National Writing Project | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘National Writing Project’

Slice of Life: National Day on Writing #WhyIWrite

Posted in nature, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #WhyIWrite, #writeout, National Day on Writing, National Writing Project, NCTE on October 20, 2026| 4 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

Today is the National Day on Writing sponsored by NCTE and the National Writing Project as part of Write Out. I wrote a quick tricube-image poem. Why do you write?

Photo is Devil’s Pond sunrise in City Park, New Iberia, LA.

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Poetry Friday: Write Out

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #naturepoems, #poemsofpresence, #writeout, kilo, Kim Douillard, National Parks, National Writing Project, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer on October 16, 2026| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities.

When I was teaching, my students and I looked forward to the National Writing Project’s Write Out. It’s a yearly event in cooperation with the National Parks. We would make special “Write Out” journals and spend more time writing outside. I miss those days, but I enjoy the luxury of a long walk through the park each morning. I enjoy having time with a cup of coffee and my notebook. I enjoy sharing coffee with a friend. Retirement is wonderful, but I miss writing in community.

Write Out leader Christina Cantrell has created a community online for us to share our writing in the NWP teacher studio. Every other day there is a prompt/ writing challenge. Kim Douillard of the San Diego Writing Project’s is posting on her blog. So I am finding a virtual community to write alongside.

Tuesday’s challenge was to write from kilo, a Hawaiian traditional practice of observation. You can see a short video here.

Kim suggested we share a Google doc of prompts. I have been reading Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s book The Wonderment. I added a prompt using her poem “For This I Walk Outside.” I love the conversational tone and accessible language of Rosemerry’s poetry. I borrowed a line from her poem as the title for mine.

Outside Everything is Teacher*

Setting into soil
a golden marigold,

I noticed a white chrysalis hanging
on the edge of the pot.

I spoke to it in a whisper,
“Sorry to disturb your rest.”

As I gently placed the pot
near a metal pumpkin,

the chrysalis moved,
bent toward the edge

as if hiding,
curling into protection.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chrysalis move,
shape-shift, be alive.

Tomorrow I hope to witness
an emerging butterfly.

Proof that magic
still lives.

Margaret Simon, draft
*line from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Gulf fritillary chrysalis on a pot of marigolds

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Counting Turtles

Posted in nature, Photography, Poetry, Writing, tagged #smallpoems, #writeout, Bayou Teche, National Writing Project on October 15, 2025| 4 Comments »

On Monday and Tuesday, my grandchildren had Fall Break. They spent it with me. The fall mornings have been cooler, so we spent the good part of Tuesday morning outside. This photo was taken at Devil’s Pond in City Park. Stella has downy white goose feathers in her hands, and she’s pointing to turtles out in the pond. Together she and Leo are counting the turtles.

One
Two
Three
Four
Turtles in the pond.
Come walk with me.
Let’s feel carefree
like turtles in a pond.

Margaret Simon, draft

This month is the National Writing Project’s Write Out, which encourages all of us to go outside to write. Prompts can be found on the Write Out website.

Consider writing a small poem and sharing it in the comments. Support other writers with your responses.

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Slice of Life: Write Out Field Trip

Posted in Gifted Education, Photography, Slice of Life, tagged #writeout, Andy Goldsworthy, art in nature, National Writing Project, NCTE 2023 on November 14, 2023| 8 Comments »

Write Out is a National Writing Project event that takes place for 2 weeks in October. Using the concept of getting kids out in nature and writing, I planned a field trip for our district’s gifted students to Palmetto Island State Park in Vermillion Parish. We arranged for a park ranger to lead the kids on a hike, but we wanted to do something creative.

Prior to the field trip my colleague and friend Beth called with an idea–Andy Goldsworthy art. Andy Goldsworthy creates designs with things he finds in nature. His idea is don’t take anything in and don’t take anything out. Whatever he creates, he photographs and leaves it to melt, decay, fly away, whatever may be. A wonderful teaching video can be found here.

The park worked out perfectly for this project. Our students, as well as the parent chaperones, spent time looking at fallen leaves, seed pods, acorns, etc. through a creative lens. Every child that I talked to was proud of the artwork they created.

Back at school on Monday, my students turned to poetry to express their thoughts about their creations.

Green and brown leaves

With a yellow leaf on top

And little red leaves and a very tiny fern

Shaped so perfect

To make the right art

Everything in nature is beautiful
Marifaye, 4th grade

Creating something, looks like a portal,

Even if destroyed, it remains immortal,

Standing strong through the test of time,

Eventually destroyed, fell out of its prime.
Max, 5th grade

Working with Georgia Heard’s idea of messages to the earth, each student wrote a 6 word message on seed paper. They took these hearts home to plant.

In my humble opinion, I think these kids will look at nature as art, a palette for creativity. They will see with artists’ eyes, finding an arm in a seed pod, a mirror in a leaf, and a kingdom in a circle of sand.

This week I am heading to Columbus, Ohio for NCTE. I hope I see you there!

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Poetry Friday: Why I Write

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #WhyIWrite, #writeout, Ethical ELA, National Writing Project on October 22, 2022| 8 Comments »

Poetry Friday gathering is with Bridget at wee words for wee ones.

Every year around the date of October 20th, the National Writing Project announces the Day on Writing along with the prompt, “Why I Write.” I avoid this question, mostly because it intimidates me. Who am I to say I am a writer? If I make that claim, will I be magically transported to the land of authors? Do I belong? Will I meet the standard? I’d rather stay in the closet. It’s easier to claim to be a teacher, a profession that has degrees behind it, credibility, and many years of service.

The problem is I want to write. I want to share my words with you. I want to connect with you through writing. The value in that connection is gold.

In my email inbox, I receive endless blogs and poems to read. I hesitate to delete them, so they build up, and the whole thing becomes unmanageable. However, I never know what may inspire me to write. One reliable set of prompts for me are Ethical ELA’s monthly Open Write. Each month we write together for 5 days. The prompts are written by people like me who juggle teaching and writing every day.

This last week Carolina Lopez drew inspiration from Richard Blanco’s poem “Since Unfinished,” asking us to steal his first line and write. “I’ve been writing this since…”

When we get right down to it, writing makes us ultimately vulnerable. If we are true to ourselves, we put our feelings all out there. This poem structure led me to more memories of my father.

Since You’ve Been Gone

I’ve been writing this since
I learned to walk
holding onto your pointer finger
since driving the circular block
hearing you warn “turn signal”
“stop sign”
“slow down.”

I’ve been writing this since “slow down”
meant thinking, means remembering,
meant crying when I reach for the phone
to call you with the news.

I’ve been writing this since
you pointed to the clock
(after your stroke) to remind us
to get Mom back for lunch.

I’ve been writing this since
I held your dying hand
your pointer finger blue and bruised
no longer pointing me
in the right direction.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: #WriteOut

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #writeout, National Parks, National Writing Project, Rita Dove, student poems on October 14, 2022| 15 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme

My students and I have been participating in the annual Write Out sponsored by the National Writing Project and the National Parks Service. Each day this week we’ve watched a video from a park ranger and followed a writing prompt. We made special #WriteOut notebooks following Sheri Edwards’ model found here.

We’ve gone outside to observe the trees and written a script of two trees talking to each other.

We’ve drawn from observing architecture and written about the significance of the building.

We’ve imagined the day in the life of a bird as it interacts with human environments.

Each day there is a new surprise. I hope I can find a way to continue this enthusiasm for writing after the two weeks of Write Out are over.

The Write Out prompt I chose on Thursday included a Rita Dove poem. We discussed the poem and collected words to use later in a poem of our own. Today I am sharing two student poems written after Rita Dove.

A stranger in a cool breeze,

the moonlight,

animals with odd habits

this is what nature is.

A singing wren

while almost sun-rise,

become a statuary figure roaming

in the night.

Relax

and you’ll see

how happy you can be.

by Avalyn, 3rd grade

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Slice of Life: #WriteOut Portals

Posted in Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged #writeout, Golden Gate Recreational Park, National Parks, National Writing Project, story writing on October 12, 2021| 7 Comments »

#WriteOut sponsored by the National Writing Project in partnership with the National Parks began yesterday with a wonderful video and prompt from Golden Gate National Recreation Area. My students and I had a productive day of writing in response.

As a teacher of writing, I am interested in prompts that lead to creative and imaginative writing. This first prompt did the job. Because there was a way into the story (a character enters a portal), students created a variety of different responses. Each one carried their character through the portal in interesting ways. Avalyn, second grade, chose herself as the character who finds the portal on the monkey bars and travels to the desert, then the rainforest, and back home where she lives happily ever after. Her story is here.

Katie and Jaden, 6th graders, chose to be animals in their stories. I think their chosen animals say a little about who they are. You can read their stories on Fanschool here and here.

Chloe’s story reminds me of a book I read this summer on Netgalley, Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt. It’s a book to grab up if you teach middle grades. It’s a lovely story of a camel who saves tiny twin kestrels from a dust storm. I loved all the characters in this book and love that it weaves in a history of camels in Texas. Chloe hasn’t read this book yet, but the creative magic wand waved over her with these words:

Once in a desert, a camel walked into a purple glowing light. He knew it was a portal. He shifted and swayed until he stopped, opened his eyes and saw a horse running around a castle that had the words “Mississippi Land” on it.
Read the whole story here

I wrote alongside my students and may work on my story for a regional Louisiana picture book idea. There, I put it in writing. I know it needs a lot of work, but what do you think about a mosquito and banana spider that take a ride through the swamp on a brown pelican?

The Write Out prompts and resources will be remain available on NWP’s website, so even if you don’t have time to work them into your lessons now, tuck them into a back pocket. They are gems!

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Poetry Friday: Muses

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #WriteAcrossAmerica, National Writing Project, writing marathon on August 14, 2020| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone.

On Tuesday I treated myself to a virtual writing marathon sponsored by the National Writing Project. #WriteAcrossAmerica. I showed up for the last stop on a journey across the country. I’m sorry I missed out on all the other stops. This last one was in New Orleans where the writing marathon originated.

Years ago I would spend some time each summer at the New Orleans Writing Marathon organized by the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project. Three to four days of walking the French Quarter and writing led to lifelong friendships and a few memorable writing pieces.

Unfortunately, the virtual marathon happened in my own house through a screen, but because of the miracle of technology, I was able to connect with new friends and see some old ones. We had three writing sessions and shared in small break out rooms.

The third writing session led me to this poem, still quite drafty. I was just getting my writing muscle to work and the whole thing was over, not a marathon at all, but a quick 75 minute sprint.

Muses
Muses have a lost sense of time.
They live in the back of Napoleon’s Bar
drinking Pim’s Cups.
I’ve asked them to visit me
here on the bayou steeped
in cafe au lait brown
buzzing with cicada song.
They come in the long shadows
of a summer afternoon.
or in the fractal face
of a sunflower in bloom.
Muses mock me
with their silver linings,
here then there,
then nowhere,
hiding in plain sight.
Sometimes, I step on them
by mistake.
Give me that mess
again. My pen is waiting.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Slice of Kid Voices

Posted in Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged digital writing, kidvoices.live, National Writing Project on October 31, 2017| 9 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

In September I received an invitation from Paul Allison of the New York Writing Project to participate in a discussion about a new website for publishing student work. In 2010, we worked together to create a platform around the Gulf oil spill called “Voices on the Gulf.” From this experience, Paul created Youth Voices. My students participated for a little while, but eventually the content became inappropriate for my young students. I moved away from using this site because it did not meet the needs of my students as younger voices.

When Paul contacted me that he was ready to open a new site for elementary students, I was thrilled. An authentic audience is extremely valuable in teaching writing. Many of my students are isolated as one of few gifted students in their class. When they write, they want people to read it. They crave a wider audience.

Kidvoices.live is now live! Some of my students have begun posting their creative poetry there. The platform is similar to blogging at Kidblogs, but different enough to serve a slightly more sophisticated purpose.

Kidvoices.live is open to other elementary classrooms as well. If you want to join and get your students involved, you can. You have to provide a unique email for each student. You can use a gmail + account or a parent’s email address. Once they sign up, each student will have a user name and password for future log-ins. I recommend sending home a parent permission letter. Paul plans to post it on the site, but you can also contact me for a copy.

Last week we read a story from Scholastic’s Scope magazine that was very close to us. The Great Flood of 2016 occurred in our area as well as in the setting of the article, Baton Rouge. We then read from Here We Go about helpers and volunteering. (PowerPack #8 on page 65) My students wrote response poems about the flood, and the larger topics of fear and hope.

When students have the opportunity to share writing online, they grow as writers, as digital citizens, and as people navigating this world.

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DigiLit Sunday: Reflections on CLmooc

Posted in clmooc, Digital Learning, Writing, tagged #clmooc, Kim Douillard, National Writing Project, Sheri Edwards, six words on June 28, 2015| 1 Comment »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

The National Writing Projects’ summer collaborative learning began this week. So much is going on, it’s hard to believe we are just one week into the CLMOOC. Read the reflections here.

If you are here for the first time, I want to invite you to join the DigiLit Sunday community. Each week we post about digital literacy. The link up will be at the end of this post. Leave your link so we can learn together and support each other in this wild digital world.

Clmooc has taught me that there is too much out there. I get stimulation overload. I don’t know how the camp counselors can keep up. They seem to be incredible multi-taskers.

To manage my own participation, I’ve selected only a few games to play. The theme this week was introducing yourself by not introducing yourself. Not exactly. It was more a call to remix the typical introduction. We also explored what un-introduction really means and says about a person.

Above I’ve posted a slide I created in a Google slide share by Sheri Edwards.

What six concepts shape you as you shape them? Challenge: Consider your beliefs. Using six words, arrange them as phrases read horizontally and vertically to express an essence of your identity.

This week I’ve been attracted to activities that revolved around words. I posted an unintro poem for Poetry Friday.

I played with images, too. Here’s a remix of a free graphic of Saturn.

Image made on LunaPic with free graphic of Saturn.

Kim Douillard offers a photo challenge each week. This week the challenge was #sky. Where I live the sky is often covered by the magnificent spread of live oaks. The oaks guard the sky and protect us. The hot sun is shaded and tamed. My image is not altered because this is what it is. Mother oak.

There have been questions about invitations and how we welcome others into the community. I have not struggled with feeling welcome. This is a large group. We are all individuals playing around with technology and creativity. We express ourselves in unique and fun ways. I am looking forward to the weeks to come. I’ll play and stretch and find new friends, but I’ll also tuck away new ideas for my teaching.

How can unintroductions work with my students? If anything they will add an element of fun and creativity. But at best, my students, like me, will discover a little more about who they are and how they best interact in this cyber-world.