Slice of Life Story Challenge · writing

Prizes for the Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge

Stacey Shubitz

The Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge, which will run from Thursday, March 1st – Saturday, March 31st, begins a week from today.  Anyone who writes (and links to their posts by leaving a comment on this blog daily) for the entire month of March will be entered into a drawing for one of 30 prizes. (Please note: If we have more than 30 people who write and link daily during the Slice of Life Story Challenge, then prize recipients will be selected randomly.)  The recipients of these prizes will be announced in early April.

There are four additional prizes I will giveaway during the course of the month.  Be on the lookout for posts I write regarding commenting and writing streaks (hint hint).  The only other thing I will say about these prizes are that they’re from Choice Literacy and Heinemann.

Take a look at the fabulous prizes that have been donated.  Please click on any of the images to go directly to the website for the blog, book, or publisher that’s being mentioned:

Three people will win a Storyology Workshop courtesy of Ali Edwards.

The All Write Consortium is donating one free registration to the ALL WRITE!!! SUMMER INSTITUTE.

Linda Baie, who slices year-round, is donating one copy of Poem Crazy by Susan G. Wooldridge.

Choice Literacy is donating four prizes, two of which will be given away to month-long Slicers (and two of which will be given away during March as described above).  The two prizes that will be given away in early April are “Write from the Start” featuring Ruth Shagoury and Andie Cunningham on writing conferences with young ELL students and a one-year subscription to Choice Literacy.

Chronicle Books is donating selection of their favorite children’s books + a beautiful journal to one slicer.

Cinco Puntos Press is contributing oneprize package with two books: Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel written and illustrated by Xavier Garza and Saltypie – A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light by Tim Tingle illustrated by Karen Clarkson.

Heinemann is donating five books, three of which will be given away to month-long Slicers (and two of which will be given away during March as described above).  The three books that will be given away in early April are Crunchtime by Gretchen S. Bernabei, Jayne Hover, and Cynthia Candler, Hidden Gems by Katherine Bomer and Mentor Author, Mentor Texts by Ralph Fletcher.

Longtime March SOLSC participant Kevin Hodgson is donating one copy of his book Teaching the New Writing.

Kids Can Press is donating one “First Time Author Picture Book Prize Pack,” which the following titles: Daisy’s Perfect World, Dear Flyary, My Name Is Elizabeth!,  and Vote for Me!

Juliann Phillips, another longtime SOLSC participant, is donating one fabric covered composition book journal.

Responsive Classroom is donating one book (of the winner’s choosing) from the Responsive Classroom Spring 2012 Catalog.

Christy Rush-Levine, who slices year-round, is donating four prizes: a hand-stamped moleskine notebook (with a natural kraft paper cover),a hand-stamped binder (natural chipboard cover with a green fabric spine),a homemade framed inspirational nudge to keep writing, and an “I Write” mouse pad from BookFiend.

Stenhouse Publishers is donating one book to five different month-long Slicers.  Recipients will be able to choose the book they wish to receive.

The Two Sisters, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, are donating four one-year memberships to The Daily Cafe.

Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, of the Poem Farm Blog, is donating one glass dip pen.

Remember, the greatest prize of all comes from being part of a writing community where you can develop pieces of writing and get feedback on your work as a writer daily.  Looking forward to seeing you back for the start of the Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge this-coming Thursday!

Published by Stacey Shubitz

I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island. I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010). I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.

19 thoughts on “Prizes for the Fifth Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge”

    1. @Stacey – this is very helpful! It’s good to keep in mind that just because I know what I did last year – many of the kids do not. I like the writerly prize idea and happen to have in-laws who make hand-turned wooden pens, along with a family friend who creates the most beautiful writer’s notebooks!

      @Zeaserspalace – Last year I allowed them to choose – blog or a special notebook I created for SOLSC. I found the paper notebooks to be cumbersome and didn’t feel nearly as connected to those students as I did my bloggers. The kids who blogged were more on my radar as a reader. This year, the students seem a little more immature which increases the pressure to keep a very close eye on what they may be publishing on their blog every day. I think I’m going to offer it as an option, with a required post each Tuesday since we’re already in the lab.

      Thanks so much for the ideas and encouragement! 🙂

      Like

  3. Okay – I have been lurking here for at least two years and I think I have finally worked up the gumption to give it a go. I have challenged (dared) all my teacher friends to join me. I have started blog number three in order to separate my “writing” life from my personal and creative lives. I look forward to reading and commenting on many writers’ works and can’t wait to get some feedback on my own writing.

    Like

  7. Sounds like another great challenge is in store! Before we begin, I’ve got to throw this out there – feel free to chime it! Last year I made the challenge a big deal with my 2 classes of 7th graders who were blogging as well. I held weekly prize drawings, and an overall end of the month drawing. It was pretty pricey, kept me VERY busy, and I had an aide in both classes who was invaluable! In the end, I had about 6-8 students who sliced all. month. long. They said it was a very powerful experience.

    This year, I have 3 classes of 7th graders and there are some who might take it and run with it. I want to make it simple. I just want them to write. I don’t really want to put a zillion parameters on it. If I hadn’t done the challenge with students last year, I don’t think I’d feel this same guilt about not actively including them this year. Thoughts?

    Like

  9. CAN NOT WAIT! Hopefully this is just what is needed to re-motivate my poor disowned blog! Yikes! Just reading this post, I got the excited butterflies! It’s so funny how we forget how much we love something when we depart from it for a while. Thanks for the reminder that I am giving up a piece of me be skipping out on slicing. Committed to making a come back! 🙂

    Like

  11. I remember reading something in the past few weeks about using the slice of life challenge in the classroom. Do you do anything special to help teachers adapt the challenge for classroom use? Can you help me locate the teacher post that mentioned incentives used for students participating on various levels during the month.

    Like

    1. @Ramona: I’m out now & not near a PC. That being said, I will be writing a post in
      the SOLSC in the classroom over the weekend.
      In the meantime, feel free to look for old SOLSC classroom posts by using the search bar in the top right corner of our blog. Just type a few keywords and you should be able to find those older posts.
      Thanks!

      Like

  12. Looking forward to my second year of SOL! It isn’t as daunting a “task” (is that even close to the write word?) as it seemed it would be last March. I’m excited and even have April almost all planned for my next challenge…which I did last year too! On with March…or March on!

    Like

Comments are closed.