English-language Arts Project Ideas.docx

Write Write a short story - Read or re-read a couple of your favorite short stories. Look for tips on how to write a short story--for example Kurt Vonnegut's 8 tips: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/04/03/kurt-vonnegut-on-writing-stories/ Write a movie script - Read a script or two of movies you really like to see how they are written. Try out free screen writing software at http://celtx.com Write a play - Read a play or two, then try writing one of your own. You could even get your friends or family to perform a scene and record it on video. Write a novel - Sound impossible? It's not! You can join thousands of people who write a novel during the month of November each year at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ Write a blog - If you're passionate about a topic, writing a blog can be a fun way to share your passion. Check out www.blogger.com Write a book of poems - Learn about some forms of poetry--haiku, sonnets, free verse, found poetry-then challenge yourself to write 20 poems in the form you like best. Then put them in a book. Write fan fiction - Do you have a favorite characters from books, TV shows, manga, video games? Why not make up a new story for those characters? Create a photo story or photo essay - Enjoy photography? Take a set of photographs that tell a story. Then write the story that goes with them Write a series of letters - Who writes letters anymore? You could! It's a time honored form of communication. You could write a series of letters to a loved one who is far away. You could write letters to an imaginary character or to yourself to be read 20 years from now. Writer's Workshop - Find a group of writers to join so you can share your work and get feedback on it while you practice giving feedback to others. This is a great way to become a better writer! Keep a journal - Write every day for yourself. Reflect on your own thoughts and feelings. Write what is important to you. You can decide to share it--or not. Write collaboratively - Get together with a friend or two and write collaborative stories or poems. You write one paragraph then send it to your friend who writes the next paragraph then sends it back to you, etc. It is a fun way to write that can be full of surprises. Write interactive fiction - Do you like those choose your own ending stories? You could write your own interactive fiction--either the old fashioned way with paper (turn to page 64 if Albert picks up the knife; turn to page 121 if Albert walks away)--or by creating an interactive story online. Write a memoir - Write about your own life and experiences. If there is a particularly happy, or sad, or interesting, or difficult, or complicated, or funny, or trying, or intense time that happened to you, writing about it can be a productive way to understand it better.

Write a biography - Is there a friend or family member or someone in your community who might have had an interesting life? A grandparent, an aunt or uncle? Someone you know who has traveled the world, or just done interesting things in their own home town? If so, you could ask to interview them and write their story. Write a research paper - Sound boring? It's not if you are researching and writing about something you love! Like black holes, or how pizza was invented, or the fashion industry, or the history of martial arts, or how people worked together to entirely eradicate a disease(smallpox) from the face of the earth. Write a children's book - Do you have little sisters or brothers or nieces or nephews? Why not write a book just for them? You can research some pointers on what makes a good story for children and then give it a try. Write anything - There are endless reasons to write. If you have a purpose and an audience--go for it-even if you don't know what kind of writing to call it.

Read Explore a favorite author in depth - Do you like Edgar Allan Poe? Why not really get to know him? Read 10 of his short stories or poems. Do some research about his life and his writing. You could make a "Poester" to share what you learn. Compare two authors in the same genre - Do you really like books about dragons? (Or vampires, or elves, or angels, or ... ?) Why not read books by two different authors and compare them. What do the authors do in the same way. What do they do differently? Write a short paper to share what you find out. Read everything by a favorite author - Do you have an author you really like? Why not find every single book they have ever written and read them all. How is the author's first book different from the last book? Does the author's style change over time? Read a book from 100 years ago - Google Books has lots of free books that were written a long time ago. Find out what a young-adult novel was like in 1913 by reading one there. Compare the writing style, word choice, characters, plot, and underlying values to a more recent novel. Share what you find out in a Prezi, a blog post, or a book review on Goodeads.com. Read mythology - Every culture has its own mythology and a lot of it got written down. Find translations of ancient Greek myths, Norse myths, Native American myths, African myths, Asian myths. Pick one culture to go in depth, or read from many cultures to compare. You might even decide to write a myth of your own.

Read fairy tales - The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, George MacDonald—these are a few examples of collectors and writers of fairy tales. Do some research about the elements of a fairy tale. Find out where they came from. Read a bunch of fairy tales. Write your own fairy tale. Read about history - Is there a time or event in history that you love? World War II, the Renaissance, ancient Rome, the time of the Samurai, the Civil Rights Movement? You can probably find a good book about it--either non-fiction or historical fiction. You might show what you learned by making a time line. Start a book club - Reading is extra fun when you can share it with someone. Find a group of friends and agree to read the same book during the same time period. Then get together to talk about it, in person or online.

Speak Perform famous speeches from history - Memorize the Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, Chief Joseph's "I Will Fight No More Forever," Napoleon's farewell to his troops. Then video yourself giving the speeches. You can make them even better by doing them in costume. You could even put them up on YouTube and see how many hits you can get. Video a how-to talk - Give a demonstration talk on how to make a chair, beat a video game, bake a pie, fix a leaky sink, or anything else you can think of. Post it on YouTube and see what kind of feedback you get. Make a vlog - Record your thoughts and ideas in the form of a vlog--like a blog but with video. Share it with your friends and get feedback from them. Give a reading - Read some of your own writing out loud in public--maybe in a writer's group you found, or at open mic at a coffee shop. Read for the blind - Make an audio recording of a book for use by the blind and visually-impaired, or others who would just appreciate an audio version of a book. Check out Librivox.org to join an online community of people who do this.