in-school & after-school workshops
Our workshops provide an engaging, enriching experience for writers to explore their imaginations, build confidence, and strengthen literacy skills.
The goal of our in-school and after-school workshops is to make writing joyful!
We inspire and support students by providing an environment in which they can experience writing as personal, quirky, and playful, infused with choice and a spirit of adventure.
Using mentor texts and prompts, we generate writing and then give students time to develop their ideas, encouraging the use of sensory details and imagery. We also leave time for sharing and model how to give and accept constructive feedback.
Our instructors and teaching artists are passionate about writing and are excited to share their enthusiasm and talents with your students.
Workshops can be tailored to complement your curricula or you can choose from the following menu:
grades 1-5
The Picture Book Project
Learn the art of writing a picture book and create a draft that includes characters, a story conflict, and a solution.
Songwriting Studio
Experiment with storytelling to music while learning about lyrics, melody, and what makes a good song.
Imagination Blast Off
Through prompts, role playing, games, and more, create stories filled with intriguing characters and exciting adventures for them to go on.
Superhero Mash-Up
Mash up favorite characters and storylines while reimagining new heroic and fantastical adventures.
All You Can Write
Catch big ideas as soon as they come and write them in—and on—anything possible (napkins, notebooks, postcards, paper plates, you name it)!
Spinning Stories
Learn to write fiction that sounds real by taking a thread of truth and spinning it into something more. Exaggeration is encouraged!
You’re the Expert
Play “detective” and dig up secret knowledge about favorite topics to share with others through fun books, posters, brochures, and more.
grades 6-12
Ink It Up!
Stencil, color, and freewrite to fun prompts that can be turned into stories, poems, and even art photography to post on Instagram.
Short Shorts
Create very short stories, such as “Twitter Fiction,” through prompts, exercises, and brainstorming.
Poetry Undercover
Find poetry in everything―from music to news articles to shopping lists. Write poems that crush with sadness, lift with joy, and soar with possibility.
Screenplay Studio
Learn the “language” of screenwriting and how to amp up dialogue to bring compelling characters to life.
Your Voice Matters
Explore different forms writing can take―opinion pieces, letters to the editor, social media and blog posts, photojournalism, and more—to find the best platform to be heard.