Writing Marathon Resources
Do you want to host a Writing Marathon of your own at school? Last week I posted about some information about the Writing Marathon I did in February. I’ve also posted about how the Writing Marathon helped me as a writer. This week, I’m focusing on the technical aspects and resources that I used. I’ve even included sample printables you could use.
Technical Aspects
We used Google Docs for students to write. More and more students are expected to compose on the computer, so this provided an opportunity for them to become more fluent with it. They shared their folders with me.
We used laptops, but if you have access to Chrome books, that would be even better.
I had a few students who didn’t have access to computers at home, and they chose to work at home. I gave them a folders with paper in it. They had to work the “old-fashioned” way—by hand. Writing is still writing.
Tracking Sheet
At the beginning, I had students set word count goals. They had to write for 26 out of 28 days. They kept track of this on their tracking sheet. I used the tracking sheet also and found it very helpful. Next year, I might consider developing this on Google Sheets so that it would calculate totals for them, but for the first time, I thought paper/pencil worked pretty well.
Download the Tracking Sheet Here
Writing Prompts
Everyday I posted Writing Prompts. Not every kid needed them, but I did post one everyday.
I also posted them on a Writing Marathon blog so students could access them from home each day. On the weekends, I had special links where they could go to find interesting story prompts.
Student Folders
We gave each student a folder. I made stickers for the front. On the inside front cover, there was a sticker with the Writing Marathon web address. In the prongs of the folder, I included the tracking sheet, hard copies of a few prompts, and looseleaf paper. I also printed Kim Norman’s story cards for everyone and put them in the pocket.
Links for the folders
Prizes
I provided journals and nice pens for the finishers. I bought the pens at Target. I bought journals at Staples, Target, and Michael’s. Michael’s had pretty journals for a dollar, but I had to go elsewhere for more boyish looking journals.
We bought books about writing for the finishers.
Certificates
I created certificates for finishers and winners. I used Publisher templates and changed the information for my school and students.
