Flash Fiction for Every Classroom

by Amy Kukula

What if I tell you that you can give your students the chance to publish their writing beyond a classroom audience, celebrate their creativity, and flex their narrative writing skills, all in one week? If that sounds exciting, the WPCTE Flash Fiction Contest may be perfect for you! I’ve linked individual activities below, but you’ll find everything I use in this slideshow.

The Contest

The WPCTE Flash Fiction Contest is a writing contest for grades 1-12. The maximum length is 500 words (My 9th-grade students have been pleasantly surprised by the opportunity to convey meaning concisely, instead of having to ‘hit’ a minimum word count). The deadline this year is October 30, 2026.

Class Activities

Bellringers: Students read their independent choice books for a few minutes at the start of class, then I ask a bellringer question that they answer in their notebooks or discuss. Tie reading to writing by asking…

What do you love/dislike about what you are reading?
What genres do you enjoy reading?
How can a short story be impactful? (paired with a story from 100wordstory.org)

How did the author make the plot feel exciting/characters feel real in your book?

Introduction: Ask students to write down enough ‘talking points’ to tell a one-minute story to a partner, then repeat the process with less and less time. Any similar activity that gets kids thinking about cutting straight to the most essential, compelling action will work. Show the WPCTE contest guidelines (or have students explore them online).
Inspiration Stations: Hang eight stations around the room, give each writer the Inspiration Station page, and provide time to explore a few different stations.
Mentor texts: At the start of class, read a snippet from a mentor text, such as Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Inspired by Penny Kittle’s Micro Mentor Texts (a WPCTE book club offering this past year!), identify a craft move, such as ‘zooming in’ on a moment with imagery, to point out to students. Then, invite students to (optionally) incorporate that strategy or craft move into their own writing. This year, students created some amazing examples of onomatopoeia, sensory language, and dialogue to establish character traits. As they work, I confer with writers and check off names on my roster to make sure I speak to everyone.
Peer review: After peer review efforts fell flat during my first Flash Fiction year, I decided to ask kids to choose just an excerpt of their writing on which they specifically wanted feedback. A small group of peers gave one Glow (compliment) and one Grow (suggestion). This facilitated more specific and focused feedback. Afterward, students use the rubric to self-score with a quiet read-aloud.
Scavenger Hunt: Students read each other’s writing in a self-paced gallery walk. Analyzing fellow students’ writing for creative and effective use of literary elements frames them as real writers with real skills. Plan an hour to hang up all of the stories, then send students around the room with the Scavenger Hunt Doc.
Extension Activities (linked)

Timeline

I have one 39-minute period per day with each of my classes, so here’s how I set things up:

Day 1: Bellringer, introduce contest, Inspiration Stations
Day 2: Bellringer, mentor text mini-lesson (hooks), drafting/conferencing
Day 3: Bellringer, mentor text mini-lesson (zooming in with imagery), drafting/conferencing
Day 4: Bellringer, mentor text mini-lesson (characterization through dialogue), drafting/conferencing
Day 5: Bellringer reflecting on the writing process, finish drafting, peer & self-revision
Day 6: Scavenger hunt

With my Transition classes, I spent a little more time on this process (one and a half to two weeks) and added the Extension Activities (above) to build confidence.

Learning Curve

My school has an Artificial Intelligence usage matrix, as well as department policies for teaching the importance of originality, how AI works, and the consequences of using AI. Despite this, I had a student use AI to write their story. Consider asking students to sign a mini-contract promising originality, and schedule in time before the contest deadline to read everything prior to submitting.

Let’s do this!

I discovered the WPCTE Flash Fiction Contest as an undergraduate English education student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania when WPCTE President Amy Bouch invited our NCTE-IUP students to take part as judges. Now, as we look forward to the new school year, I hope you’ll consider joining in the fun! By devoting just one week to students’ freedom to write narratively, you inspire their storytelling skills, foster their creativity, and help them hone their craft. If you have questions or want to brainstorm together, please reach out to me at akukula@iasd.cc. Happy writing to you and your students!

Author Bio

Amy Kukula is a 9th-grade English teacher at Indiana Area Senior High School in Indiana, PA. She also choreographs musicals at Indiana Area Junior High, directs productions for the Footlight Players Youth Theater Camp, and teaches dance classes at Sue Hewitt Dance Studio.