Cover Story takes middle school students on a guided tour through the universe of Story. Through the process of creating the content for their own magazine in a single school year, students are led, step by step, on a fun, thought-provoking journey of exploration and creation. They write poems, short stories, non-fiction articles, letters, and many other short pieces. They also learn to journal every day by following the creative structure of The Remarkable Journal of Professor Gunther Von Steuben. Along the way, they study not just a story’s form, but its execution.

Award Winning author Daniel Schwabauer, creator of the One Year Adventure Novel, opens up classic short stories, historic letters and poems, and his own insight into the writing life to reveal the process behind the page.

Reluctant writers like to ask, “What’s the point of writing?” Parents and teachers sometimes answer pragmatically, with statements like, “Writing is an extension of thinking,” or “Writing is a skill that will serve you your whole life,” or “Good writing skills will help you get a better job.”

Mr. S. prefers to answer that question with a question: “What do you think the point of writing should be?” Or, to put it another way, “What do you want to write about?”

The question is not whether or not students should be required to write. The question is why they should care. Cover Story turns the question around and lets students discover the answer.

Students are far more motivated to write when they choose their own subject and goals. Rather than assign topics a child has no interest in, (“Today we’re going to write a five paragraph theme about mollusks! isn’t that great?”) Cover Story allows students the freedom of choosing a theme for their magazine, and a subject for each assignment. This approach gives the structure and guidance they need to understand the principles in each lesson, but allows them to create from passion rather than pressure.