NaNoWriMo is excited to be able to offer additional resources to educators doing our programs in schools that use Title 1 funding to operate school-wide programs.

To check the status of your school, search for it on this website. Once you've clicked on your school's name, click "More information" at the top. Its Title I status is listed in the “School Characteristics” section of the new page.

If your school qualifies, please read about each resource below, and click the link in the respective section to apply!

Jump to: Motivational Classroom Kits, Teacher Bundle of NaNoWriMo Books,Class Set of Workbooks, Publishing Mini-Grants

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Motivational Classroom Kits

We offer this to all our teachers, but wanted to highlight it as a free resource available to you. It includes a progress chart, two sets of stickers, and a Writer's Emergency Pack. You can also add extra stickers and posters depending on how many students you have.

Don't see a button? Check back in August/ September!

Also, you can download our free digital classroom kit, updated annually, which includes a PDF version of the progress poster, printable workbook prompts, illustrated pep talk quotes, printable pep talks, winner and participant certificates, NaNoWriMo bookmarks, family letters in English and Spanish, and more!

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Teacher Bundle of NaNoWriMo Books 

Deepen your creative writing knowledge and add a few tricks to your teaching toolbox with this bundle of three noveling books. Includes one copy each of Brave the Page; Ready, Set, Novel!; and Pep Talks for Writers. (We'll reach out to applicants in mid-September.)

Claim your book bundle! 

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Class Set of Young Novelist Workbooks

These are already available for free in PDF and Google docs, but we've heard from educators that the experience became more meaningful and organized for their students when they had their own printed copies. (We'll reach out to applicants in mid-September.)

Claim your class set of workbooks! 

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NaNoWriMo Publishing Mini-Grants

“Publication is important for all children. It is not the privilege of the classroom elite, the future literary scholars. Rather, it is an important mode of literary enfranchisement for each child in the classroom.”

—Donald Graves, author of Writing: Teachers and Children at Work and pioneer in literacy education

We know that when students write with the goal of eventually publishing their work, the entire process changes. Suddenly, they are writing for an actual audience, rather than just their teacher. They work on developing their voice and consider the authorial choices they’re making in a new light. Revision takes on a whole new meaning because now, they’re not just revising to get a grade, they’re revising to make sure they feel proud of the work they’re about to share.

Publishing gives new purpose to their writing, and places them in a larger conversation—not just with their teacher and classroom, but the entire literary world. (To hear more from teachers about the impact of publishing: Writing for an Audience Beyond the Teacher: 10 Reasons to Send Student Work Out Into the World from The New York Times)

NaNoWriMo would like to support teachers in publishing student novels by offering mini-grants of up to $200. We define “publishing” as any number of things that share and celebrate student work, including:

• Self-publishing copies of student novels or class anthologies of excerpts through an online publisher like Blurb or Kindle Direct Publishing (formerly CreateSpace)
  

• Using a professional printing and binding service to print student novels or class anthologies of excerpts
  

• Binding and decorating student novels or excerpts in the classroom
  

• Displaying excerpts, summaries, and/or author bios in the hallway, public library, bookstores, or other community spaces
  

• Recording audio excerpts of student work to share
  

• Hosting a reading or author party (This option could include snacks! Crowns! Certificates!)

Basically, anything that allows students to share their stories with a wider audience and celebrate their hard work and creativity.

Apply for funding! 

We’ll let teachers know in late October/early November if they’ve been selected, though we won’t award funds until closer to the publishing date (which might be different for different classrooms, depending on the publishing project).

Questions:

1. How big is the mini-grant?

We can offer up to $200 to each selected teacher. (We’ll consider giving more if you have a large class and the request is reasonable - just describe your situation).

2. What can the funds be used for?

The mini-grant money can be used towards any type of publishing project. For example: printing fees, paper, self-publishing fees, binding costs, supplies for an author party, reserving space at a bookstore, gold paper crowns, fancy snacks for a reading, etc.

3. Who's eligible to apply?

Any teacher who plans to do NaNoWriMo with their students and is working in a school that uses Title 1 funding to operate school-wide programs. (In general, a school may use Title 1 funding to operate school-wide programs if 40% or more of its students live in poverty. To check the status of your school, search for it on this website: https://nces.ed.gov/globallocator. Once you've clicked on your school's name, click "More information" at the top. Its Title I status is listed in the “School Characteristics” section of the new page.)

4. How can I apply?

If you meet the eligibility criteria, apply using this form! We'll select winners until our funds run out and notify winners in October.

5. What will I be required to do if I receive a mini-grant?

We know publishing can be a long process, and we don't expect it to happen right away. Winners must use the funds for a publishing project by the end of the school year. In order to help us show the impact of this project (and hopefully find more funding for it in the future!), we also request that winners send us a brief testimonial and, if possible, photos from the publishing project.

Questions? Email ywp@nanowrimo.org