Cake may not be the answer to every problem, but it can’t hurt to give it a try. My suggestion for curing writer’s block? Why not take a break and read one of the new entries posted on Bedford Bits last week?

• Holly Pappas discusses her techniques to foster a sense of curiosity, inquiry, and wonder in Learning to Ask the Questions.
   
• A picture might be worth a thousand words. But words paired with pictures? That’s worth even more! Andrea Lunsford discusses Words . . . and Images, and teaching graphic novels.
   
• What role does the Writing Center play in Writing-About-Writing? Blogger Doug Downs explores how tutors contribute to the pedagogical approach in WAWriting Center.
   
• What kind of progress students can make in one semester? Barclay Barrios shares another student paper and his comments in More Sample Work: Student Progress.
   
• High School Bits blogger Jodi Rice asks why people read literature and what reading will look like in the digital age in Storytelling 2.0.
   
• Where does the military get names for their operations? Reflecting on the Operation Odyssey Dawn, Traci Gardner talks about Naming and the Rhetoric of War.
   
• Susan Naomi Bernstein reflects on classroom assignments and her own writing in Writing for the Catastrophic Moment.
   

A Few Extra Reminders

• National Poetry Month is here, and so is the Third Annual (TYCA) National Poetry Month Celebration!
   
• Read the top intellectual property developments of 2010 in the CCCC IP Caucus Annual. The free document can be downloaded as a Word document or PDF from the CCCC web site.
   
• A Comic Book Lover’s Guide to Going Digital has for resources and tips you can use when discussing comic books graphic novels.
   
• If you’re heading to CCCC, check out C’s the Day! CCCC – the Game? Level up through a series of quests, earn special prizes and titles, and more. Follow the game on Twitter: @csthedaygame.
   
• Don’t forget to tag your Tweets with #CCCC2011 or #CCCC11 so we can follow your comments on this year’s conference online.

We’re still looking for suggestions. Tell me what you want to know about teaching writing or about using digital tools in the composition classroom by leaving a comment. Your response will help shape upcoming posts.
 

[Photo: Chocolate cake slice by alexanderward12, on Flickr]

As I explained in more detail yesterday, Script Frenzy is the free event that asks writers to spend April writing a script for a screenplay, stage play, TV show, short film, comic, or graphic novel.

The YWP site has information for teachers that includes lesson plans for all age levels walk students through the basic tasks from setting their goals to building conflict and developing dialogue. You can even apply to borrow computers for classroom use during the month—deadline March 15, so hurry!

Help students find the focus for their scripts by trying one of these ReadWriteThink lessons (plus one from Thinkfinity partner EDSITEment):

• Bring a historical character to the present day with History Comes Alive: Using Fluency and Comprehension Using Social Studies (grades 2–5). The lesson focuses on Benjamin Franklin, but you could adapt the idea to any historical figure or period.
   
• Create a fan fiction script after examining an existing television show with Media Literacy: Examining the World of Television Teens (grades 6–8).
   
• Compose a radio script for a recently-read short story or novel with Audio Broadcasts and Podcasts: Oral Storytelling and Dramatization (grades 9–12).
   
• Focus on a voice from the past with Giving Voice to Child Laborers Through Monologues (grades 6–8). The monologue students compose can be broken out and distributed in a longer script, used as of a one-person show, or kept as is to serve as a soliloquy in a longer script. This basic technique could be adapted to any time period and speakers from the past, present, or future.
• Ask students to create a script that focuses on sharing an important message with the audience with MyTube: Changing the World With Video Public Service Announcements (grades 9–12). Point families interested in helping with the project to the family resource MyTube: Make a Video Public Service Announcement (grades 7–12).
   
• Focus on inquiry and research by asking students to script a documentary on a famous woman with Scripting the Past: Exploring Women’s History Through Film (grades 9–12).
   
• Share a movie scene with no dialogue and ask students to create a script for that scene with Writing a Movie: Summarizing and Rereading a Film Script (grades 3–5). Students can go on to create a longer script that explores a subplot or scenes that have not been included in the original film.
   
• Have students create an alter ego and compose scripts for that persona’s radio show with Alter Egos and More with Avi’s "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?" (3–5).
   
• If students are working on comics or graphic novels, for instance, be sure to try The Comic Book Show and Tell (grades 9–12) lesson to help them sharpen their word choice. Use the Comic Vocabulary Interactive to explore the genre in more detail.

Cross-posted to the Reading and Language Arts Discussion Group in the Thinkfinity Community and to the NCTE Community ReadWriteThink eGroup and Graphic Novels eGroup.

[Photo: Day 30 - Fade In: by Kurt Thomas Hunt, on Flickr]

Students from elementary, middle, and high schools can take part in the Young Writers Program. These writers set a personal page-count goal, begin writing on April 1, and upload evidence that they’ve met their goal by April 30. There’s a step-by-step page of instructions as well as information for teachers. You can even use the letter to families to keep everyone in the loop.

College students and the rest of us can take part in the adult program, which challenges writers to compose a 100-page script. All the details for adults are on the site.

The site includes how-to’s for all the genres, like this Intro to Graphic Novels, and there’s even a Plot Machine to check out on the homepage. Here’s the first plot I got:

In an attempt to evade taxes
a disgruntled child actor
must cross a ravine on a tightrope

Obviously, they may not all be classroom-friendly :-)

The event is the dramatic cousin of the National Novel Writer’s Month project, which takes place in November.

So are you interested? Will you tell students? Thinking of organizing class participation? I’d love to hear some stories from other teachers thinking about getting into a script frenzy.

Cross-posted to the NCTE Community Teaching Writing eGroup and Graphic Novels eGroup.

[Photo: P170409_20.38 by robbelaw, on Flickr]