In 10th Grade English, students are currently reading their narrative stories to the class. This involves writing about someone close to them. Many students chose to write about their families. Others wrote about their friends. Some even wrote about their pets!
Storytelling, or the oral tradition, is one of the oldest forms of language. We tell stories to remember life lessons, pass on our own cultural traditions, and to make others laugh. It’s important that students continue to hone their writing and speaking skills. You never know when a good story could make someone’s day.
The readings in this class also follow the tradition of a creative writing reading. Many coffee shops, colleges, and workshop gatherings use these readings to tell stories. We also happen to have the most famous workshop right at our doorstep. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa was the first creative writing degree program in the US and has produced thousands of writers. We are lucky to have such a wonderful local model to help our students become better writers, storytellers, and people.
If you currently have a 10th grader in English class, ask them about their narrative. They might have written about you!