Creative writing classes for grades 3 & up
Every kid is a storyteller. Every kid can write. Every kid has something important (and funny!) to say.
The online writing classes for kids are non-sectarian, supportive, encouraging, creative, and brilliant! We have tons of fun together and learn a lot along the way. Make some friends. Discover your voice.
🌻 Plan Your Spring Classes
Scroll down for workshop flyers, registration, & payment information. I am an approved vendor for CA charter schools!
Pirate Adventure
Ahoy, mateys! Write on the high seas & develop a pirate character, treasure map setting, & story.
Parts of Speech Party
Use the parts of speech to create colorful narrative writing with Harry Potter, Darth Vader, & superheroes.
Crazy Campout
Write acrostic poetry, a listicle, persuasive letter, & conduct research to make a nature trail!
Emotional Emojis
Use emojis, music, & font styles to explore emotions and express action. (Updated for 2021!)
Mysterious Mysteries
Are you on the suspects list? Find out in this workshop and explore the elements of mystery writing.
Reader’s Theater
Write a short play, star in your classmates’ plays (or participate in other ways!), & perform on the Zoom stage! (New: Feb/Mar 2021)
Amazing Animals
A parliament of owls? A loveliness of ladybugs? Discover the amazing world of animals in fiction and non-fiction! (New: Apr/May 2021)
Summer Writing Camps
Surf’s up. The sun’s out. It’s time to dream, doodle, and draft your way through the summer months with writing camps! (Schedule TBD)
2021 Writing Workshop Descriptions
Register today for Sessions 2 & 3!
Parts of Speech Party
Be an honored guest and strengthen your writing in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Create new Harry Potter-style “houses” and a “sorting scene” using vivid adjectives & nouns.
Week 2: Be a Jedi and transform scenes & dialogue using strong verbs & adverbs.
Week 3: It takes someone like you to put the POW! in powerful. Create a superhero character and write a comic-style story using interjections and more.
Week 4: Write an original Mad Libs-style story to practice all parts of speech.
Week 5: Final presentations & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
Feb 15, 22, Mar 15, 22, 29
Mondays, 2-3pm PST
Reader’s Theater
Students will study model scripts and write a short play in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Discuss elements of script writing such as title, cast of characters, expression notes, dialogue, sound effects, & more. Brainstorm ideas.
Week 2: Practice reading a model script. Use different tones and moods. Begin writing!
Week 3: Play drama games! Review a model script. Cast your classmates as characters. Continue writing!
Week 4: Begin rehearsals. Create a playbill (program) for your play!
Week 5: Perform in Zoom Theatre & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
Beginning week of Feb 15
Mondays, 3-4pm PST OR
Wednesdays, 10-11am PST OR
Thursdays, 10-11am PST (FULL)
Crazy Campout
Campers will try a variety of writing styles in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Share nature-related experiences, and write acrostic poetry.
Week 2: Create an indoor/backyard nature trail using science resources.
Week 3: Write a humorous, nature-themed listicle style article.
Week 4: Choose an audience, conservation topic, & write a persuasive letter/poster.
Week 5: Final presentations & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
Happy camping!
Feb 16, 23, Mar 16, 23, 30
Tuesdays, 10-11am PST
Mysterious Mysteries
Clever detectives will explore mystery writing in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Crack the case & uncover your code name. Learn new vocabulary.
Week 2: Develop a detective character & suspects list using graphic organizers.
Week 3: Create clues & red herrings to strengthen story ideas.
Week 4: Continue to plot, write, & edit.
Week 5: Final presentations & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
The game’s afoot!
Feb 18, 25, Mar 18, 25, Apr 1
Thursdays, 11am-12pm PST
Pirate Adventure
Our salty crew will learn how to write like a pirate in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Discover your pirate name. Learn new vocabulary & dialogue.
Week 2: Develop a pirate character using graphic organizers.
Week 3: Create exciting settings by sketching a treasure map.
Week 4: Plot & write, Matey.
Week 5: Final presentations & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
Avast me hearties! It’s time to write!
Offered in Session 3, Apr 12-May 14.
Tuesdays, 10-11am PST
Emotional Emojis (Updated)
Students will explore emotions and express action using emojis, music, and fonts in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Join Emojilocks & the 3 bears…and Emojio & Juliet! Use emojis to express emotion and action.
Week 2: Listen to different ypmusic. What do you imagine? Write short scenes that describe what you “see.”
Week 3: Experiment with fonts and colors to express emotion and action in a story.
Week 4: Play word games. Learn new vocabulary to express characters’ emotions.
Week 5: Final presentations & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
Amazing Animals
Students will discover the wonderful world of animals in this 5-week workshop. $90
Week 1: Discuss animal main characters in literature like the Warriors series, and create a new animal character.
Week 2: What’s anthropomorphism? Write a scene from an animal’s point of view.
Week 3: Weird and wonderful! From sap-sucking sea slugs to okapi, we’ll dig up the dirt on little-known animals.
Week 4: Ever seen a crash of rhinos? Or a pandemonium of parrots? Create a colorful collection of animals in this activity!
Week 5: Final presentations & wrap-up. Plus Editing Essentials slides!
New for Session 3. (Apr 12-May 14)
Spring 2021: Registration Open for Sessions 2 & 3!
The writing workshops are limited to 10 students per Zoom session and include private access to Google Classroom interactive slides, videos, audio recordings, one-hour weekly Zoom calls, weekly office hours, and personalized feedback on student work.
How to Pay
$90 / workshop ($80 out-of-pocket)
$260 / semester ($230 out-of-pocket) (3 workshops)
I am teaching students throughout the U.S., from Washington and California to Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, and beyond!
The Writer’s Workshop for Kids is an approved vendor for California charter schools, including: Blue Ridge Academy, Excel Academy, Granite Mountain Charter School, IEM Schools (South Sutter, Ocean Grove, Sky Mountain), Inspire (Cabrillo Point Academy, Mission Vista Academy, Pacific Coast Academy), Innovations Learning Academy, and Sage Oak Charter Schools! You may submit a PO for my workshops if you are a member of those charter schools.
If you will be paying out-of-pocket, I accept payment via PayPal. Contact me for details and an invoice.
Workshop Sneak Peeks
Jan/Feb 2021 news!
The new Mysterious Mysteries workshop launched with some secret codes, a few glamorous detectives in disguise, and brilliant brainstorming. We’ll follow the clues to find out if Lord Ashen Dragon can save the world…if Cuckoo Shoofly can crack the case…and if a trio of kitten detectives will solve the problem in Mission Impawssible!
This week in the Parts of Speech Party, we giggled about Bananawarts (a famous chef school for Hogwarts graduates)! And we wondered if we’d be sorted into the Hotdiggity House (with a weiner dog mascot of course!) or the Streamliners House, featuring a Mako shark mascot.
Happy campers in the Crazy Campout wrote action-packed acrostic poetry! This week, students will transform into park rangers, guiding us on their research-based (and mythical!) nature trails.
Nov/Dec 2020 news!
Happy campers in the Crazy Campout wrote beautiful acrostic poetry! Students also transported us to unique nature trails – featuring amazing creatures like pinacate beetles, wolf cubs, pandas, and even UNICORNS! And we’re ready to write fun listicles this week.
😂😖And emoji-loving writers expressed emotions and actions with the help of their yellow-sphered friends. We are re-telling fairy tales, writing original stories, and learning revision and editing techniques in the Emotional Emojis (& Editing Essentials) workshop!
October 2020 news!
We’re off to an exciting start in the Pirate Adventure with homemade swords, sheaths, treasure boxes, and maps! (Not to mention a visit from Swampy Skunkbeard…) And rumor has it that Captain Moonfish is scheming a treasure hunt…by the light of the moon, of course.
We welcomed honored guests to the Parts of Speech Party, too! Our Hogwarts students are busy at work, creating new “houses” for Harry Potter. I can’t wait to read what you write next!
And in the Crazy Campout, we set off on virtual nature trails, finding desert chicory, desert cottontails, and even the Loch Ness Monster and a Phoenix along the way! Our imaginations are going full-speed ahead…
September 2020 news!
Wow! Kids are pitching tents in their backyards, setting up teepees, and roasting marshmallows on the stovetop to get into the Crazy Campout spirit. And they’re creating indoor/backyard nature trails with exciting creatures (including a dragon and teddy bear)!
And our brave buccaneers in the Pirate Adventure are recruiting a fearless crew, from a one-eyed cat to a noble monkey, and gathering a treasure trove of props (and ideas!) as they write their way to an adventure at sea.
I love hearing about all the collaboration among family members and classmates. Thank you for creating a supportive community of writers!
Family Feedback
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to be part of this wonderful workshop. Pranav thoroughly enjoyed it & he is very eager to write & come back for more.
Mom of son, 9
Aisha & Zaynab really enjoyed the last class they took with you! I had no complaints about taking writing classes!
Mom of daughters, 12 & 9
Your kids are amazing!
Dear Creative Writing Families,
We had an incredible time in class this week. We read a play aloud, written in “spoonerisms,” which means that the first sounds of neighboring words are swapped (a.k.a. Beeping Sleuty & Back and the Jeanstalk…). The kids really hammed it up and started using hilarious voices when reading their parts. I laughed so hard I cried in the second class.
About
I have 23 years of writing and editing experience, including three years as a writing instructor. I love helping kids learn new skills while having fun along the way!
Get in Touch
Contact me for registration information about The Writer’s Workshop for Kids.
Spring Schedule
Jan 2021:
Pirate Adventure
Crazy Campout
Parts of Speech Party
New: Mysterious Mysteries
Feb/Mar 2021:
Crazy Campout
Emotional Emojis & Editing
New: Reader’s Theater
Others TBD
Apr/May 2021:
Pirate Adventure
Mysterious Mysteries
New: Amazing Animals
Others TBD
Summer Camps TBD
Photo Credit: Roby Gianstefani, FLATMIND