writing camp · writing workshop

Writing Camp

Betsy Hubbard

FullSizeRender.jpg

This summer I hosted a small writing camp for some former students. It was great fun and I hope to grow the program a bit before next summer. I supplied a notebook, colored pencils and a flair pen for my little group of a dozen writers and we talked writing for two days.

My favorite place to get inspiration is outdoors. I shared this with the class and we talked about how to begin using our notebooks in different ways to generate ideas. Our favorite was to make lists of observations while on the trails behind our school. Many of us observed a lot of mosquitoes! Aside from that, it was a great little hike. We parked ourselves on a bench or picnic table and got busy sketching and listing what we saw in preparation for some writing.

writing camp_outside

I shared methods like webs and circle plans for drawing out the best descriptive words from students and many began writing a poem or short story.

We talked a lot about partner work and how talking with peers can help us make our point more clear or help us clarify our own thinking when sharing our work.

How can you start your own writing camp?

  • Begin with some kids you know.
  • Find an approved space. I used my half-prepared classroom and of course the outdoor areas.
  • Start small. A few days will help you achieve good attendance.
  • Keep the materials basic, simple and inexpensive. Students could even just bring a notebook and pen they have from home.
  • Use this as a way to brush up on your chart making skills! I created some new charts that I wanted to try out on kids before school begins.
  • Plan a fun activity to wrap up your event. I had students create watercolor painting of their final drafts.
  • Include a celebration or display for parents to see what their child has been up to. (I hope to do a better job of this next year).
  • Most importantly, keep it light and fun. Re-charge your little writers to encourage them to keep going the rest of the summer.

I hope you will think about trying out a little writing camp for your students!

Discover more from TWO WRITING TEACHERS

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Betsy Hubbard

Daughter, sister, mother, teacher, and writer.

6 thoughts on “Writing Camp”

  1. We have a weeklong Summer Institute of Writing for students completing grades K-6 who love to write. (Not a remedial writing camp). The camp runs from 9 – 2. Kids are grouped into three color “bands” that correspond to their grades. Within each band, students choose mini-workshops to attend in the morning. Each is about 45 minutes and they usually get to go to three different ones each day. These “minis” are always fun things we don’t get to in the school year – like party planning, fractured fairy tales, sports writing, design your own “opolis” book, etc. The afternoons are spent in writing workshop where they are in small groups with a teacher who can confer with them. Our numbers in this camp keep growing…we had over 100 students this year – so we keep adding teachers as well. This is surely a great way to keep writing skills sharp over the summer.

    Like

  3. This is awesome Betsy! Was it through your school district? I would love to talk with you more about how you did this.

    Like

  4. This is such a wonderful idea! All of your suggestions make it easy to implement. I love the fact that the weather cooperated for you. Your pictures shows how engaging it was for your writers. I will speak to my team, and I know they will say “YES,” so we can speak to our IC about the possibility of a Summer Writing Camp.

    Thank you for such a great suggestion in ensuring our writers keep writing!

    Like

  5. I use to take my class out all the time we would just leave with our writing notebooks. Often we would end up in City Island just writing.

    Like

Comments are closed.