Contest Extended to Thurs., Dec. 22nd!  Please enter!

The Prince William County Human Rights Commission will celebrate Universal Human Rights Day with a breakfast celebrating human rights in the county during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend on Saturday, January 14, 2012 in the McCoart Building Atrium, 1 County Complex Court, at 9:00 a.m.  Universal Human Rights Day was declared by the General Assembly of the United Nations sixty-four (64) years ago to recognize the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

The Commission wants to invite your students to compete in a writing contest on the topic “Speak Up Stop Discrimination” which is the theme of the program.  The students can submit their entries in any written form, no longer than 250 words by Thursday, December 15, 2011.  Their entries may be mailed, emailed or fax along with the attached entry form.  Saving bonds will be awarded to the first, second and third places winners of the contest and they will be asked to attend the breakfast on the 14^th of January to read their winning entry.

It is hoped that your students will participate in this program.  The email address for the commission is pwhrc@pwcgov.org.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 703-792-4680. 

 
See file at bottom of page for entry form!

The Bagel

David Ignatow

I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as if it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself.

After reading this poem, write a personal narrative or poem about a moment when you retreated to a joy of early childhood.

Featherstone Elementary School started a Creative Writing Club and Literary Magazine yesterday.  They would like Woodbridge CW students to attend and help out with future meetings.  I will let you know the next meeting date as soon as I hear.  Meanwhile, print out these directions for future use:

Directions from WSHS to Featherstone Elementary School:

Right out of the parking lot onto Old Bridge RD. 

Drive down Old Bridge passed Tackette's Mill Shopping Center

Right onto Minneville Rd (light immediately after Tackett's:

Left onto Old Telegraph

Left onto Caton Hill Rd, this will connect you to Prince William Parkway

Follow the parkway until it intersects with RT 1. 

Right on RT1

Left onto Reddy Road

You'll see the school from Reddy

Turn right at stop sign to get to FES

Boston Ancestors

I hear them behind me
crossing Persian rugs on heel-less shoes,
drinking Dubonnet, eating nuts
(from the pantry the smell of stew),
talking about naval battles
and varsity crew,
their voices raspy with cigars
in underheated rooms.

Someone sewed their eyes shut
with needlepoint thread
and when they speak
they make up for it
in booming tones.

It is somewhere
out of them
alive or dead
I have sprung.
Yet not a person there seems to recognize
me.
Not one.

                                                     Susan Minot

After reading this poem, consider writing a personal narrative or a poem about your own ancestors and their relationship to you.

• Finish your play. Be sure title and grade level are on every page of your play.  Use 12 point double spacing throughout.  Arena Stage recommends 6-10 pages.  Do not go over 12 pages.
  Put your name and school information only on the cover sheet.
  
• Email your play to eddassubmissions@gmail.com with Arena Stage, your name, & the title of the play in the subject line.  Fill out a cover sheet and give to Mrs. Hailey before leaving the library.  I will mail plays on Tuesday after school.
  
• Enter the www.poeticpower.com poetry contest.  You may use any poem you have written, but it must not be more than 21 lines.
  
• If you have written a short sotry, enter the Narrative Short Story Contest using the link to the right.
  
• Go to lettersaboutliterature.org and read through the contest guidelines.  Then brainstorm some titles you might consider writing about for the contest.  The Eddas Coffee House on Dec. 21 is themed to go with this contest.  Students are asked to dress as a favorite author or book character.  Consider plans for this as you make your brainstorm list.  The literary work you choose can be something you read recently or something from the past--your choice.  Don't forget your favorite children's books as you consider your choice.  You will be writing a letter directly to the author (alive or not).
  
• Go to http://www.npr.org/series/4538138/this-i-believe and explore the site.  Read some essays, and brainstorm a list of topics you believe in. 

Student Ten-Minute Play Competition

Arena Stage invites D.C. Metro Area students in 5th through 12th grades to enter an original ten-minute play into the 2012 Student Playwrights Project Ten-Minute Play Competition.

Plays must be received no later than Friday, December 2, 2011.

Awards for winning playwrights:

• Winners workshop their plays with professional playwrights, directors and dramaturgs
• Winning plays are performed by professional actors at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
• Winning playwrights receive a $250 cash prize
• Honorable Mention plays receive staged readings by professional actors

Playwrights:

• Playwrights must be students in 5th through 12th grades
• Students must attend school in the District of Columbia, City of Alexandria, or one of the following counties: Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, or St. Mary’s. Home-schooled students must be residents of D.C., Alexandria, or one of the listed counties.

Requirements:

• Plays must be the original, unpublished work of one playwright. Pieces written by more than one student will not be accepted.
• Suggested length is 6-10 pages; plays longer than 12 pages will not be read.
• All submissions must include an Arena Stage cover sheet, which may be downloaded at www.arenastage.org. Plays will not be accepted without a cover sheet.
• All plays must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font, with page numbers.
• The title of the play and the playwright’s grade should be listed on each page of the play.
• The playwright’s name, contact information, or school should not appear anywhere on the play except the cover sheet.

NOTES:

Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2011 to be eligible for competition. Submitted scripts will not be returned. Winners and honorable mention recipients will be asked to provide electronic copies of their scripts as Microsoft Word documents.

Student Ten-Minute Play Competition

Arena Stage invites D.C. Metro Area students in 5th through 12th grades to enter an original ten-minute play into the 2012 Student Playwrights Project Ten-Minute Play Competition.

Plays must be received no later than Friday, December 2, 2011.

Awards for winning playwrights:

• Winners workshop their plays with professional playwrights, directors and dramaturgs
• Winning plays are performed by professional actors at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
• Winning playwrights receive a $250 cash prize
• Honorable Mention plays receive staged readings by professional actors

Playwrights:

• Playwrights must be students in 5th through 12th grades
• Students must attend school in the District of Columbia, City of Alexandria, or one of the following counties: Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, or St. Mary’s. Home-schooled students must be residents of D.C., Alexandria, or one of the listed counties.

Requirements:

• Plays must be the original, unpublished work of one playwright. Pieces written by more than one student will not be accepted.
• Suggested length is 6-10 pages; plays longer than 12 pages will not be read.
• All submissions must include an Arena Stage cover sheet, which may be downloaded at www.arenastage.org. Plays will not be accepted without a cover sheet.
• All plays must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font, with page numbers.
• The title of the play and the playwright’s grade should be listed on each page of the play.
• The playwright’s name, contact information, or school should not appear anywhere on the play except the cover sheet.

NOTES:

Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 2011 to be eligible for competition. Submitted scripts will not be returned. Winners and honorable mention recipients will be asked to provide electronic copies of their scripts as Microsoft Word documents.

Instructions for entering the Off the Wall (Engaged in Art) Poetry Contest:

Students whose last names begin with letter A-N, email November 2 – 11, with AN13NOV211 in the subject line.

Students whose last names begin with letter O-Z, email November 14 – 23, with OZ12NOV1423 in the subject line.

Include in the email:

- Your first and last name.

- Medium/date created.

- School you attend.

- Contact info: cell phone number/or your correct e-mail address.

Email to annamish@center-for-the-arts.org and send a copy of the email to haileycp@pwcs.edu .

1. Write an original haiku in an unrhyming, 5-7-5 style that answers the question: What adventures does your future hold?

2. Submit your haiku at http://www.scholastic.com/dellhaiku. Deadline: 11/18/11.

3. Check back in December 2011 to see the winning haiku!

Every creative writing student must have one personal journal, which will be used in all creative writing classes, and one assigned journal for each course.  

Every student will also need a single binder or folder with loose-leaf paper.  Dividers or pockets for each class or for additional topics are recommended.  

For Creative Writing Exploration, journals must be bound composition books; no spirals are acceptable.  For Creative Writing II and Advanced courses, specialized journals may be used with permission; no spirals are acceptable.  A variety of pens, pencils, and highlighters should be with you each day.  

Writing and the Arts students should also bring in a sketchbook, scrapbook, or photo album depending on your chosen approach.  We will discuss this in class.  

Novel students should try to bring laptop computers as often as possible.  Laptops are optional for other students, but they are encouraged.  

All students should have a flash drive to back up their files.  Creative writing files must be saved for the duration of your participation in the CFPA program.

Each student is encouraged to purchase a copy of the 2011 Eddas Sterling literary/art magazine if you haven't already.  Creative writing students who buy for class will be offered a discount at $10 if purchased in September.

Our Creative Writing Program builds from a genre survey focusing on process during the freshman year to a product-oriented portfolio development course during sophomore year.  Students work with fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and script as well as monologue and children’s literature.  Beginning junior year, students are able to specialize by taking Genre Focus classes and Creative Writing Seminars on special topics.  These are semester courses to allow a greater variety.  Senior year students are encouraged to take Advanced Genre Focus courses in their favorite genres.  Throughout the program, students take ownership of their writing.  They work with prompts in class in an Assigned Journal but also produce 1500 words each two weeks that is self-generated outside of class.  In their Personal Journals, they also write metacognitively.  Throughout the four years, students are required to read professional models—both as in-class assignments and as independent work with a self-selected text each quarter.  Students participate in small-group critiques and whole-class workshops.