Write a Book in a Day Competition provides Real-World Learning Opportunities
The Snowy Shed was a hive of energy on Tuesday, 15 June, with eighty students working in teams of five to ten, coming together for the 2021 Write a Book in a Day Competition. Calling upon their creative and collaborative minds, students had just twelve hours to write and illustrate a book from start to finish within a set of unique parameters and random words generated by the event organisers.
All funds raised through sponsorship went to the Kids’ Cancer Project, a national charity supporting childhood cancer research. Leading up to the event, students held barbecues and other fundraising events. Three students, Tulli, Kiera and Ally, busked in Nugget’s Crossing and raised $150.20! Well done, girls!
Complementing the curriculum, the real-world learning opportunities, packed into a twelve-hour period, were limitless for our students as they took on team roles, negotiated and collaborated, worked to deadlines under pressure, brainstormed, iterated and supported each other through the fun and action-packed activity.
With the use of technology and cloud-based publishing platforms, an integral part of the event, SMGS’ Head of Faculty, Educational Support and Enrichment, Mrs Melissa Bell, explained, “We live in a digital era and we have to teach our students to be adaptable and agile. Technology is changing so quickly and therefore we try each year to use a different platform depending on what is out there and what is available. This year we used Canva.”
SMGS’ Head of Digital Learning, Mr Scott Frize, expanded on his colleague’s comment, saying, “It was wonderful to see students utilising Adobe Illustrator and the cloud-based program Canva in the execution of their books. For some students, this would have been their first time using some of these platforms and they were inspired by the process and skill development opportunity”.
Twelve hours of hard work and focus resulted in eight delightful stories headed for the Kids’ Cancer Project. The titles of the books and the teams that wrote them were:
Dinner Dilemma – Team Leichhardt Legends (Junior School)
Driving to the Light – Team Frozen Dilemma (Middle School)
Into the Deep – Team Snowy Snakes (Middle School)
Philip’s Way Home – Team Burumurring (Middle School)
The Lost Turtle – Team Drop Bears (Middle School)
The Ring Robbery – Team Snowy Mountains Ten (Junior School)
Buddy’s Beats – Team Snowmonkeys (Middle School)
Buff Brad and Bony Brody with Leonard – Team Island Frogs (Middle School)
To view all the books, head to: WRITE A BOOK IN A DAY COMPLETED BOOKS
A big thank you to the Write a Book in a Day team for another engaging event and for providing such a fantastic opportunity for our students:
- Melissa Bell, SMGS’ Head of Faculty, Educational Support and Enrichment, and SMGS’ Write a Book in a Day event co-ordinator
- Scott Frize – Head of Digital Learning and Innovation
- Anne Jones – Teacher, Advanced English, English Extension 1, Standard English, English, History, Year 9 Skills
- Tavia Taylor – Specialist Educational Support
- Dani Fox – Senior School Educational Support Assistant.
- Christine Philpott – Year 5 Teacher
The event was also covered by WIN News Canberra, which saw SMGS being named as School of the Week on Thursday, 17 June. This can be viewed here.
