6 Ways Going to the Library Can Have a Positive Impact on Online School Students
by Julie Hersum
Connections Academy Online Clubs: Writers’ Oasis
by Valerie Kirk
5 min to read
On any given week, students enrolled in Connections Academy-supported schools can be heard reading a story or poem to a group of their peers, discussing alternate endings to a favorite book, or chatting about what they liked or didn’t like about certain characters from a story they had read.
While you might think these students are attending a Language Arts class, they are actually members of the Writers’ Oasis Club, a club for students to share their creative writing projects and one of the many extracurricular online clubs Connections Academy offers to their online school students.
What is the Writers’ Oasis Online Club?
The Writers’ Oasis Club is a safe place for students to develop and grow as creative writers with their peers. Presented with a variety of activities and prompts, they can share their work either on the message board or during the live meetings. Club members enjoy listening to their peers, and the constructive feedback they give can help students learn how to receive and act on feedback. Having such an opportunity to share their creative work can help build a student’s self-confidence and comradery over time as students often write about their fears, struggles, and joys. So many find the courage to share their personal stories — even those students who are shy in the beginning.
The club’s more than 750 students meet several times a month and is open to students in grades 6 – 12 with separate groups for middle school and high school students.
Developing as Writers
The Writer’s Oasis club also helps students develop as creative writers. Learning more about the craft such as:
How to develop different elements of a story
The genres of literature
Creating digital stories
Publishing articles
Students in the club can submit articles for The Monitor, the club’s online blog, giving them valuable experience writing for and submitting stories to a publication.
How Online Clubs Work
Connections Academy offers hundreds of extracurricular online clubs and activities, such as esports, debate, and chess, and students can join after their parent approves. Each club has an advisor that is a teacher or Connections Academy team member.
Most online clubs meet weekly in live, synchronous group sessions through the Pearson Online Classroom. During these sessions, students work with the club’s advisor to organize fun activities,
Recently, the Writers’ Oasis Club encouraged its members to dress up as a character from their writing (or someone from the same time period).
Other clubs use the live online sessions to bring in outside experts to help students learn more about the topic. For example, the Advanced Chess Club invited a Chess Grand Master to join their meetings to help students learn different chess strategies.
Club meetings are recorded, so club members who can’t attend live can hear what was discussed. In addition to the live meetings, students also complete optional activities on their own.
Online clubs also have their own message boards for students to chat and share things they are working on or have learned. Club advisors often add discussion prompts to the message board to help keep students engaged. These message boards are a great way for students to stay connected outside of club meetings.
While Connections Academy offers online clubs and activities for students in grades pre-K through 12th grades, some are just for certain age groups or grade levels. Students who do participate in extracurricular online school clubs may earn a certificate at the end of the school year.
Benefits That Extend to Students’ Futures
Participating in any of Connections Academy’s online clubs and activities helps students interact with people of all backgrounds in engaging and meaningful ways. They make like-minded friends and build connections that can help form their networks later in life.
Online clubs also help students learn the soft skills they will need to find success in their future careers, including leadership, time-management, teamwork, creative thinking, and problem solving. They help students explore potential career interests and gain valuable experience that will help them wherever their journey takes them after graduation.
Online school clubs like the Writers’ Oasis are great opportunities for students to meet other kids who share the same interests, which supports their social and emotional development. Extracurricular clubs also help students explore topics and activities in much greater depth outside of the classroom. Some Connections Academy online activities, like Quiz Bowl, even participate in local or national competitions.
How to Join an Online School Club
Connections Academy online clubs like Writers’ Oasis are easy to join. Parents or Learning Coaches simply need to sign their students up for the club, and the student will be given access to the optional content, added to the club message board, and invited to the live online meetings.
If students are hesitant or uncertain about joining an online extracurricular club, they are encouraged to just try it! Caretakers can reverse the club sign up at any time, and there is no penalty for not participating. Clubs are meant to be fun, no-pressure environments, so they can be as active as they would like to be. Students who are hesitant at first often find online clubs to be safe and supportive places.
Online clubs are a critical element of the Connections Academy school community. All students are welcome!
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