This coming October, in conjunction with the National Day on Writing, the National Writing Project and the National Park Service are once again joining collaborative forces to offer Write Out — a free, open, online, connected learning experience to explore public spaces (not just national parks and not just rural wild spaces) for teachers and students.
As the updated Write Out website explains, the central theme of this year is all about stories and spaces:
Making Stories of People, Place, and Perspectives
Beginning October 13, 2019 Write Out will be a free two-week series of activities where educators, National Park Service Rangers, and youth they work with, are invited to:
- explore national parks and other public spaces, including rural and urban settings, whether on-site or online
- create using a variety of media, including text, image, video and others
- connect to learn about using place-based learning as a critical cultural and environmental lens
Bookending the October 20th National Day on Writing, Write Out consists of activity cycles that include prompts that invite participants to write across a variety of media and curricular areas, facilitated online meet-ups, curated resources, and Twitter chats. Participants take part in as many or as few activities as fit their schedule. Additionally, through collaborative online possibilities, participants will be invited to share their creations, write, learn, and connect with the larger community.
You can sign up for information about this free event at the Write Out site and look for more details and activities on Twitter with the #writeout hashtag.
In case you are wondering, I am part of an amazing team of Write Out facilitators — from writing project and classroom teachers to National Park Service rangers — working to develop all sorts of activities and sharing possibilities for students and teachers, all in hopes of surfacing place-based learning and uncovering the stories of those spaces.
I hope you will join us with Write Out this October!
Peace (in open spaces and beyond),
Kevin