OF Participants
show demonstrable writing growth (their average word count increases over 50% by the end of the program)
Storytelling will enhance any path your students choose to take in life. The ability to comprehend and reflect one's understanding of the world in a compelling and captivating manner allows for more meaningful connections with others, and a healthy perspective on the heroic role they must play in this world.
is all in the data:
There are many paths you can take into the Special World of storytelling.
Let us point you the right way!
students join groups of 4-5 peers, and together they write a book in two weeks
includes 16 total hours of story writing instruction with one of our dedicated Story Directors, with Storytelling Missions to complete each day
we can arrange a book ceremony for the next school year to hand students their published books and celebrate their amazing work
students join groups of 4-5 peers, and together they write a book in 16 weeks
includes 16 total hours of story writing instruction with one of our dedicated Story Directors
meets in the afternoon/evening virtually for one hour each week, with Storytelling Missions to complete between sessions
books will be shipped to students' doorsteps!
license our Written Out Loud curriculum for your teachers to run our program with their entire classes during the school day
students will work both as a class with their teacher, and in groups of 4-5 to learn the craft of storytelling and co-author their own books
one book will be published per group (so in a class of 25 students, there would be 5 published books)
students join groups of 4-5 peers, and together they write a book in two weeks
includes 16 total hours of story writing instruction with one of our dedicated Story Directors, with Storytelling Missions to complete each day
we can arrange a book ceremony for the next school year to hand students their published books and celebrate their amazing work
students join groups of 4-5 peers, and together they write a book in 16 weeks
includes 16 total hours of story writing instruction with one of our dedicated Story Directors
meets in the afternoon/evening virtually for one hour each week, with Storytelling Missions to complete between sessions
books will be shipped to students' doorsteps!
license our Written Out Loud curriculum for your teachers to run our program with their entire classes during the school day
students will work both as a class with their teacher, and in groups of 4-5 to learn the craft of storytelling and co-author their own books
one book will be published per group (so in a class of 25 students, there would be 5 published books)
Written Out Loud's curriculum will be delivered with supporting instructional samples, activities, and film & TV clips
Each student will receive a copy of their published book
An additional copy of every published book will be provided to be displayed in your school library
Our program is generating further proven results:
show demonstrable writing growth (their average word count increases over 50% by the end of the program)
who show up on Day 1 become regular program attendees
students' use of mature and advanced vocabulary
While the nation's test scores plummeted, students who took the Written Out Loud program increased their state reading and writing scores significantly more than their counterparts.*
than those who did not participate
than those who did not participate
*East Windsor (NJ) Regional School District
We work with learning providers from traditional school districts, non-profits, homeschools, camps, and Afterschool program providers. We hope to add your voice to our story too.
"The fact that students, through Written Out Loud, become published authors and begin to see themselves as experts, creators, storytellers - there is nothing better. To have that joy is something that is just irreplaceable."
"As soon as I realized that Written Out Loud was for real, I signed up our entire summer school for the program, grades 2 through 8... I cannot speak highly enough of this program and what it has brought to our students. The results were astounding."
"Opening our Hero’s Journey themed camp program this summer was perhaps one of the greatest gifts we could ever have provided our summer learners. Our children unlocked boundless treasures of imagination, connection and confidence. Our summer storytellers have enjoyed an experience that will stay with them for a long time to come."
We'd like to show you the depth of our passion for what we do, and to illustrate the significant truths that ground our mission in everlasting purpose.
*Click on each tile to learn more about each lesson
COURAGE is the quality of mind and spirit that a person summons to face difficulty, danger, and pain in the face of fear. Absent courage, no idea would ever be spoken or shared.
This is why we slyly encourage young storytellers to begin their journey by sharing their influences - ideas they love, from other stories, the ones they love, thereby relieving the impossible pressure of being original. There is no such thing as wholly original.
By growing the flowers of inspiration out of the soil of their influences, Storytellers who are afraid that they are “just copying” ideas from their favorite stories will learn one of Written Out Loud’s most valuable principles: “It's not where you take things from, it's where you take them TO that matters.”
Stories contain the inescapable truths that connect us all to one another. Our SKIN JUMP lesson focuses on one of the most important, mysterious dimensions of being human: CONNECTION. Creating a SKIN JUMP is one of the storyteller's most valuable tricks. (The word "trick" can sound deceitful, but the skin jump is a benevolent magic trick.)
The SKIN JUMP contains three steps: Perspective, Vulnerability, and Empathy. At the beginning of every story, the storyteller anchors their story on the Perspective of a single ("main") character. Then the storyteller exposes to the audience that main character's Vulnerability. Immediately, the audience member CONNECTS with that character through the magical portal of Empathy.
Et voila, a SKIN JUMP occurs: the audience member leaves their own skin behind, and enters thereafter the skin of the main character, through which they will now experience the world of the story.
The Creative Crews that are solidified in Lesson 3 will be the micro-communities in which the Storytellers bond and create throughout the rest of the program. At the core of the Written Out Loud methodology is that stories are best created when shared out loud with others.
This process fosters the trust, courage, responsibility, and support that all human beings need. Once these Crews define their codes of conduct and get under way creating the protagonist for their original stories, take great care to witness the joy of collaboration that emerges from their spirits.
Yes, disagreements and obstacles will emerge from this group dynamic as well - alongside the joy and laughter. These challenges present the perfect opportunity for each Storyteller to hone the life skills necessary to accomplish great feats in concert with others.
COURAGE is the quality of mind and spirit that a person summons to face difficulty, danger, and pain in the face of fear. Absent courage, no idea would ever be spoken or shared.
This is why we slyly encourage young storytellers to begin their journey by sharing their influences - ideas they love, from other stories, the ones they love, thereby relieving the impossible pressure of being original. There is no such thing as wholly original.
By growing the flowers of inspiration out of the soil of their influences, Storytellers who are afraid that they are “just copying” ideas from their favorite stories will learn one of Written Out Loud’s most valuable principles: “It's not where you take things from, it's where you take them TO that matters.”
The Call To Adventure must inspire the courage necessary to leave behind the main character's Ordinary World, and enter the story's Special World.
The Call must hold within it the power to fully and radically transform the recipient's life. When Storytellers embark upon a Written Out Loud journey, they embrace the opportunity to grow and redefine their relationships with writing, with each other, and with themselves.
Every Storyteller who answers this Call dedicates their creativity and emotional strength to discovering the awe-inspiring greatness they're capable of achieving.
In every story, a protagonist has several key relationships that effect and influence them, driving them to become who they are. But at Written Out Loud, we believe that most great stories contain a Central Relationship that acts as a direct reflection of the hero's understanding of themselves.
We see the world as we are, not as it is.
As young authors, your Storytellers will explore their own sense of identity in the process of developing the Central Relationships in their fictional stories. They'll discover how another character can mightily impact their hero, while simultaneously uncovering how they are impacted by their own perception of the world.
You may know the feeling of making a "leap" into some new commitment or place in your life. Beyond the Threshold lies a Special World full of seemingly epic dangers and unimaginable treasures. The higher highs and lower lows of the Special World lay in stark contrast with the Ordinary World being left behind, inspiring both fear and a sense of exhilaration. Crossing the Threshold into this new environment is a transformative experience as it is a moment where one proves to themselves that they are courageous enough to face the unknown lying ahead. Your Storytellers will demonstrate this courage too as they begin to take their stories onwards, into Act II of the program.