OWP Teacher Consultants,
It's time to decide which 15 entries you will submit to this year's OWP writing contest.
Information below!
Please consider entering your own writing in the contest as well.
Please forward this e-mail to other teachers in your school and other teachers you know.
OKLAHOMA WRITING PROJECT
WRITE TO WIN!
2016 Writing Contest for Students and Teachers
NO ENTRY FEE
Enter Via Teacher E-mail Only
Deadline January 19, 2016
- Limit, 15 student entries per teacher. NO ENTRY FEE. No student or may enter more than two pieces total, and only one per genre . Teacher may enter two pieces, only one per genre.
- All entries must be attached to an e-mail sent from teacher’s school e-mail address. (Teachers with no e-mail address should contact OWP for instructions.)
- Winners in each division will be invited to an OWP Spring Celebration & Writing Conference and will have their writing published in the 2016 OWP Anthology of Winning Writing and on the OWP Website. Winners and their teachers will receive two free anthologies of winning writing.
- Students and teachers will be competing against others in their own divisions and genres. Divisions are determined by grade rather than by school level: Primary (pre-K though 2nd); Intermediate, (grades 3-5); Middle School (grades 6-8); High School, (grades 9-12), and Teacher.
2016 OWP Writing Contest Genres
Descriptive Paragraph
Describe a person, a place, an object, a feeling. The paragraph can be an excerpt from a larger piece of writing or can be complete in itself. Put the reader there with sensory details and telling facts. Limit 150 words.
Personal Narrative
Write personal memoir or a narration of an event in the your life. Try to cover a very short period of time. Details are important. Be sure to use active, vivid verbs. Weave in description with action to put the reader there. Limit 2000 words.
Poem
It can rhyme, but it doesn’t have to. It can be metered or free verse. Try including similes, metaphors. personification. Experiment with repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia. Limit, 66 lines.
Short Story
Create the characters and come up with a conflict. Put those characters in a place and time, and see what they decide to do. Try weaving together action, dialogue, and description to keep the reader involved. Limit 2500 words. Longer stories will be disqualified.
Essay
Stand up for an issue; change someone’s mind. You can pick the topic. Suggestions? Comment on controversial issues, current events, art, television, movies, books, videos, video games, products. Show us how to look at something from another viewpoint. (No research papers accepted.)
Writing across the Curriculum
You can also enter writing you did in a class other than language arts—science, social studies, math, etc. (Description, Narration, Poetry, Essay) Limit 1000 words.
Flash Fiction
Also called “sudden fiction,” this genre packs a punch with a small amount of text. A complete story includes the traditional elements of setting, characterization, and conflict. Choose a time and place, narrow your focus, start in the middle of the action, keep the reader guessing, and end with a bang -- or a twist! Limit 100 words
Sentence
Write a sentence, any kind, any length, any subject. Be creative. One winner for each grade level.
Write To Win!
INSTRUCTION TO TEACHERS, 2016 OWP WRITING CONTEST:
Each entry should be typed as a Microsoft Word document in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced. If we can’t open the document, it may be disqualified.
Do NOT include student’s name, school, or teacher in the attached document (entry) but only the title and the writing. Only the attachments will be forwarded to the contest judges.
Send a separate e-mail for each entry. Subject of e-mail should be the title of the piece.In the body of the e-mail, list:
- Student’s name
- Student’s grade
- Title of piece
- Genre of entry
- Teacher’s name
- School
- School address
- School phone
- Teacher’s school e-mail address
Winners, when announced, will receive a form via teacher’s e-mail to have their parents and teacher sign, verifying originality of the piece and agreeing to have the work published in the OWP anthology and online.
2015 Anthology of Winning Writing by Oklahoma Students and Teachers available on amazon.com
Janis Cramer, phone or text: 405-250-5400