Congratulations to Gabi and Hunter, sixth graders at Indian Trail, and Troy, a fifth grader at El Sierra. During different weeks this school year, the 100 Word Challenge selected these students’ creative stories as its showcase winner.
The 100 Word Challenge is a global writing contest that provides weekly writing prompts in the form of a photo or phrase. Children are invited to write a 100-word story inspired by the prompt. Each week, the challenge picks about 15 winners from a pool of about 700 (or more!) story entries.
For example, the prompt Hunter won depicted a photo of tree-like creatures invading a forest. Hunter used her vivid imagination to pen a 100-word story describing the events taking place.
“I like to write dramatic stories with desperate themes,” Hunter said. “I thought this photo presented a cool opportunity for a story. The tree men look like they’re preparing to fight. I wanted my story to reflect the desperation of a character who was watching the fight but couldn’t be a part of it.”
Some classrooms at El Sierra, Belle Aire, Hillcrest, Indian Trail and Kingsley participate in this activity.
“Our students love it! I feel as a whole, our class loves to write, so this is just another way for them to express themselves,” said Meg Rohlfing, El Sierra fifth grade teacher.
Tim Frederickson, a District instructional coach, helped introduce the 100 Word Challenge to District 58 schools.
“In my experience, when students have an open audience (in this case, worldwide) they are so much more invested in their writing! They really bring their ‘A’ game,” Frederickson said.
Fifth grader Troy agreed. While writing is usually not his favorite school subject, he said he loves any opportunity to be creative, and he especially enjoys when he can create stories using picture prompts, similar to the 100 Word Challenge.
“We sometimes do other picture prompts in school, and it’s my favorite type of writing,” he said.
Sixth grader Gabi said that she especially loves how the 100 Word Challenge is global, and teachers and students worldwide can comment on her stories.
“One of my stories received a positive comment from a retired teacher from Austria!” she said. “I felt really good about that.”
All three students – Gabi, Hunter and Troy – agreed that the 100 Word Challenge encourage them to stretch their creativity.
“I love to write,” Hunter said. “When you write, you can forget the world around you and make it whatever you want.”