YAWP 2023 Info is here!
Registration for Session A Closed
Session B Registration Closed
What is YAWP?
A component of the Central Arizona Writing Project, YAWP (Young Adult Writing Program) is designed to offer young writers a non-evaluative environment in which to explore the power of writing. Our camps will offer in person and online YAWP courses in June 2023. .
What do camps look like? Offering time and inspiration, YAWP sessions support writers in a collaborative atmosphere where they can share works in progress. YAWP sessions engage young writers in crafting a variety of forms based on the theme and focus of the camp. The creative writing camps, for example focus on writing such as poems, autobiographical sketches, heart maps, short stories, arguments, nature/science, craft secrets, and daily writing workshops. Each camper will share a final piece of writing for publication in the camp anthology.
What grade levels do we serve? 2nd -12th.
Who are the writing instructors? All writing instructors are trained Central Arizona Writing Project Teacher Consultants who have completed CAWP’s Invitational Summer Institute or training from the National Writing Project in teaching composition. All K-12 YAWP teachers are certified to teach in the state of Arizona. All YAWP teachers continually implement writing in their personal and professional lives.
Cost: Tuition for each YAWP two-week in person session is $300 plus a $25 book fee for a total of $325. Online tuition is $300 and books must be purchased separately.Tuition is due no later than May 29th. There is a late registration fee of $50. We only accept online payments. There are no refunds.
Are scholarships available? Yes, scholarships are available for those in need. Email yawp@asu.edu for more information.
When/Where is YAWP?
YAWP will be held from 9:00am -12:00pm, Monday through Friday
Session A June 5 - 16, 2023 Tempe Campus or Online
Session B June 19 - June 30, 2023 Tempe Campus or Online
Registration Deadline: Session A: Monday, May 29, 2023 by 5pm Session B: Monday, June 12 2023 by 5pm
YAWP Orientation: Orientation will be a recorded video sent to all registrants
MENU OF CAMP OFFERINGS for SUMMER 2023
Session A June 5th-16th 2023
Digging Up Dinormous!
In person: Grades 2-3
Chomp! Stomp! Roar! This Central Arizona Writing Project Young Adult Writing Program (YAWP) session is for writers, grades 2 and 3, who are ready to let their imaginations go a little wild! Our session will include writing mini-lessons with different dinosaur tales. Young writers will come up with ideas for stories and work on building sentences. Students will also learn how to ask for help with writing and how to share their writing with others. Each person in this session will get a copy of Nerdy Babies Dinosaurs by Emmy Kastner to show a model as to how an author creates and illustrates their own story. One of the best parts? Emmy will be phoning in live to check on students sometime during camp!
Adventures of the Young Writer: Discovering Stories Through Dragons, Magic, and Imaginary Worlds
In person: Grades 4-5
In this 10 day Central Arizona Writing Project Young Adult Writing Program (YAWP) session for 4th and 5th graders, young writers will explore where stories come from...and find the secret to creating everyday magic in their own notebooks. Using inspiration from Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott, students will hatch their own stories, breathe fire into plot elements, and watch as their imaginations take flight through different writing workshops. At the end of this program, students will understand stories are all around us, and once we slay writer’s block, we can continue to discover that the real magic is inside each individual writer.
Spotted... Robot Writers in the Wild!
In person: Grades 6-8
Join us this summer for writing in the wilderness of Arizona State University...with robots! This camp for older writers, aged 11-14, is storytelling at its finest by combining two very different forces: man and machine. By using the anchor text The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, campers will use mentor sentences to craft their mechanical tales and design their own robot characters from scratch. Each writer will figure out how a robot fits into their futuristic story. Using all of the tools in their writers' toolbox, campers will zoom-in on the details, receive feedback on their stories, and take part in daily expeditions onto WMU’s campus. At the Central Arizona Writing Project Young Adult Writing Program (YAWP) robotic writing is sure to bring the amazing machines from our imaginations to life!
Aim, Shoot, Score! Action-Packed Story Writing Inspired by Sports
Online: Grades 6-8
In this action-packed session, you can expect coaching in the ultimate scene creation: a balance between description, movement, and words that fly off the page! Using Ghost by Jason Reynolds as a mentor text and inspiration, students will dive into the pool of plot elements and use an inspiration of sports to keep their readers guessing. Work on your writing “moves” and build up stamina to become a young author in training. Young writers in this session will be able to draw from their individual sports choices or even dare to make up their own sport or game for readers to really get the play-by-play.
Storytelling and Vignettes Using Graphic Literature
Online: Grades 9-12
This session will use Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud in conjunction with diverse and varied excerpts from graphic literature, to inspire our own creative writing, narrative storytelling, and persuasive approaches. Through introspection (self-reflection), and analysis of characterization in graphic literature, we will harness the power of minimalist restraint by writing vignettes that are modeled after comic techniques, and explore the value of “problems” and “solutions” to unearth new realms within our minds to create meaningful stories. We will become a community of authors and listeners, while sharpening our analytical prowess. Additionally, we will engage in our own independent readings of our own found graphics novels, so this YAWP session will challenge all of us to see the world through our own lens, and tap into our inner storytelling origins.. No you don’t have to create comics (unless you want to.) The idea is that we will use the minimalist and concise strategies of graphic literary techniques to inspire our own poetry and prose.
Session B June 19th-30th 2023
Through An Animal’s Eyes: Memoir Writing in Middle School
In person: Grades 6-8
If you could be any animal, which animal would you be? This camp for older writers, aged 11-14, is storytelling at its finest by combining two forces: our personal experiences and focusing on first, second, and third person perspectives. By using the anchor text El Deafo by Cece Bell, campers will use mentor sentences and images to craft their selected life moments and retell their stories with animal-like details. Cece Bell, Newbery award winning author, retells her experiences with hearing loss with an image of her as a rabbit. From habitats to feeding frenzies, we will put a layer of creativity and imagination on our memories. Campers will use all of the tools in their writers’ toolboxes to zoom-in on the details, receive feedback on their stories, and take part in daily expeditions onto ASU’s campus.
All Aboard! Travel Into the World of Narrative Nonfiction
Online: Grades 6-8
Have you ever wanted to travel the world? Grab your passport and get ready to head to the continent of Africa in this jam-packed 10-day itinerary of a narrative nonfiction writing course. This Central Arizona Writing Project Young Adult Writing Program (YAWP) middle school session calls attention to all those that love real-life stories, have an appreciation for history, and love learning about different parts of the world. Using the mentor text The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander, students will experience a heart-breaking story that reminds us that we can’t move forward until we understand what is behind us. Young writers will then use those experiences by taking a deep dive into the narrative nonfiction writing process with research, reflection, scene-building, and narration.
Movers and Shakers: Using Stories to Shape the Way We Change the World
Online: Grades 9-12
Arthur O’Shaughnessy in his 1874 poem “Ode” wrote: “Yet we are the movers and shakers/Of the world forever, it seems.” The term “mover and shaker” is the inspiration for this writing session for high school students because they are on the precipice of using their voices to change the world around them. By reading All American Boys by Brendan Keily and Jason Reynolds, students will use writer moves to create stories that inspire change in an area of concern in their lives and their world around them. Whether they are focused on pollution, women’s rights, animal abuse, homelessness, police brutality or another issue, students will demonstrate empowerment and empathy through the written word.
Contact:
Brianna Rodriguez Program Manager, English Education
602-543-4653
YAWP@ASU.EDU