Publishing and Writing for Students: A Classroom Guide

How often does your students’ writing leave the classroom? We’re not talking about when they take it home after receiving a grade. We’re talking about sharing it with people other than teachers, peers, or parents. In most cases, these are likely the only groups of people who will ever read your students’ work.

Then, they may wonder why they should take the time to write something if only a handful of people will ever read it. But there’s a solution: Publishing. When you publish student writing—in addition to having them submit it for a grade—it’s a way to give students a more authentic purpose for their work.

In this article, we’ll discuss what publishing is, why publishing and writing are important inside and outside the classroom, and give tips for how to publish student writing aside from just having them submit assignments.

• Why publish student writing?
• 9 ways to publish student writing
• Tips to set students and their writing up for publication
• Student publishing FAQs

[Why publish student writing?](id-why)

Publishing is the process of preparing and distributing written content for public viewing. It’s the last stage of the writing process. Assignment submission is technically one kind of publishing, with the audience being the teacher or peers. There are also other, more traditional options we’ll discuss later in this article.

Beyond monitoring student progress as they learn to write and being able to grade them on their work, there are other benefits to publishing student writing. Some of them include:

Increasing student engagement in writing

When traditional publishing is on the table, students have a more authentic purpose for writing. This gives them a better idea of who the audience should be and helps them target their ideas, details, and tone to that audience rather than just to their teacher.

When students feel like their writing will be seen by others outside of the classroom or have an impact beyond simply earning a grade, it can encourage them to want to write. 

Creating opportunities for more feedback

Publishing student writing can open doors for more feedback outside the classroom. When students receive real-world feedback, they gain a better understanding of how their piece resonated with the target audience. This feedback may hold more weight than that of teachers and peers, and it may also help students get more comfortable with both praise and constructive criticism through exposure.

Building student portfolios

Publishing student writing can help them build a portfolio of work over the year. This can help them see their writing progress over time. Additionally, portfolios are valuable resources for students applying for scholarships or seeking internships. The content can help them demonstrate to selection committees and hiring teams the kind of writing they’re capable of.

Boosting student confidence

Publishing student work helps them see themselves as authors. Having their work displayed somewhere can make students feel proud and like it’s more legitimate than just a graded assignment. 

[9 ways to publish student writing](id-ways)

Explore practical ways that you can publish student writing that are low-lift for you and high-impact for your students:

Digital publishing

Digital publishing options enable student writing to appear in online spaces, whether run by teachers or another organization. Try some of these options for digital student publishing:

1. Digital writing wall

Create a teacher-run digital space to share your students’ writing. This may be in a platform like Google Classroom, on a private blog or website, or another digital display option. You can make this wall available for students to publish their content, or you can choose which pieces to feature. 

The benefit of a digital wall is that you’re in control of the space and can run it in a way that works best for your classroom.

2. eBooks

Creative tools like Canva can help you or your students develop eBooks with their writing. When students create the books themselves, they can add images, colors, animations, or even sound to their words. 

When the eBook is finished, students can share the link with anyone, like friends or family, or even share it on their social media accounts. Creating an eBook can also provide students with practice using various types of technology and visual arts platforms.

3. Online publishing platforms

There are a variety of online publishing platforms dedicated to showcasing student writing. These spaces provide a safe and student-friendly platform for sharing writing with other students and reaching a larger audience.

With an online publishing platform, students can engage in positive community interactions and discussions with others about their writing, without making it publicly available to everyone on the internet.

Physical publishing

Physical publishing can solidify students’ feelings of being writers or published authors because they are creating a tangible item they can read and see. While physical publication can be more time-consuming and expensive than digital options, you may still be able to find a method that works for your class. Try:

4. Classroom displays

You can maintain a rotating display of student writing in your classroom on the bulletin board or a dedicated wall. You can also provide a blank space in the classroom for students to display their own work when they want others to read it. 

Classroom displays can be an especially useful publishing tool if you have different classes come into your room throughout the day. It lets peers see each other’s work. Plus, this is also a way for you to decorate your classroom at no or low cost that will interest your students.

5. Self-published anthologies

Similar to eBook creation, you can have students design their books, but get them printed. For an anthology, each student can design a page to showcase their own writing. Then, you can print the anthology yourself and bind it together or use a printing and binding service.

To save money, you may choose not to print a copy for every student but share the link to the anthology so they can print it or have it bound for themselves if they want a copy.

6. Creative publishing options

Publishing writing doesn’t always mean students’ words appear in a book or a digital publication. Writing is art (even essays!), so there are plenty of artistic ways you could have your students publish their work.

Poems can be especially great for creative publication options because they may be short and easily printed, painted, or otherwise added to unconventional spaces. For example, have students try painting their poems on a canvas to hang up at home.

External publishing

There are options available to publish student writing outside of channels within your control to expose their work to an even wider audience. Explore some of these external publishing options:

7. Student writing contests

Education organizations and other groups or businesses may hold student writing contests throughout the year. These contests are usually open to students under 18 and may accept anything from fiction to poetry or nonfiction, depending on the contest guidelines.

Encouraging students to submit their work to a writing contest will expose them to the submission process, which often mirrors the early stages of the publishing process for working writers.

Newsela hosts student writing contests a few times per year. This is an excellent opportunity for students to actively share their work and have the chance to see it published on our platform! Check out some of our most recent writing contests and the winners:

• Scary Story Contest (Fiction)
• The Legacy of Dr. King (Nonfiction)
• Profound and Passionate Poets (Poetry)

Keep an eye out on the Newsela platform and our social media channels for the announcement of our next writing contest! Don’t have a Newsela account yet? Sign up for free today!

8. School publications

If your school has a newspaper, literary magazine, yearbook, or another publication, encourage students to submit their writing for consideration. Similar to writing contests, students will have to follow submission guidelines to share their work, exposing them to the process. 

You can also encourage students who have a deeper interest in writing to join these organizations to get more experience with what writing might be like as a career.

9. Local publications

Local newspapers, magazines, libraries, or organizations may accept submissions for student writing. Unlike contests, these may be open-call submissions, where there’s no theme and students can submit anything they want as long as it meets the publication criteria.

It’s also possible for you to cold contact local publications to see if they’d be open to or interested in accepting student writing submissions, even if they don’t advertise for it.

[Tips to set students and their writing up for publication](id-tips)

Use these tips to help students set up and prepare their work for publication throughout the writing process:

Set expectations early

Let students know from the beginning of the assignment, or even the beginning of the school year, that you’ll be publishing their writing. Explain what the process looks like, why it’s important, and what publication can do for them and their writing.

Create a culture of feedback

Publishing writing opens it up to more widespread feedback. Creating a culture of openness to and giving constructive feedback in your classroom can help students be more prepared to receive comments after their work is published.

Encourage student agency

Give students the agency to choose writing prompts or themes for their projects. Include students in peer editing, design, and any or all stages throughout the project so they feel ownership of their work when it’s published.

Celebrate publication

Whether you share student work in the classroom, they submit work to a publication, or just submit assignments traditionally to you, celebrate students making it to the end of the writing process. The process can be long and even emotional, and their hard work deserves recognition.

[Student publishing FAQs](id-faq)

Do you or your students have questions about the publishing phase of the writing process? We have answers!

How can I protect student privacy when publishing?

The measures you need to use to protect student privacy during publishing may depend on what publication method you use. Work displayed in the classroom, through a school publication, or that’s only available for students and families to read, may not need to follow any privacy guidelines. 

For publications through other organizations and outlets, they may ask students and their parents to complete a form or waiver, allowing the publication to use the student’s name and potentially include identifying information with the article, such as their name, age, school, or a photo.

An online publication that’s not affiliated with a school-friendly third-party organization (like using a social media platform) is where you should be most cautious about protecting your students’ privacy. Here are some tips you can follow to protect them and their writing online:

Avoid using full names

When sharing student writing outside of your school community, consider using an abbreviated version of a student’s name. Try first names only, first name and last initial, initials only, or letting students choose a pseudonym. These name alternatives can help protect their privacy and keep some anonymity online.

Remove other identifying information

Don’t include additional identifying information with your students’ writing. This information may include your school name, city, student photos, or videos with their face or voice in them. The less information people online have about your students, the more anonymous they’ll be.

Get parental consent

Always make sure you get students' and guardians' consent to publish student writing outside the school or classroom. This includes teacher-run online spaces that are accessible to readers across the internet. You may choose to send a consent form home for every published project or a blanket consent form at the beginning of the year that details how, where, and when you may publish student work.

Teach digital media literacy

Part of digital media literacy education is teaching students how to share content and information online. Teach them about what it means to publish or share their work publicly (on social media or otherwise) and review copyright and plagiarism laws.

You can also discuss the public nature of sharing writing online and encourage students to think about the personal details they share in their published writing. Finally, teach students how to engage with comments and feedback they receive for their online work.

Review student writing before publishing

Teachers should review student writing before publication to check for sensitive content that could reveal their identifiable information. This may include information such as the full names of family members or friends, their addresses or cities, their school names or addresses, or similar details.

If students are sharing this kind of information in their writing, help guide them to revise or fictionalize that content before sending their work for publication.

Review organizations’ privacy policies

Before choosing student writing contests or publications with which to share student work, review the contest rules and the organization’s privacy policies. This can help you understand how the organization will use student data and information. Only allow students to submit their work to organizations where you’re comfortable with their data and privacy policies.

Submit writing externally through a teacher account

When possible, submit student writing to external publications and organizations through a teacher account. This makes you the point of contact with the organization and allows you to control what student identifying information is shared.

Develop a classroom publishing policy

Create a policy around who can access student-published work, how their names will be displayed, what platforms you use, and what to do if students or their guardians change their minds about sharing work publicly. You can share this policy with students and guardians, along with your consent forms, for their visibility.

What do my students need to know about copyright and fair use when publishing?

When sharing content outside the classroom, it’s important to understand copyright and fair use laws to protect your students, their work, and your school or district. 

Copyright law automatically applies to any original creative work, including writing. Therefore, your students’ writing is automatically copyrighted the moment they create it. That means if you publish the work online, no other organization can share or use it without your students’ permission.

In turn, make sure that published student work doesn’t include plagiarism or copyright infringement of other people’s work. Fair use laws allow limited use of copyrighted material without permission for education, commentary, and news reporting. This means you may be able to use some copyrighted content in the classroom, but you are unable to share it publicly with published student writing.

In general, under fair use laws, you can share the following publicly:

• Original student writing: Students have the copyright on their work unless they sign over the rights for external publication.
• Public domain content: This content isn’t protected by copyright and is free to use in other works. This content often includes written works published before 1929 and some government documents.
• Creative Commons (CC) licensed works: These are copyrighted works that the creators allow others to use under certain conditions. This typically applies to visual and audio media, such as images shared on sites like Unsplash or Wikimedia Commons.
• Student-created media: Artwork, images, videos, and music created by your students that don’t contain other copyrighted elements can often accompany their written words without issues.

Under fair use laws, it’s best to avoid sharing the following content publicly:

• Text or images from the internet or AI search: Just because text and video appear online doesn’t mean they’re free to use. Most creative works on the internet are copyrighted, even if they don’t have a watermark or disclaimer.
• Characters or logos: Well-known character names and likenesses, brand names, and product logos are heavily protected under copyright and branding laws.
• Unattributed text: Existing song lyrics, poetry, or book passages could become copyright issues if they’re not appropriately cited within a student’s published piece.

To help students determine if they’re following fair use and copyright guidelines, they can ask themselves the following questions:

• Did I create this?
• If not, do I have permission to use it?
• Am I crediting the original creator?
• Can I replace it with something original or covered under fair use?

To help make these abstract ideas clearer for students, have mini-lessons about copyrighting and plagiarism. You can also schedule writing workshop time to teach students how to properly cite sources and check their media for acceptable use policies and guidelines.

Should I grade work that students plan to publish?

Students who submit their writing for a grade are already engaging in publishing. You are their audience, the channel is the platform on which they share their work, and the external feedback they receive is their grade.

You can grade student writing and also have them publish it differently. Using a rubric to help them through drafting and revising will not only help them meet the criteria for a good grade but can also help prepare their work for other publication purposes.

Another alternative is providing participation points for completing the writing assignment. For example, if students are submitting their work to a Newsela writing contest, you may give them points for submitting their assignment, and give bonus points to any student whose work is selected for publication on our site.

You can decide on the right grading method based on your students, curriculum, and assignments.

Is publishing student writing just for ELA classrooms?

No! Writing activities across all subjects are able to go through a publishing process. Students writing about current events in social studies may want to get their articles published in the school newspaper. World language teachers may take advantage of creating eBooks of their students’ written content.

No matter the subject, writing publication is open to every student. It’s just about finding the right channel or location to share their work.

Nurture confident writers with Newsela Writing

Newsela Writing is your AI-powered writing assistant that helps students in grades 3-12 become confident writers. It gives immediate, AI-powered rubric-aligned feedback that creates a continuous feedback loop, which saves teachers time and increases student writing frequency and quality.

Students can publish their writing using the program by submitting it to their teachers, and reviews and grading can occur right on the platform!

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