Our Writing Program
Project Related Writing
Functional writing experiences are incorporated into each of our projects. The students develop writing skills required for letters to the editor, persuasive essays, narratives, business letters, note taking, outlining, email, report writing, speeches, etc. as a natural outcome of the scope of their projects.
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Many interesting discoveries will be made by members of our team during the year. We will share these events with you in our team's newsletter. All of our team's students and families are welcome to submit announcements, creative writing, interesting web site locations, favorite book titles, etc.... Students will have weekly opportunities to write and edit our newsletter. Check out our weekly newsletters on our web page.
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When we take time to step back and reflect on our progress, our understanding of our academic and personal experiences grows deeper. In order to facilitate this process, each student will have a set time each day/week to stop and reflect. The student's "reflections" will focus on accomplishments and challenges experienced during the day/week. Thought will be given to setting goals and evaluating progress towards those goals. Look for your child's Friday Reflection Journal to come home at the end of the year. It will be a journal to treasure in years to come.
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In order to expand our students' writing skills, we will spend time each week in a "Writer's Workshop." We will encourage students to write about their own topics which reflect their personal interests, feelings and attitudes. Our Writer's Workshops will also expose students to a variety of writing genres and techniques. We will help the students to recognize the literary elements of each genre and to experiment with those elements in their own writing.
Regardless of the type of writing that the students do, we will emphasize the idea that writing is a process. Prewriting, writing, revising and publishing are the four steps the student will be guided through on their way to producing a finished piece of writing. Students will be encouraged to work with peers in order to try out ideas, respond to drafts, and obtain help with revising.
Our students will have the opportunity to publish their writing in a variety of publications. Listed below are names and addressees of magazines, contests and web sites interested in submissions by middle school aged students.
Literary Magazines
Children's Album 1320 Galaxy Way, Concord, CA 94520Creative Kids PO Box 637, 100 Pine Ave., Holmes, PA 19043
Merlyn's Pen: The National Magazine of Student Writing, 98 Main St., East Greenwich, RI 02818
Prism PO Box 030464, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33303
Shoe Tree, National Association for Young Writers, PO Box 452, Belvidere, NJ 07823
Stone Soup, PO Box 83, Santa Cruz, CA 95063
Writing Competitions
We Are Writers, Too! Creative with Words Publications, PO Box 223226, Carmel, CA 93922Young Playwrights Inc., 306 West 38th Street, Suite 300, New York, NY 10018, 212-594-5440, www.youngplaywrights.org, writeaplay@aol.com
The National Written and Illustrated by... Awards Contest for Students c/o Landmark Editions Inc., PO Box 4469, Kansas City, MO 64217
Annual NewsCurrents Student Editorial Cartoon Contest, The Annual NewsCurrents Student Editorial Cartoon Contest, Knowledge Unlimited, Inc., PO Box 52, Madison, WI 53701
Publishing on the Web
KidPub www.kidpub.org is a well organized Web site that provides students opportunities to see their writing published on the Internet - includes a "Publisher's Picks Link."top of page
Graphics from http://graphicschoolhouse.tripod.com/
