Writing a workshop

Sometimes writing isn’t writing. Sometimes something that is supporting your writing can be just as creatively demanding but it doesn’t actually produce the normal word count per hour. 

I’ve had fun recently “writing” a workshop. This is about my Schellberg Cycle and in fact refers to my The House on Schellberg Street. I’ve included:

·         Board games

·         Role play

·         “speed-dating”

·         Letter-writing

·         Discussion

·         Discovery packs (where students solve puzzles to find out more about the characters in the stories from clues given in visual and written texts)    

The whole of the Schellberg Cycle refers to World War II and the Holocaust but gives an unusual German perspective on it in places. Although only one book is published, the workshop refers to the other four.

The Discovery Packs are a new idea I had after a school visit. I wanted to give the students some ideas about working with primary materials. They get more information about some of the characters they’re working with by looking at some documents such as the charts that showed how the Blood Laws worked, rationing cards and newspaper articles written at the time. 

All the time I’m getting more ideas of what to include and I’ve just applied to run a session at a conference to show other teachers / creative writers this project. 

I also suggest that outcomes should be pieces of creative writing and I’m next going to provide prompt sheets for those.

It goes on and on. 

You can find out more about The Schellberg Cycle here.  

If you would like a copy of the Teachers’ Notes, sign up here.    

You can also sign up for further news about the workshsop here.

Click on the link below if you would like to know more about The House on Schellberg Street.