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<em>Beginnings</em> - Ohio Writers Conference



When Aspire instructors think about writing instruction, preparation for the GED® essay is often foremost in their thoughts. This is an important and necessary goal for most students, but to limit writing instruction in this manner does students a disservice. Writing can serve many functions in our lives and effective instruction should support many types of writing- helping students to see the benefits of becoming lifelong writers.


Share the following resources with your students



  • October 20th is National Day on Writing
      Writing is a daily practice for millions of Americans, but few notice how integral writing has become to daily life. To draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in and help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft, NCTE has established October 20, 2010 as the National Day on Writing.
  • Poetry Daily - Today's Poem
      "Poetry Daily is an anthology of contemporary poetry. Each day, we bring you a new poem from new books, magazines, and journals." Read a new poem every day, and use your imagination to pull from the poems and write your own poem or story!
  • 329 Writing Prompts
      Roll your mouse over a number to bring up a popup creative writing prompt.
  • November is National Novel Writing Month
      Every November thousands of writers like yourself participate in this national writing event. Participants begin writing November 1st with a goal to write a 175-page (50,000 word) novel by midnight November 30th. Sign up on the website linked here to participate,and begin writing on the 1st of November and complete the 50,000 word writing to be included on the list of official winners.
  • Three-Minute Fiction
      "At NPR, we love to hear, and tell, your real-life stories every day. Now, we want to hear your fiction as well. This summer, we're beginning a contest called "Three-Minute Fiction." The premise is simple: Listeners send in original short stories that can be read in three minutes or less -- that's usually about 500-600 words long.

      James Wood, literary critic for The New Yorker and author of the book How Fiction Works, will serve as NPR's "Three-Minute Fiction" guide. Wood will appear on-air throughout the summer to read his favorite submissions, and we'll also post them here on NPR.org.

      Wood tells NPR's Guy Raz that writing a 500-word story "strikes at the very heart of the short story as a project, which is to get something going rapidly." Writing three-minute fiction is good practice. Think, he says, of the masters of the short story, like Anton Chekhov, who began his career writing comic squibs for newspapers."
  • EUREKA!
      In Archimedes' time the agora was a marketplace where folks could find almost anything they needed. In the Eureka! AGORA you will be able to find an "Assemblage of Great Online Resources for Adults"
  • Sentence Starters
      Need help to begin writing? Use this link to help you get writing.
  • Purdue OWL Engagement
      The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
  • Guide to Grammar & Writing
      Guide to Grammar & Writing is a website that provides information, definitions, quizzes, and other information. Just choose a topic from the drop down menu and information on that subject will be presented.
  • Citation Help
      Looking for a way to help students learn the citation and bibliography style? Check out EasyBib

      Students can enter the information they have on over 50 different information sources. The website then creates the appropriate citation. The citation can then be copied and pasted into a word processing document. It is a great way to have students practice APA, MLA, and Chicago Style citations and then check it against the website produced ones.



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    Ohio Literacy Resource Center
    Research 1 - 1100 Summit St.
    Kent State University
    PO Box 5190
    Kent, Ohio 44242-0001
    Ohio Literacy Resource Center Phone: 330-672-2007
    In Ohio Only: 800-765-2897
    Fax: 330-672-4841
    TTY: 330-672-2379
    E-mail: olrc@literacy.kent.edu
    Ohio Aspire