten to Year 9
Why? These are workshops (not
classes), and the workshop leader's role is to introduce exercises
and encourage good work by drawing on and extending what young writers
already know about writing forms. Writing exercises will be age-appropriate:
a Year 5 or 6 child might have a real crack at writing a sestina,
a Year 2 writer might find a whole lot of words in the dictionary
that are very similar to his or her name, and use those as the basis
for a character.
Small groups also mean more one-on-one
attention, real rapport and group spirit, and great writing.
The Writing
Workshop's programs
help young writers build confidence, take pride in work, develop creativity,
improve literacy, increase general braininess and have a lot of fun.
For more information, please contact
The Writing Workshop.
This page is under
construction.
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