Word Camp
THANK YOU FOR A FABULOUS WORD CAMP!
This year, we ran our 5th summer of Word Camp. Learn about it below!
Word Camp 2024 SchedulE
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Week I: July 8th–12th
3:30–4:30 ET Spells and Skyscrapers: Urban Fantasy for Middle Schoolers
4:30–5:30 ET How to Get Away with Mystery: Mystery and Detective Fiction for Middle Schoolers
5:30–6:30 ET Twisting Tales: Rewriting Folklore and Fairytales for Middle Schoolers
5:30–6:30 ET Making a Monster: Monster-Building for Elementary Schoolers
6:30–7:30 ET (Optional) Office Hours for All Workshops
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Week II: July 15th–19th
4:30–5:30 ET Hot Off the Press: Journalism for Middle Schoolers
4:30–5:30 ET The Power of Poetry: Poetry for Elementary Schoolers
5:30–6:30 ET The Craft of Conjuring: Fantasy Writing for Middle Schoolers
5:30–6:30 ET Storytelling for the Stage: Playwriting for Elementary Schoolers
6:30–7:30 ET (Optional) Office Hours for All Workshops
Workshop Descriptions
Word Camp FAQs
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During the first four days of the week, participants will learn about/read/write/discuss work within the genre, and then on the fifth day, they'll share their own pieces. Each instructor also offers optional one-on-one hours every day where kids can come in to get individualized feedback and talk about their writing.
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As much as possible, we'd like this to be a kids-only experience, just like in-person camp. Of course we understand if parents want to look over their kids’ shoulders on the first day of the workshop. After that, though, we encourage parents to step back and prepare to be wowed by what their kids write by the end of the week!
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Come with your Zoom video on and your writing brain prepared!
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Not very big — up to 20 campers. We want each writer to get lots of individual attention from the instructors, and we also want to maximize opportunities for kids to interact. Our workshops are first come, first served, so sign up quickly before space fills up!
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For the first time, YES! Please sign up for as many workshops as you’d like!
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Undergraduate students from across the U.S.! Most of our instructors are very involved in the writing communities at their schools, where they've taken and taught writing courses much like these.
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For some kids, it is! For other kids, we know they need more time. Each workshop is structured so that writers can work on their projects as much or as little as they'd like outside of the four hour-long periods. We're flexible :)
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While of course you should use your judgement about whether Word Camp is the right environment for you/your child, we encourage disabled and/or neurodivergent students to sign up. We‘ll work with you however we can to make sure that you/your child has a positive experience. That said, please know that we don’t have paraprofessionals or special education experts on our instructor team, since all instructors are college students.
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Decide based on the year the writer is going into. If the writer is going into 6th grade, sign them up for the middle school workshops, and if they’re going into 9th grade, sign them up for the high school workshops.
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Yes! Cosmic Writers Word Camp welcomes young writers wherever they are.
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Writers will come away with a piece that they can share with their friends and family, and treasure forever — plus a gorgeous digital anthology of their group’s writing.