My 1st Writing Project for 8th Grade ELA

The first graded writing project that I assign in my eighth grade ELA (a.k.a. writing) class is just six words.

Yep. You read that correctly. A six-word writing project. I call it the 6 Word Summery (The misspelling is intentional. I'll explain it later in the post). Despite its brevity, this assignment is a workhorse when it comes to providing me with data about my student writers.

Before we dive into long-form writing, there are several things I need to know about my students' writing abilities and habits, and this assignment helps me fill in some of those blanks. It's also my way of establishing routines and procedures for projects and helps impress upon students the importance of time management. I learn pretty quickly with this project which students need a bit of help with that particular skill.

I assign the 6 Word Summery the second week of school, after I've gotten a 1-3 paragraph writing sample from each of my students (a timed 20-minute exercise designed to give me a base-line on students' ability in terms of technique, style, clarity, focus, and relevancy) and after I've taught the plot pyramid. The goal is for students to summarize their summer break in just six words and create some type of visual element to bring their "summery" to life.

This assignment is designed to be deliberately vague so that I can see how their brains work to tackle a challenge while staying within a strict word limit and adhering to a non-negotiable deadline.

There are only two requirements: six words and a relevant visual element.

The goal is for students to focus on the most important moment or moments from their summer break, and communicate them in the most concise way that they can -- one 6-word sentence, 6 individual words, groups of words totaling 6, etc. -- the possibilities are almost limitless.

The vagueness of the assignment is not meant to create anxiety or unnecessary stress in students, but rather to act as a catalyst for their possibly-atrophied imaginations. Because while they must stick within a strict set of parameters for the assignment, there is infinite room for creativity, if only they'll open their minds to the possibilities. Honestly, I've not had a group yet that has not risen to the challenge that this project presents.

I typically schedule four days for students to complete this assignment, although they do not have four full class days to work on it. This is also one of the few things I allow students to work on at home, although if they are using their class time wisely they shouldn't need to.

I think my favorite part of this assignment is that students get to be as creative as they want to be with how they put their words together, how they incorporate the visual element, and how they present their final draft. I have gotten some really creative "summeries" over the years, and I'm always excited to see where their minds take them.

Because I do want them to be creatively themselves, I typically do not share examples from past students or myself. Middle school students are masters of copying a template, and the one year that I did share my own example (pictured above), I didn't see much variety in terms of creativity. Lesson learned.

I also have a built-in checkpoint to make sure that students are on the right track. Before I will provide them with any materials to begin their final draft (i.e., index cards for post cards, blank copy paper, or construction paper), I require students to have a one-on-one conference with me to share their 6 words and explain what their visual element will be. I must sign off on their 'rough draft' before they can move on to the final. Once I approve their rough draft, I put in a completion grade for 'brainstorming.'

For my gifted/honors class, I add in an additional challenge. Students must write a 30-40 word summary of their summer break, then edit it down to 15-20 words, and finally cut it to their 6 most important words. I count this as their brainstorming grade.

Because I count this as a major grade, I assess each 6 Word Summery using a rubric. Students are scored on length, clarity, relevancy of the visual element(s), conventions, and overall presentation. I also have points included for for turning the final draft in on time and having their name on it. (Obviously, names have been removed from all samples shown in this post to protect student privacy.)