Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate or referral links. It is a way for this site to earn advertising fees by advertising or linking to certain products and/or services.
Teachers, are you looking for a way to fill the boredom of summer days? Why not write a fiction book?!
Follow I Am Teacher Fit on Pinterest
This month’s edition of Writing With Style is coming to you from Devin! Teachers, he’s here to talk about how you can weave some productivity into your summer in the form of fictional writing. This is a great tool to use in the classroom, and to just say, “HEY! I wrote a book!” Check it out.
Write a Fiction Book!
Though many teachers spend summer vacation teaching summer school or taking care of their families, others look at the weeks ahead ready to relax and get around to that summer reading list. Either way, about two weeks in, you probably can’t help but start to think about the upcoming school year and how you can make it even better than the last one.
Why not write a novel for your classes?
Of course, you can’t forget about teaching the classics, but you can use your own novel to teach students about creative writing, literary devices, and grammar. You can build the lessons you need from scratch, which will set yourself and your students up for success. Here are a few reasons you should consider spending this summer writing a fiction book:
1. Lessons About All Things Literary
The possibilities are endless. Pull from your text to create lessons on all things related to literature. Take sentences from your novel that help students learn the meaning of tricky words, or edit phrases to help students fix issues with grammar. You can even discuss scenes with them that use literary devices, like metaphors or personification.
Related: 5 Tips for Planning for a Substitute Teacher
In addition, you have to create lessons to teach your students how to write themselves. From creating compound sentences to how to effectively use passive voice, you can teach them all the rules — and then how to break them. Best of all, you’ll be able to speak about your personal experience with writing. Try to inspire them to love literature!
2. Teaches About More than Just Literature
The best part of literature is being able to learn about and discuss more than just the mechanics of grammar and vocabulary. You can talk about the themes of the book and use it as an opportunity to discuss sensitive topics. Reading can teach empathy to children and young adults, which will hopefully make those discussions easier and more productive.
You can also tie in other subjects to your lessons, depending on what your story is about. If it is a historical fiction novel, you can teach history lessons about that time period to help provide context. You can even write word problems on math quizzes or assignments that feature characters from your book to help liven them up!
3. Good for Yourself
Of course, it isn’t all about the students — writing a fiction book is a great thing to do for yourself. You can improve your skills as a writer and as a teacher, because you understand the writing process on a personal level. Besides that, writing is fun, and if you have ever dreamt of writing a book, there’s no reason not to pursue it!
Related: Writing With Style: Apostrophes 101
You also never know what may come of your writing endeavors. Teachers don’t make nearly enough money, and this could be a chance to supplement your income. You may even enter this new field, discover you prefer writing, and leave teaching to cultivate your new career. Though it will take a lot of hard work, it may just well be worth the effort.
The chances to develop yourself personally and professionally make writing a fiction book an exciting and rewarding prospect. You can have more control over what you teach and get to create a piece of art. Plus … you’d have just about the greatest “What I Did This Summer” essay ever! All you have to do is grab a pen and put it to paper.
***
Devin writes from his garage in Daly City, CA. He stops occasionally to fix his Wi-Fi connection and coach rugby. Follow this pretty cool dude on Twitter.
Leave a Reply