WRITE RHODE ISLAND CREATIVE SUMMER INSTITUTE

Film As Art

Are you curious about how your favorite movie was made? Maybe you’re interested in making movies yourself? Come learn an introduction to all the different tools filmmakers use today! We’ll be talking about how physical film works, discussing animation methods, and optimizing our devices to record our own digital footage. We’ll also be watching examples of each medium together. At the end of the session, everyone will present what they’ve learned by showing a demo reel created throughout the week!

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Essential Math

In this class we will continue working on our personal finance unit and “real-life” math skills by
incorporating individual projects along with homework assignments and quizzes.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a collective storytelling game played amongst friends with dice telling you what you can and can't do. Over the course of one week, you are cordially invited to come play D&D, build a character, and go on an adventure. What makes this particular D&D game unique is that we will be taking a break over the course of the game to allow writers space to write the story of their character, with the hope that -- at the end of the week -- the story will continue.

No previous D&D experience necessary. Extra readings available.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Pocket Poem Books

In this class we will spend the week making handmade books from your poems or illustrating poems you love. We will spend the first day with warm-up exercises playing with words and images, and creating short poems in the Haiku and Haka style developed in Japan. We will then work on designing and putting together small books that are pocket-sized and foldable, including an accordion book with pockets, and ending with a panel book with boards and ribbon. Creating these books will help you think of how words can work visually to tell a story, not just on the page. You will leave the class with 3 books.

To prepare for this class, please bring along any poems or prose you would like to work with.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Nature Drawing

In this class we will observe and draw the natural world and use that knowledge to create fictional landscapes, scenes, backgrounds, and settings. We'll cover the foundational ideas behind landscape drawing like conveying depth, portraying color and light, using perspective for drawing buildings and structures, and setting the scene in an illustration with characterful details. We'll discuss the history of landscape art, as well as how artists use framing along with visual and conceptual world building to make the places they draw feel believable and full of interesting personality.

We'll use a variety of drawing materials including pencils and ink, charcoal, and watercolor. Sketchbook required. We will go outside for this class.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Sports Writing & Reporting

Students will become sports writers in this hands-on program, giving them an opportunity to write about something they care about -- Sports! Students will be writing feature articles about sports-related topics of their choosing, and they also will collaborate to create scripts for podcasts of sports-related topics of their choosing. Depending on the schedule, there also may be interviews with local sports personalities as well as a digital field trip.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Welcome to the World of Anime: Comics & Manga

If you love comics and illustration, including anime and manga, join us for this exciting program and discover how to draw characters in a variety of styles. You’ll learn the techniques you need to draw your favorite characters, and to invent characters of your own. We’ll cover drawing fundamentals such as perspective, linework, coloring techniques and how to draw facial expressions and figures in action. We’ll use different materials like colored pencils, markers, or digital art programs to create characters and plan a project of your own.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Let’s Make A Murder Mystery

It was a dark and stormy night. And the butler did it. While wielding a game of Clue!

Come explore how a murder mystery actually works. Investigate the trope of detective-as-genius, explore 'hard-boiled' writing, look at the impact of abolitionist movements on police narratives, and then put together a story that will blow everyone away. No experience necessary.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Mini Memoir: Personal Essays and Stories

A writing workshop where we talk about why someone might write a memoir and the different types of memoirs they can write. Students will workshop each other’s work and receive some feedback. Students will be given prompts to help guide their thoughts.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Reading and Writing Horror

In this workshop, we will explore why some people love horror (and why others hate it), and how to create horror for the page or screen. We’ll explore a diverse group of writers such as Stephen-Graham Jones, Shirley Jackson, Octavia Butler, Akela Cooper, Stephen King, Grady Hendrix, Jordan Peele and more.

Students will explore creating their own monsters in a series of writing exercises. Students will get an opportunity to scare the crap out of their peers and share their work in an inclusive and encouraging environment.

For students who love horror.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Centering Yourself for School: Wellness & Creativity

The past several years have been quite turbulent (to say the least) in so many aspects of our lives. As we struggle through all the challenges we are faced with, the need to focus on wellness is perhaps greater than ever. This class offers the tools we can use to keep ourselves calm, grounded and creative, including mindfulness, journaling, community, physical activity, and communing with nature.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Get Real: Prose and Poetry

In this class we’ll explore prose and poetry that takes place here, in the ‘real world.’ We’ll talk about how to situate, find story, and manipulate language to make nonfiction read as smoothly as our favorite movies or shows. Students will end the week having created original work.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Introduction to Animation

Calling all animation fans! This week-long course provides an introduction to various animation concepts and techniques, ranging from the paper animation of the 1920s to modern-day 2D cartoons. We will be watching screenings of different animation and trying out all the techniques ourselves. In addition, students will have the opportunity to make their own short animation over the course of the five days using the skills they’ve learned, of which we’ll watch on the final day!

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Say It with Clay!

In this class, students will learn ceramic hand-building techniques. Students will create functional and nonfunctional ceramic art. Learn how to create with coils, slab construction, and clay pinching methods. Students will create their own pieces and learn how to glaze finished artwork.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | Afternoon Session I July 31 - August 4

Writing Screenplays

In this workshop, students will study screenplay structure and format, while writing a variety of short screenplays in an encouraging and welcoming environment. We will watch shorts and study popular Hollywood features such as Get Out, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Ladybird and The Batman, and pull them apart to analyze story structure, character development and more.

Students will share their work participating in table reads and receive peer and instructor feedback.

For students interested in writing screenplays or making movies.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

I Have a Lot of Feelings: A Slam & Performative Workshop

Slam poetry is a medium that requires your feelings, political opinions, fears, and passions. In this course you will turn your emotional outpourings and your journal rants into slam poetry or prose and perform your work to the group. You will receive peer feedback and also provide commentary to other writers.

If you have a lot of feelings and writing them down gives you relief, take this workshop.

Information regarding local slam poetry events and other opportunities will be supplied.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Current Affairs

In this class we will focus on current issues of interest to you and building the skills to deepen
understanding. We will watch and read the news, and write about it! This is a great basic skills English class: reading for details, grammar, essay construction, expressing multiple points of view.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Creative Writing Exploration

In Exploration in Creative Writing we will dive into short story and personal essay writing. Students will read examples from different genres and discuss the craft elements demonstrated in each text. Through a series of prompts and exercises, students will create, draft, and revise new creative works. Students can expect to work individually and in groups, to read work out loud to the group and to give and receive feedback.

Grades 7-12 | Afternoon Session | July 31 - August 4

Writers Round-Up

Attend craft lectures, get tips on reading your work in public, attend a workshop for editing, learn the ins and outs of the publishing industry, meet with an interactive panel and attend a "write-in" at a local literary arts organization (a.k.a field trip).

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

News Reporting and Writing

In this hands-on class, students will be learning how to ask questions, how to take notes and the differences in writing News stories, Feature stories and Columns/Editorials. They will be conducting interviews and ultimately learning how to look at information in different ways. From their interviews, students will be writing objective and subjective pieces, which will be discussed in the class.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4

Character Factory

In this workshop students will discover how to build and create complex, vivid and unforgettable characters. We will develop inner (thoughts and feelings) and outer (appearance, habits, behavior) lives for our characters and see how that can lead us to richer and more interesting stories. We will meet these characters and breathe life into them.

Grades 7-12 | Morning Session | July 31 - August 4