Week 18 writing prompt
Showcase Numbers for Week 17
Asha Y4 Brunswick House School
Jacob Year 5 Brunswick House Primary School
Adrienne Gr5 St Mary Lethbridge AB Canada
Kyle and Brandon 5W Byker Primary
Rebecca 4C high Lawn Primary School
The 100 Word Challenge sets out to help this problem and provide a purpose for writing. It is a weekly challenge for children under 16 where they are given a prompt of either a few words or a picture. They then have 100 words to produce a creative piece of writing which is posted on the class blog. (*see below) This is then linked to 100wc.net where it is available to the world for commenting.
It is the comments that have proved to be the motivation to the children. Last year there were 8.000 entries from 50 countries producing 68,000 views to class blogs! One of the philosophies of 100WC is that if you post you visit. Children commenting on peers work has a really powerful impact on the standard of writing and confidence of the youngsters taking part.
Team100WC is a group of adult volunteers who follow a set of guidelines and comment on every post. This has really given a purpose to the writing that goes way beyond keeping the teacher happy. Being only 100 words it is great for reluctant writers who can be persuaded that it is not even a page full. For those high flyers who normally write pages and pages, they have to be selective when it is ‘Only 100 words’!
Teachers have used it for homework, editing practice, uplevelling work and to get class blogs off the ground. It drives traffic very quickly so blogs are soon up and running.
Do visit 100wc.net and have a look at the entries. There is lots of information on the tabs and you can always contact me, Julia Skinner, via the form or twitter @theheadsoffice.
Julia Skinner
*If you would like to take part in 100WC but do not have a class blog yet, there is a blog set up for the purpose. Just get in touch!
As a member of Julia’s Team 100WC from its beginning, my comments are always positive. Even lower skilled writers have a story to tell. I sometimes provide suggestions for possible improvements in writing or provide tips for future entries. The feedback I receive from teachers only reinforces the value of the team’s input.
Younger writers also have a platform. 100wc.net also provides a 5 sentence challenge for children too young for the 100 Word Challenge. A new team is being formed to comment on these entries.
Twitter hash tags #100WC and #5SC are used for challenge tweets and @TheHeadsOffice for Julia.
Why not join the growing number of schools entering?
@RossMannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia