NaNoWriMo - or National Novel Writing Month - is an exciting all-ages challenge that takes place every November. Authors of all ages and experience levels are invited to set aside the month and just WRITE a story. While the rules state the stories may not be written prior to November, they also encourage authors to begin planning their stories ahead of time. This class will guide upper elementary and middle school learners through the process of preparing a novel - from designing a plot, to building a fantasy world, from writing dialogue to creating engaging characters. 

Week 1: What is a Novel, Anyway? - Understand basic characteristics of a novel and understand how it may differ from other forms of fiction. Write and deliver a brief oral advertisement, including details about important events and characters, for a novel or favorite work of fiction.
   
Week 2: Great Book, Gross Book   - Distinguish novels from other common forms of literature. Participate in an organized oral discussion about stories they have read, identifying important details from each story and literary elements or techniques they liked/disliked. Identify which of those good techniques they want to use in their novels, and which of those ineffective techniques they want to avoid using in their novels.

Week 3: Creating Main Characters  - Write for a short time frame in response to a writing prompt asking them to describe themselves. Identify the main character in a novel and determine what that character is like by his or her actions. Create a main character as a class and then on their own.

Week 4: Creating Supporting Characters - Write for a short time frame in response to a writing prompt about friends. Identify supporting characters in a work of fiction and determine what they are like by their words and actions. Create a supporting character as a class and then for their own novels.

Week 5: Creating Villains - Write for a short time frame in response to a writing prompt about villains.
Understand and identify the villain in a novel. Use what the villain says and does to understand his or her important qualities and vice versa. Create a villain as a class and then one for their own novels.

Week 6: The Elements of Story   - Write for a short time frame in response to a writing prompt about their life dreams. Recall the main characters of stories they have read and identify these characters’ primary motivations. Understand and identify the basic elements that make up a story including important events (plot) and the main character’s problem (conflict). Develop the storyline for their own novels.

Week 7: The Elements of Plot - Identify and understand basic plot structures including the beginning, exciting event, and rising action of a novel. Answer questions about plot structures in a novel they have already read, drawing on specific examples from that novel to support their understanding. Create sequences of events for their own novels and begin to brainstorm details that will help them further develop their plots as they write.


Week 8: Setting - Identify settings in stories they have read. Establish settings for their own novels, both large settings like the characters’ town in another century, and small settings like their characters’ bedrooms at night.


Week 9: Writing Really Good Dialogue - Understand and identify the difference between real life and novel dialogue.  Understand that correctly-written novel dialogue includes quotation marks, commas, and capital letters in specific places. Write dialogue that develops events in a story and helps define its characters.