Get Ready for National Day on Writing with 3 Global Model Texts

Posted on October 06, 2020

The National Day on Writing is October 20th! Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English the day provides an opportunity for students and educators to celebrate writing and the many reasons to engage in it.

The three short texts below -- from Mexico, China, and Egypt -- provide inspiration and ways to start that conversation.

• After reading “Nothing Remains Empty,” a poem from Mexico that powerfully answers the question of "why write?", students might describe their hopes for their own writing.
• “Sharing,” a Chinese graphic story about a character's search for connection in a new city, can be a springboard for students to talk about their past or current experiences of arrival in a new environment (a city, a school or university, a country…): “How did it feel? What did you notice right away? What took longer to understand?” (For examples of student projects, see this blog post.)
• “Amina,” a poem from Egypt, about the “perfect friend,” could launch a class discussion about friendship: “What is a 'perfect friend'? Does such a person exist? What do we hope for in our friendships?”