WriteOut

Sometimes, we plant seeds and wait for flowers to bloom. Write Out is a bit like that. Two weeks of activities and events, with the National Day on Writing right at the center of it all, can arrive like a stiff prairie wind, and then, before you know it, it’s over. 

However, like those seeds, Write Out is not over. We’re merely in a moment of pause.

What we hope is that Write Out activities and collaborations have sparked something for you and for your students and for your park, and that even if you were unable to participate over the last two weeks, there are seeds you can gather to plant at some later date.

This was the second year of Write Out, and we saw flowers blooming all over the place — from a multitude of live events, to single tweets using the #writeout hashtag, to sharing in video chats and Twitter chats, to photographs on Instagram and more. We collaborated in annotated documents, in poetry, in exploring our creativity, and beyond. This is what Write Out is all about, and we are grateful and thankful that you were along for the journey.

And while our official ‘end date’ for Write Out 2019 is today, Write Out continues into the future. We invite you to continue to be inspired by stories created and shared, use the resources curated on the Write Out website, build upon the connections made during the past two weeks, and stay involved with the Write Out community through work with the National Writing Project and National Park Service.

Keep Planting Those Seeds!

Here are some of the youth creations/creating from this past week:

More to inspire us all to #WriteOut:

Explore stories and stay connected via social media at Write Out Tumblr, Write Out Flipgrid, Write Out Padlet, Write Out Facebook Group, and #writeout

Find your nearest National Park or Writing Project site and get involved!

Help build a shared collaborative database of primary source sites for exploring stories and place and history for #writeout.

View a curation of the second week’s Twitter Chat and respond to any of the threads and questions

Participate in comment discussions related to the video chat about Global and Local places with author Amy Price Azano using Vialogues

Add a poem to the collaborative Write Out Small Poems/ Haiku Book

If you are attending NCTE, be sure to participate in the Writing Marathon at Fort McHenry National Monument on Saturday, November 23 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Register here!

Listen to a bit of the Collaborative Where We’re From (audio version) … Teachers and students from across the country contributed their words and/or their voices to this mix; check it out.

And finally, plan now for a National Day on Writing activity for next year, using Write Out 2019 resources as inspiration. 

Good luck with your journeys and discoveries! We look forward to reconnecting with you via #writeout next October.

— The Write Out Team

This curated archive is from the second Twitter Chat for Write Out 2019. Here is a direct link.

Tonight we were joined by Dr. Amy Price Azano, the author of an English Journal article titled A Place for Local in Critical Global Literacies published in 2019. This article has been shared as part of a #marginalsyllabus collaboration and is annotatable via the online tool Hypothes.is.

October 20–27, 2019

Happy National Day on Writing

Happy National Day on Writing everyone! We hope you have enjoyed participating in #writeout activities so far, including our first video hangout and our first Twitter chat. We have been inspired and energized by the many shared stories and live events that have emerged from Week One of Write Out.

Here are just a few highlights of the #WriteOut explorations so far:

We also notice a range of live events in New Jersey at Pine Barrens Forest Education Resource Center; in Connecticut at Weir Farm National Historic Site; and in Kentucky at Daniel Boone National Forest. These were among the places that provided opportunities for teachers and others to gather to explore and write together, as the first days of Write Out unfolded. More live events are planned for this weekend, as part of the National Day on Writing.

And nearly 100 people have contributed to the crowd-sourced Write Out/Where We’re From poetry project—check it out!

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Week 2: Sharing Stories

As we launch our second week on this National Day on Writing, we invite you to delve into our theme: Sharing Stories. This means continuing to get out and about, while beginning to explore connections to the work of your fellow Write Out adventurers. We also hope this second week will provide  an opportunity for you to reflect, through your writing, on the stories places tell.

Scheduled Events

While there are many self-directed activities suggested below, there are also a few activities scheduled during the week that provide an opportunity to connect live and “in person. Tuesday, October 22 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm ET—Video Hangout
This week, we will focus on sharing stories of place and take a look at some of the exciting work that emerged in Week One. We will be joined by guest-writer Amy Price Azano (a Connecticut Writing Project educator), and Rich Novack for an insider perspective on the group annotation of Amy’s English Journal article, “A Place for Local in Critical Global Literacies.” On October 22, use this link to join the hangout (and email writeout@nwp.org if you run into issues).

Thursday, October 24 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm ET—Twitter Chat
Join the conversation by simply going to Twitter and using the hashtag #WriteOut. Questions will guide us to dig deeper into place-based learning and its role in education, as well as explore the successes and challenges of sharing this type of work.

Attend a Write Out Meet-Up, or consider hosting your own!
Join the National Park Service and the National Writing Project in person for Write Out events in your area. Check this list to see what’s happening across the country from October 13–27.

Suggested Self-Guided Activities

Whether you have a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days to participate in Write Out, we hope you are inspired to create, have fun, and connect with new colleagues through a variety of experiences. Here are some suggested possibilities for participating this week, grouped around the ideas of Explore, Create, and Connect. Choose your own adventure and have fun!

Explore

• Write Out with your colleagues and students on National Day on Writing utilizing your inspiration from Week One. Use the #whyiwrite and #writeout hashtags together.
• More than 100 people have contributed to the crowd-sourced Write Out/Where We’re From poetry project; in what ways does this inspire you?
• Explore curriculum about Japanese Internment in World War II created at the Tule Lake National Monument with educators at the Bay Area Writing Project.
• Check out National Park Service Trading Cards: From Civil War to Civil Rights and maybe start collecting a few.
• Sign up for a #HarrietHike in early November in honor of the film premier of Harriet. Explore the resources of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland and the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in New York.
• Native Knowledge 360° (NK360°) provides educators and students with new perspectives on Native American history and cultures.
• Christie Wyman, an early childhood educator in Massachusetts, used the Slice of Life writing prompt to take a walk. Take her lead and follow outside.

Create

• Join us in creating a Collaborative Haiku Book of Place—add an image and some short poetry by choosing a slide in this presentation and become a published poet with us!
• Get inspired by the writing of others—remix work so that it connects multiple viewpoints. See an example of a nature poem being remixed in a new direction.
• Choose a piece of your own writing that inspires you and share it using the common hashtags. Consider adding a reflection about your writing process.
• Make a Social Badge with NCTE for #whyiwrite (how can you work #writeout into it too?).
• Add a video to the Write Out Flipgrid and share a story you’ve learned or thought differently about during Write Out.
• Third grade teacher Kim Douillard of San Diego used mentor poetry to first write her own poem, and then had her class write poems and make art. You might riff off her work. Read what she wrote here, here, and here.
• The teacher team of @MyNDStory has been posting a prompt a day! Respond to these whether you are in North Dakota or not.
• National Park Service Folks: Create and share a social media post of what your site offers for educators and use #writeout. Consider sharing your educators’ page, primary source documents, place-based lesson plans, or what your site has planned for National Day on Writing or Write Out!
• Send your students outside, in their own neighborhoods, with cameras to capture their communities, uncovering spaces and overlooked places, and compose the collective experience in some form of media.
• Create an acrostic poem about a place that inspires you.
• Reflect on the diversity of perspectives within our country and beyond. Dive into the diverse stories of America’s National Parks and find ways to incorporate these themes into your programs or lesson plans:
  • Telling All Americans’ Stories
  • Publications on Diverse and Inclusive Histories
  • Social Injustice in the Landscape
  • Cultural Landscapes

Connect

• Check out the Write Out Tumblr and add your own.
• Use the Write Out Flipgrid to leave a video reflection.
• Post some media and/or writing to the Write Out Padlet digital wall.
• Join the Write Out Facebook Group.
• Connect your writing out to National Day on Writing and #whyiwrite.
• Check out this spectrum of sharing.

Good luck with your journeys and discoveries, and enjoy celebrating the National Day on Writing! 

— The Write Out Team

This curated archive is from the first Twitter Chat for Write Out 2019. Here is a direct link.

Tonight we were joined by guest writer Catherine Stier, author of If I Were a Park Ranger, as we discover stories of place.

Welcome to Write Out 2019

Discovering Stories is a guiding theme for this first week’s cycle of place-based activities. Look up, look out, look around. What do you notice that you haven’t seen before, or in a while? Where might you look? Online, in books and magazines, or in your local (or national) park, what might you see? Hidden stories, stories lost in time, stories in your own imagination. 

Get up, go out, and write about it—#WriteOut!

Scheduled Events

While there are many self-directed activities suggested below there are also a few online activities scheduled during each week that provide an opportunity to virtually connect, live and “in person.” Additionally, some parks or Writing Project sites are hosting in-person events. 

Tuesday October 15 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm ET—Video Hangout
We will be joined by guest writer Catherine Stier, author of If I Were a Park Ranger, as we discover stories of place.

Thursday October 17 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm ET —Twitter Chat
Join the conversation by simply going to Twitter and using the hashtag #WriteOut. Guided questions will focus on surfacing untold stories.

Attend a Write Out Meet-Up, or consider hosting your own!
Join the National Park Service and the National Writing Project in person for Write Out events in your area. Check this list to see what’s happening across the country from October 13–27.

Suggested Self-Guided Activities

Whether you have a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days to participate in Write Out, we hope you are inspired to create, have fun, and connect with new colleagues through a variety of experiences. Here are some suggested possibilities for participating this week grouped around the ideas of Explore, Create, and Connect. Choose your own adventure, and have fun with these!

Explore

• Sneak a peek at the National Park Service site webcams.
• Investigate Google Art and Culture: The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks virtual exploration sites. Watch the promotional video and find out about Google cardboard (you can make your own).
• Find a National Park (#findapark) and explore the park’s online resources, or go visit in person.
• Dive into the diverse stories of America’s National Parks and envision ways to incorporate these themes into your programs or lesson plans:
  • Telling All Americans’ Stories
  • Publications on Diverse and Inclusive Histories
• Conduct Field Journaling with students, as Connecticut Writing Project teacher-leader Rich Novak demonstrates.
• Join Rich and others in annotating online a related article: “A Place for Local in Critical Global Literacies” by Amy Price Azano, from English Journal.

Create

• Use Write Out as an opportunity to cajole your writing self into new terrain. Perhaps that manifests itself as a song, a piece of flash fiction, something untraditional, or just a genre you always thought you’d get to but never did. Now’s your chance. Explore yourself as a writer.
• Plan a writing-outside activity for your students or your park. Add your event to the master list of Write Out live gatherings.
• Choose an Activity Quest for discovering and exploring public spaces.
• Think like a Scientist: Discover Your Park with our colleagues from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Pocono Writing Project.
• Invite youth (13+) to create a Places We Love: Photo and Places We Love: Poem via LRNG and Youth Voices. New York City Writing Project teacher-leader Paul Allison shares more here.
• Research Historical Markers in your community—add to the database if the markers are not already there.
• Join in the Write Out Collaborative Where We’re From Poem. Add your line or lines to the crowd-sourced poetry project!
• Create a Stone Alphabet with this field guide to reading the stones of a city, shared by Sarah Mulhorn Gross.
• Share Your Park’s Stories and Images (National Park Foundation).

Connect

• Check out the Write Out Tumblr and add your own.
• Use the Write Out Flipgrid to leave a video reflection.
• Post some media and/or writing to the Write Out Padlet digital wall.
• Join the Write Out Facebook Group.
• Connect your writing out to National Day on Writing and #whyiwrite.
• Check out this spectrum of sharing:

Good luck with your journeys and discoveries, and enjoy celebrating the National Day on Writing! 

— The Write Out Team

Write Out will return for a second year in October 2019, kicking off on the 20th for National Day of Writing. Come join us as we step outside our classrooms and connect with our local parks and other public spaces to write, create, and share.

Sign up for updates later this summer; follow #writeout for more.

Write Out was a two-week professional development adventure, sponsored by the National Writing Project through a partnership with the National Park Service, that connected educators and rangers across the country in place-based learning and making in July 2018.

Write Out, as an event, was created as an online opportunity with two activity cycles and collaborative spaces for teachers, park rangers, and writers to write, learn, and connect together. Although the cycles are over, you can still participate in two ways:

• Complete the We Make The Road By Walking Playlist and earn a badge that links back to your portfolio of work.
• Share ways you “write out” in your classroom and learning space via Flipgrid.

Write Out, as an idea, doesn’t formally come to an end and we encourage you to explore the resources we gathered and to stay connected. Here’s some cool stuff that might be useful:

• Place-based learning and writing
• National Park Service links for Write Out
• Map-inspiration!
• Write Out: Mapping Possibilities (Week 1, 2018)
• Reflections and Connections, Week 1
• Write Out: Mapping Connections (Week 2, 2018)
• Reflections and Connections, Week 2
• We Make The Road By Walking Playlist and Write Out Badge

And some spaces where we invite you to continue to connect and share:

• Write Out Google+ Community
• Write Out Geolocation Map
• #WriteOut on Twitter
• Write Out on Flipgrid

In connected solidarity!

The Write Out Team