National Writing Project

Invitational Summer Institute

at FGCU - 2010

Dr. Lois Christensen: Summer ISI - NWP at FGCU Director

Response Leaders: Bambi Fischer, Mena Granatino, and Karen Torres
Teacher Consultant / Response Leader: Stacey Elmeer

Left to Right: Peggy, Rachel, and Helen. Laura,

Whitney, and Caren. Zoogoers on a boat
afloat. Gils shoes since she would not let us
take her picture. Irene and Bambi (who we
were unable to see on our group picture.)
Eleanor and Lois. Karen and Alessia and
Laurie. Mena and Stacey and green spider on
pink flower at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Research Questions:
Jeff Bowditch: Which content-area writing strategies are most effective in
improving students writing and improving learning in the content area?
I had a big task how was I going to improve student performance and cover
as much content as possible while at the same time, improve students writing
skills? The task seemed daunting but while at the National Writing Project
workshop I found many answers to that question and I also found out that I
was already doing many things in my classroom to promote subject-area
learning and writing.
I had already been involved in preparing the students for a history fair project
by guiding them through such steps as introducing theme and topic, discussing primary vs. secondary
sources, creating a bibliography, and creating a thesis statement. These steps involved the students in not
only learning the mechanics of writing but also in an in-depth exploration of a topic in history.
At the National Writing Project, I learned that differentiated instruction does indeed help students be
successful in content-area learning but can also help with students writing. Differentiated instruction
builds trust, ensures fit in instruction, gives students a voice in their learning, and allows them to develop
an awareness of how they learn. Differentiated instruction reaches out to all learners regardless of their
learning styles and abilities.
I also found out that Thinking Maps as a learning tool can be very effective in using writing to improve
a students content learning. This strategy allows teachers to take questions from the text and tests and
move students to the thinking process by using various thinking maps such as: defining in context,
describing qualities, comparing and contrasting, classifying, and sequencing. This allows students to use
writing to organize information and promote critical thinking.
Another powerful step in effective content- area writing was through the use of visual imagery. Writing
can be facilitated through the use of art or photography because many students find that it can actually
motivate them to write and bring out their aesthetic sensibilities. In the past, students have been asked to
write something first and then create some type of illustration for their writing. By reversing this process
students are usually more creative in their writing and they display better sensory detail and metaphoric
language while at the same time, developing a greater understanding of the content studied.
In summary, I found out at the National Writing Project that knowledge and thinking must go hand in
hand and that reading and writing must be essential to quality learning in any discipline. Whether or not I
am in a Social Studies class or a Science class, I still have to be working in a similar way that a historian
or scientist would: reading and analyzing data, classifying, recording results, and writing reports. These
are all real-life tasks that students will be faced with one day in their jobs and careers. By integrating
content-area learning with writing, we can help prepare them for this.

Works Cited
Andrzejczak, Nancy; Trainin, Guy; Poldberg, Moniquu. (2005). "From Image to Text: Using Images in
the Writing Process". International Journal of Education & the Arts , 1-16.
McConachie, Stephanie; Hall, Megan; Resnick, Lauren; Ravi, Anita; Bill, Victoria; Bintz, Jody; Taylor,
Joseph;. (2006). "Task, Text, and Literacy for All Subjects". Educational Leadership , 8-14.
Tomlinson, C. (2008). "The Goals of Differentiation". Educational Leadership , 26-30.

Kathryn Calcaterra: The purpose of my essay is to refer to research that

verifies my proposition that poetry enhances the teaching of the Fab 5
(phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension).
It is a comprehensive medium that fosters reading skills in our children.
As parents we read to our children long before they participate in a
structured learning environment. Children who are exposed to stories,
nursery rhymes or poems develop an awareness of phonemes as young as
three or four years old. Dr. Seuss books are an excellent source for word
play with ending sounds. Books with a lot of alliteration or alphabet books
offer beginning sound practice. It is also important to talk to children and
explain and model sounds and words that sound the same.
Poems are also an excellent model for onset and rime. Children may highlight or write the words
that belong within word families in a poem. Given a particular word family, students may write down as
many words that fit the pattern. If a child can manipulate sounds, either orally or in a written form, they
increase the likelihood of being a successful reader.
Poetry is a natural vehicle to increase fluency. Children often request to hear their favorite poems
read more than once. These repeated readings are an invaluable tool to increase fluency. Teachers may
choose to write one line of poetry on individual sentence strips to practice phrase reading. The poem
may be read in parts, boys/girls, different sides of the room, etc. Students may then opt to perform their
poem to another class or even make auditory recordings of themselves.
Vocabulary and comprehension are closely linked. Since the meaning of poetry is conveyed
through concise and exact word choice, it is an excellent way to teach vocabulary without the daunting
collection of unknown words. It naturally follows that once a student has a grasp of phonemes, phonics
the vocabulary of our language, fluency and comprehension will be attainable.
Since I teach struggling learners in elementary grades, poetry is a viable vehicle to help the
reading experience be not only successful but enjoyable. It is my hope that this enjoyment leads to a
lifetime of reading all genres.

Works cited:
<www.reading.org/...Handouts.../Fluency_Through_Poetry_Handout.sflb.ashx?...>.
Wasik, Barbara A. "Phonemic Awareness and Young Children | Childhood
Spring 2001. Web. 13 July 2001.

Education

<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3614/is_200104/ai_n8950518/?tag=content;coll>.
Weaver, Constance. "Phonics in Whole Language Classrooms." Indiana University. May 1994. Web
13 July 2010. <http://www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/digests/d93.html>.

Ali Conant:
"Changing school practices is bridging the new with the old rather than
creating a revolution." (O'Brien, 2005)
Will utilizing a variety of digital media to scaffold the instruction of
diverse learner's improve their writing skills? Will utilizing a variety
of digital media motivate students to improve their writing skills?
The technology revolution is one that is hard to hide from no matter
what profession you are in. Multimedia, digital media, media literacy,
and visual literacy; are all becoming a part of our common vocabulary as educational leaders.
My interest lies within the benefits of digital media as it pertains to academic achievement for
learners in our classrooms, especially the diverse learner. My beginning hypothesis is digital
media is a strong motivator for students and therefore when utilized correctly, the motivation can
be turned into a strong academic environment which will lead the learner to a richer, more
personal learning experience with their writing and overall literacy skills.
New technologies are often blamed for the "dumbing-down" of new generations, but is
that really true? Today, young people are writing far more than any generation before them...and
to specific audiences. Socializing is done mostly via writing and technology. It's almost hard to
remember how big a paradigm shift this is. Before the Internet came along, most Americans
wrote very little. Of course there was an occasional report in school or a thank you note for a gift
received, but nothing to the amount of text experienced today.
Reading and writing have changed as new technologies have entered our lives. You can
see the change probably most visibly in the new literacy's that are required on the Internet. There
are new literacy skills that are required for identifying important questions. There are new
reading skills required for searching for information. There are new literacy skills required for
critically evaluating information. There are new literacy skills that are required for synthesizing
very disparate pieces of information that you pick up in your journey on the Internet. And finally,
there are important new literacy skills that are required for communicating with e-mail
technologies, instant-messaging technologies, or other technologies for communication.
5

The education sector has appropriated computer technology to serve teaching and
learning across the disciplines. And, as advances in technology have developed, so has the
rationale for incorporating this medium into daily instructional streams matured. For example, in
the earliest days of computers in education, machines were viewed as instructional delivery
systems whereby a given body of knowledge could be transmitted to students by virtue of its
being on a screen and allowing some rudimentary forms of "interaction". Computers were
generally conceived as teaching machines that would take on responsibility for training particular
skills and content thoroughly and uniformly. They represented, after all, examples of "high
technology"; a concept still at the core of our understanding of the relationship between humans
and machines.
More recently, however, the computer is being viewed more as an integral part of sociocollaborative learning activity and less as a means by which knowledge and skills are transferred
to learners (Chiquito, Meskill and Renjilian-Burgy, 1996; Johnson, 1985; Meskill & Swan, 1996;
Snyder & Palmer, 1986). One discipline in which these shifts in perception concerning the role
of computers in the teaching and learning process have been particularly distinct is in the field of
language learning. Once considered an ideally "patient partner" with which learners of another
language could endlessly drill and practice until mastery occurred, the computer is now more
widely viewed as a tool through and around which socio-collaborative language learning can
take place. This shift in thinking directly parallels shifts in our understandings about the best
route to learning language in general, and empowering linguistic minorities in particular.
As educators we are aware that engaged learners are effective learners. The importance
of student engagement and motivation in successful learning is well documented. Intrinsically
motivated students tend to persist longer, work harder, actively apply strategies, and retain key
information more consistently (Guthrie, McGough, et al., 1996). Here is where multimedia has a
strong edge.
Multimedia resources are a great way for teachers to anchor instruction and provide
students with essential background information that can provide a foundation for the topic at
hand. Similarly, multimedia resources engage students and provide them with another means to
understand the ideas and concepts presented. Todays youth respond very positively to
multimedia. For students with special needs, having the visual support can make a big difference
in more deeply understanding and learning the classroom material. Having multiple ways of
representing information through multimedia resources is essential in todays classrooms to meet
the needs of diverse learners.
When discussing the merging of media literacy's with the field of second language and
literacy acquisition, ideally we would see interaction with electronic texts as task-based and
socio-collaboratively oriented in lieu of seeing students drilled in isolation from the rich context
of school life.
Technology offers special promise for ELL students because it allows them to learn at
their own pace in a non-threatening environment, gives students flexibility and choice (Scoter &
Boss, 2002). Supporting literacy and language skills in the first language provides a base for
6

successful literacy development in the second language (Snow,Burns,& Griffen, 1998). Many
ELL learners have rich stories to tell about their family heritage and/or stories of their families
immigration to our country and can easily be tied to our social studies curriculum with the
correct mode of instruction. Technology's that support this type of a project could be tape
recorders, video cameras, and word processors. Allowing the students to connect their culture
with their new culture will promote a strong correlation between desire and motivation to make
sense of their "new" language.
A common but misguided response to struggling students is to continue to reteach the
same lower level skills over and over again, with the hope they will eventually "get it." This
repetition of lower level skills is less likely to hold a students' attention, motivate them to learn,
or enable them to transfer academic gains across subject matter. Therefore, little improvement
will be seen in overall performance (Anderson, et al., 1984; Garcia, 2000).
According to Clements (1993), a better approach is to engage students in activities that
capture their interest and use these experiences as the basis for speaking, writing, and reading
activities. The effectiveness of computer learning (digital media) depends critically on the
quality of the software, the amount of time children work with the software, and the way in
which it is used (1994).
When students engage with technology to produce mediavideos, PowerPoint
presentations, and other productsthey often are challenged to be original by the technology
itself. Much of the creative software that is most accessible to young media producers
comes loaded with content such as still images, animation, sound, music, and so forth. Add to
this the urge that many young people feel to be imitative and mix in the ease of digital sampling
and copying. The result is that students find challenges to become creative, but with the
embedded motivation factor, they will stick with it and accomplish their goals. Critical thinking
skills are engaged.
Creative production software, such as iMovie, MovieMaker and GarageBand, can be
manipulated with increasing sophistication and originality with practice. As students become
more adept with production technology, many will gravitate and all can be urged toward
incorporating original content, such as their own digital photos and videos, poems, scripts, lyrics,
artwork, and musicall of which will move them further along the creativity continuum toward
originality and greater satisfaction with their endeavors.
Children's literacy activities involving computers prior to and outside of school are
typically more frequent, richer, and more meaningful than are such activities they encounter
when they enter elementary school. Clearly this contrast between in-school and out-of-school
experiences with the new literacy's only works when such digitally-rich out of school encounters
when computers are available to children.
One might see a larger problem on the horizon...with the multimedia influences on
the changes in literacy that are here to stay, how do we close the achievement (accessibility)
gap? It is disheartening knowing there are students who don't have access to computers, video
games, etc. outside the school and their unfortunate situation can be enough to keep them from
7

reaching their true potential. There has always been a divide of those that have and those that
have "not," but in the same breathe it feels as though something can be done.
Instructionally we as educators need to start from a basic comfort level with media
literacy and its' application to our instruction, as we learn to be critically literate ourselves in the
multimedia era. Like everything else, we cant as teachers do for children what we cannot first
do ourselves (Hoffman J. &., 2009, p. 46). It is certainly time to restructure professional
development for new teachers and more experienced teachers. We do have our work cut out for
us!
When will the curriculum catch up to the needs of the students? Aren't we already
behind? When will the educators be willing to open their hearts and minds to a new way of
teaching? I love the idea of using video type games to teach my students, simulations and more.
In today's classroom it does take a lot to keep the students interested and motivated, however I
believe that digital media is a great way to merge academics in a motivating and successful way.
Balance is the key. A combination of media based literacy with paper-pencil creations will open
many writing and overall literacy doors for the learners of today and open doors for the diverse
learners we all embrace.
I'm in this profession for my students and I will do whatever it takes to stay up with the
changing needs of my students. Though at the end of this paper it seems I have more questions
than when I started; I get very excited when I think of all the possibilities.

References
Anderson, R.C., Hiebert, E.H., Scott, J.A., & Wilkinson, I.A.G. (1984). Becoming a nation of
readers: The report of the Commission on Reading. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois,
Center for the Study of Reading.
Chiquito, A. Meskill, C. and Renjilian-Burgy, J. (in press) Multiple, Mixed, Malleable Media. in
Bush, M. (Ed.) Technology-Enhanced Language Learning. Lincolnwood, IL: National
Textbook.
Clements, D.H. (1994). The uniqueness of the computer as a learning tool: Insights from
research and practice. In J.L. Wright & D.D. Shade (Eds.), Young children: Active
learners in a technological age (pp. 3149). Washington, DC: National Association for
the Education of Young Children.
Clements, D.H., & Nastasi, B.K. (1993). Electronic media and early childhood education. In B.
Spodek (Ed.), Handbook of research on the education of young children (pp. 251275).
New York, NY: Macmillan.
Garcia, G.N. (2000, September). Lessons from research: What is the length of time it takes
limited English proficient students to acquire English and succeed in an all-English
classroom? (Issue Brief 5). Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual
Education.
Guthrie, J.T., McGough, K., Bennett, L., & Rice, M.E. (1996). Concept-oriented reading
8

instruction: An integrated curriculum to develop motivations and strategies for reading.

In L. Baker, P. Afflerbach, & D. Reinking (Eds.), Developing engaged readers in school
and home communities (pp. 165-190). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hoffman, J. &. (2009). Changing literacies for changing times: an historical perspective on the
furture of reading research, public policy, and classroom practices. New York:
Routledge.
Johnson, D. (1985) Using computers to promote the development of English as a second
language: A report to the Carnegie Corporation.
Meskill, C. & Swan, K. (1996) Tools for Supporting Response-Based Literature Teaching and
Learning: A Pilot Study of the Beats Albany, NY: National Research Center on Literature
Teaching and Learning.
OBrien, D. & Bouchereau Bauer, E. (2005). New literacies and the institution of old learning.
Reading Research Quarterly. Vol.40, No. 1 p.120-131.
Scoter & Boss, J. S. (2002). Learners, language, and technology: making connections tha support
literacy. Northwest Regional Educational Library .
Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young
children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Snyder, T. and Palmer, J. (1986) In search of the most amazing thing: Children, education, and
computers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Marge Cox
Research Question Has technology impacted writing?
Todays American society revolves around technology. I use it, I love it (except
when it doesnt work like I want it to) and Im sure it has affected how I write.
However, could I find any research that spoke to the importance of technology to
writing? Fortunately, I did find several websites that dealt with the issue of
technology and writing.
Starting with what I see as the positives, technology definitely makes it easier to
write. Software such as Inspiration/Kidspiration and Thinking Maps help writers
organize their thoughts. My generation can remember the nightmare of spending hours recopying or retyping a
paper. Todays writers have a delete key that makes changes a dream to do. Word processing software allows for
easy drafting and editing.
st
Todays youth have spent their lifetimes, playing video games. They are a wired generation. The 21 century
technology of computers and phones draw them into writing. They consistently use a keyboard and feel very
comfortable using one to write. They may not always recognize their texts, emails, and instant messaging as
writing, but they are definitely a form of written communication.
So what are the roadblocks to technology and writing? Michigan State University does an excellent job of listing
concerns and then solutions to them. As I looked at the list, they were from the adult point of view about fear of
teaching with technology, not from students not wanting to write with technology. I really believe we can adapt
9

the line from the old movie Field of Dreams, If you build it, they will come to if you teach, they will learn it.
Todays students have always lived in a world of technology and they expect to communicate through it.
For teachers who feel unprepared to teach with technology, a visit to The Writing Site could be just the ticket to
start them on a technology trip. A list of possible technology options makes it an easy connection between what a
specific school provides and ways to use it in a classroom. EdTech Teacher identifies ideas for teaching English and
History using technology.
So, has technology impacted writing? Yes. It provides ease of use and many youth use it to communicate with
their peers. They may write in non-conventional ways, but they write often. As adult teachers, lets embrace the
technology and help our students build the bridge from our view of traditional writing to twenty-first century
writing. For example, we can include blogs and wikis as appropriate communication tools in our classes. Our
school uses the Destiny Library Manager Destiny Quest system for our elementary students to login and write to
their friends about books they are reading and what they are writing. This gives them technology writing
experience at an early age in a safe environment. For twenty-first century students, technology tools have
impacted their writing and their expectation to use them to write. Twenty-first century teachers to need honor
that experience.
Sources Cited
EdTech Teacher. (Retrieved 2010, July 10).
http://edtechteacher.org/
Landmark College for Research and Training. (Retrieved 2010, July 10).
(http://www.landmark.edu/institute/assistive_technology/writing_technology.html
Michigan State University Writing in Digital Environments (Retrieved 2010, July 10).
http://www.technorhetoric.net/10.1/coverweb/wide/kairos2.html
National Writing Project Technology Liasons Network (Retrieved 2010, July 10).
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/programs/tln
Pew Research Center Publications. (Retrieved 2010, July 10).
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/808/writing-technology-and-teens
The Writing Site. (Retrieved 2010, July 10).
http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/technology/

10

Carmen Davis : How can technology help writing in the elementary

school?
Technology plays an important role in student learning in the
classrooms of today. There are many effective ways technology can
be used. The most successful programs are where implementation
was recognized and supported by the administration and teachers
alike. The programs teachers showed most interest were greatly
acknowledged and supported by students.
Educators today are tasked with learning about computer-assisted programs or web-based
programs before their students in order to guide them successfully. They need to learn the
basics of the varied types of technologies being utilized and must be able to integrate them into
classroom practice for student use. Cooperative, project-based and interdisciplinary work can
also be integrated as tools students may use throughout the school day.
When students use technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others,
they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information
transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast. The student is actively making choices
about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information. Technology allows
many more students to be actively thinking about information, making choices, and
executing skills than is typical in teacher-led lessons. Consequently, when technology is
used as a tool to support students in performing authentic tasks, the students are in the
position of defining their goals, making design decisions, and evaluating their progress.
Teachers who are more willing to explore new solutions with their students, teachers who
become better at judging what types of solutions are most likely to work with individual
students, and then for schools to be better at being true "learning communities," to improve
the sharing of success stories within buildings, districts, and states. Technology is not "the
solution," but it can be a vital part of your toolbox.
Students clearly take pride in being able to use the same computer-based tools
employed by professionals. As one teacher expressed it, "Students gain a sense of
empowerment from learning to control the computer and to use it in ways they associate with the
real world." Technology is valued within our culture. It is something that costs money
and that bestows the power to add value. By giving students technology tools, we are
implicitly giving weight to their school activities. Students are very sensitive to this
message that they, and their work, are important.

11

Students, even at the elementary school level, are able to acquire an impressive level of
skill with a broad range of computer software. Although the specific software tools in
use will likely change before these students enter the world of work, the students
acquire a basic understanding of how various classes of computer tools behave and a
confidence about being able to learn to use new tools that will support their learning of
new software applications. Students were able to handle more complex assignments and
do more with higher-order skills because of the supports and capabilities provided by
technology.
They also do more stylistic things in terms of how the paper looks, and if there is
something they want to emphasize, they'll change the font . . . they're looking at the
words they're writing in a different way. They're not just thinking about writing a
sentence, they're doing that, but they are also thinking about, "This is a really important
word" or "This is something I want to stand out." And they're thinking in another
completely different way about their audience. --Elementary school teacher
While most teachers were positive about the design consciousness that technology
fosters, a potential downside was also noted by a few teachers. It is possible for students
to get so caught up in issues such as type font or audio clips that they pay less attention
to the substantive content of their product. We observed one computer lab within which
several students with a research paper assignment spent the entire period coloring and
editing the computer graphics for the covers of their as-yet-unwritten reports, pixel by
pixel. Teachers are developing strategies to make sure that students do not get
distracted by some of the more enticing but less substantive features of technology, for
example, by limiting the number of fonts and font sizes available to their students.
With PowerPoint, Prezi, Rosetta Stone, microphones, streaming videos, Microsoft
Word, and more, educators need to get on-board since students are motivated and
mostly love technology. With all the technology available to readers, non-readers, ELL,
ESE, gifted, and in essence all students, gadgets and gizmos are here for learning and
writing, now and forever.

12

Works Cited
"Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students." U.S. Department of Education. Web. 16 July 2010.
<http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html#skills>.
"How to Use Technology in the Classroom: Teaching Technology to Elementary Students and Beyond."
Teaching & Technology. Web. 16 July 2001.
<http://teachingtechnology.suite101.com/article.cfm/technology_integration>.
Technology Integration. Web. 16 July 2010. <http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/>. Welcome to TechNewsWorld. Web.
16 July 2010. <http://www.technewsworld.com/story/52677.html?wlc=1278545028&wlc=1278973870>.

Helen Davis: What does effective grammar instruction

look like? What percentage of class time should it
consume?
As an English major in college, I was shocked to find
very little class time devoted to grammar instruction in spite of
my professors insistence that the conventions be mastered.
How could we be expected to know something we were not
being explicitly taught? This experience contrasted sharply
with my high school English classes. Sometimes whole class
periods were spent on grammar workbooks, but the lessons were often forgotten as
soon as they were mastered. Now that I am a teacher, there is a constant nagging
question in my mind. I ask myself, What about grammar? How do I teach it effectively?
I know my students need to learn how to navigate the conventions and rules of the
English language to be taken seriously as writers, but practice workbooks are the only
way I have been shown how to teach it, and practice workbooks just do not seem to be
a catalyst for deep understanding or prolonged application.
As a participation in the 2010 National Writing Project Summer Institute at Florida
Gulf Coast University, I set out to answer this question. The first resource I investigated
was Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson. From reading sections of the book, I
reached a conclusion. Effective grammar instruction looks and sounds like rich
literature, but it does not sound like instructions from a grammar workbook. Grammar
worksheets and error laden sentence corrections do not give children enough time to
synthesize and apply learning. Instead of overloading students, teachers should find
examples in literature or student writing to display one or two grammar or punctuation
issues. Using text as a model for grammar and punctuation serves as an important
spring board for discovering rules about grammar or incorporating the strategy into
writing (Anderson, 2005).
Grammar instruction should be embedded in rich literature
13

because every time a child hears, reads, or speaks language information is added into a
linguistic pool. Once inside the linguistic pool, students later fish it out to synthesize into
speaking and writing. Therefore, exposing students to rich examples from literature can
help perfect grammar, spelling, and punctuation instruction (Anderson, 2005).
Students will not necessarily glean all of the spelling, grammar, and punctuation
conventions on their own, so grammar instruction should compose a small percentage
of an English class. Five to ten minutes a day is sufficient time to provide students with
an example, a non-example, or a group of examples for grammar instruction. Bruce
Morgan and Deb Odom, authors of Writing through the Tween Years, echo the research
of Anderson. Morgan and Odom support the notion of chunking grammar instruction
into meaningful blocks. They offer a student centered suggestion for teaching grammar
and punctuation. Small groups are formed based on student interest, choice, and need.
In small groups, students become experts on a certain piece of punctuation or rule. For
the next two weeks, students research examples of the rule in print, write examples,
and create non-examples. Ten to twenty minutes a day were allotted to this research,
and student writing benefited from this project (Morgan & Odom, 2005).
Through the research of Anderson, Morgan, and Odom, my opinion of the
necessity of explicit grammar instruction has been reinforced while the notion of the
almighty grammar workbook has been deconstructed. Grammar instruction should be
explicit, singularly centered, and embedded in literature and student writing. When
these practices are followed, learning has time to seep into student minds and
materialize in student writing.
References:
Anderson, J. (2005). Mechanically inclined. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
Morgan, B. & Odom, D. (2005). Writing through the tween years. Maine: Stenhouse
Publishers

Stacey Elmeer: Will the inclusion of creative writing activities help my

students become better at literary analysis?
As a graduate student in creative writing at the University of Arizona, I
was assigned novels to read and study. Unlike a typical English Literature
student, my job as a student of creative writing was to figure out how the
novel was put together, to examine the unique structure of the piece and
to learn from it. I remember reading Margurite Durass The Lover, and
drawing a visual map on the board of the narrative structure of the piece
for my fellow classmates. As a wanna be writer, that instruction was
14

invaluable to me. I did not often directly steal other writers structures when I wrote, but it was very
exciting for me to witness alternative patterns of organization. As a high school student I had only ever
been encouraged to write in essay form, and as an undergraduate English major, I rarely looked at how a
work was put together when it came to analysis. Typically, I focused on comprehension, content,
symbolism, irony, and other worthy subjects. Rarely did I consider the organization of the wonderful
content. It may be that at the time, I did not care about the organization because I considered myself a
reader, not a writer. Once I switched hats, and discovered I wanted to write, I began to pay closer
attention to how the parts made a whole.
As a teacher of literature and composition, I am constantly insisting that my students pay attention to
how pieces are put together. When they read, I want them to read like writers, and when they write, I
want them to write like readers. My initial research question was simple as far as I was concerned. If I
have my students write creatively, will that enhance their analytical skills when they read? Since it was
what I needed to pay closer attention to what others had written, I felt it might help my students also.
This year, my students wrote several creative writing assignments. Many of these were indirectly based
on the methods of organization that certain writers we were reading in class used. Other methods had
been established over time the sonnet, the sestina, the villanelle, etc. I thought that if I gave them
more ways of organizing information, alternatives to the traditional essay, maybe they would learn
about multiple structures and discover the link between structure and meaning. Often times, to get
them focused on diction and imagery, I would ask them to focus on haikus, something they considered
beneath them and easy simply due to the length. One of my students, who had already written a college
essay, was asked to write a six word autobiography for the college of his choice. He threw himself into
this unique challenge with the focus and clarity necessary to pick six, arresting words. What he ended up
writing was much more thought provoking than the essay he sent in to this same school, Pied Piper.
Water Diviner. Thirsty. Hungry. His essay worked just fine. It was honest and earnest but his six word
autobiography was him. Now, before I have any of my students write and share their college essays, I
will ask them to write a six word autobiography first. Maybe the research question truly is, Will
allowing my students to write in multiple forms enhance their analytical skills? The answer to this
question seems obvious.
Of course a student is going to be better at analyzing a sestina once he knows how it works and how it is
put together. Having students write sonnets will teach them the importance of the resolution or resolve
coded in the last two lines. Furthermore, stumbling upon unique novels that involve memory and
shatter time lines, and teaching students the patterns inherent even in these seemingly random works
will increase their ability to analyze and recognize and comprehend multiple authors.
Allowing students to write creatively does something else too, however. It gives them a chance to write
about some of their own ideas and philosophies. Too often, when we ask students to write essays, we
focus on the intent of the published author. We remove the student from the paper. We tell them never
to use I when they write. Though I am not an avid fan of reader response theory, if one of our goals as
teachers is to get students to become life-long readers, thinkers, and writers then we need to show

15

students that their ideas count. Allowing students to use multiple forms to voice their ideas will give
them more chances to participate as writers and readers.
When I return to school this fall, I will take my GENRE list with me and consider the varieties of products
we can produce other than essays. I will remember what Grant Wiggins said about real audiences and
purpose in his article, Real-World Writing: Making Purpose and Audience Matter and try to make
every one of my assignments matter to a particular audience. I will avoid the trap of thinking Since the
state test uses writing prompts that have no real audience and purpose, I should mimic the format to
best prepare my students for the test. I will use RAFTS where I change the roles, audiences, formats,
and topics for students so that they can move beyond the drudgery of predictable writing formats. I will
also make new products (synthesis) by combining two old ones such as dreams with a traditional
resume format. I am ready to embrace these methods now that I have research that backs their practice
as effective.
What I found to be most exciting after this particular National Writing Project Summer Institute was
that I might even be able to increase my own skills at reading comprehension if I take something that is
in a traditional text book form, like science or history information, and I put it into a poetic form. If I
have to reassemble the facts into a song that makes use of a pattern, I (who cannot remember anything)
may actually be able to memorize the Preamble just like School House Rock taught me way back when I
was six or seven years old.
When a student writes, when he or she has to take that original information and turn it into another
form, be it commercial, play, fairy tale, movie, or poem, that information has been recorded in his or her
mind and owned and reorganized for public or peer (we hope) review. Of course we all want our
students to write the best essays, but in order for them to do this, they need to be allowed to
experiment with different forms. It may be less difficult for a student to focus on imagery and diction in
a poem than it is for them to focus on these things in an essay, but if that student writes enough poetry,
he will be aware of imagery and diction when he does write an essay. Furthermore, if a student is aware
of imagery and diction when he reads a poem, he may learn to look for patterns in these and join the
conversation of excellent writers and readers before and after him.

Jackie Greene: Will including more written response, genre choice and
professional written response groups in literacy courses make pre-service
teachers more confident writers?
Perspectives or theoretical framework.
Current research into reading and writing indicates that to teach
effectively, teachers themselves must be avid readers and writers
(Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Bowie, 1996; Bridge & Helbert, 1985; Glenn,
2007). However, studies into reading and writing habits of pre-service and
practicing teachers indicate that a culture of a literacy exists among a large
portion of pre-service and practicing teachers and that a large number do not think of themselves as good
16

readers or confident writers (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Bowie, 1996; Dreher, 2003; Mour, 1997).
Teacher training institutions continue to be challenged to create programs to develop teachers who not
only understand the complexities of the literacy process but who enthusiastically embrace reading and
writing as powerful elements in their own lives (American Federation of Teachers, 1999; Draper, 1997;
Snow, Burns & Griffin, 2005). In an effort to meet these challenges, I have ventured beyond the textbook
and embedded components, such as reader response and professional literacy circles, into undergraduate
and graduate literacy courses to encourage pre-service and practicing teachers to engage with a variety of
texts in meaningful ways.
One of these strategies is the use of traveling response journal bags to motivate reading and
writing as constructive processes where pre-service and practicing teachers have been given the
opportunity to share unique reactions to self-selected texts and react in writing to the thinking of others
in deep and reflective ways. Another strategy I have employed is to embed Writing to Learn strategies
into course content to motivate positive interaction with the adopted course readings. The third and
most creative aspect has been the inclusion of giving my students a choice of alternatives to the
traditional FEAP Course Reflection paper. In the past, these papers followed the traditional research
paper format; but, I soon realized that with a little tweaking the student could possibly use the same
paper for each course and the formulaic nature of the assignment led to instructor fatigue in the grading
process as all papers sounded the same.
I am early in the research process, but results from this one semester are pushing me forward to
continue these techniques. I was struck by the depth of content knowledge apparent in my students
analysis of their reading and writing buddy. Each of my students is assigned a struggling kindergartener
or first grade student, my literacy students provide tutoring for nine weeks. They plan sessions based on
the needs of their assigned student and as a culminating project they must do an analysis of this students
strengths and weaknesses. Their analysis from spring semester was of much higher quality than other
semesters and included clear indications of deep literacy content knowledge and application. These
education students were the first group to be exposed to Write to Learn and traveling professional book
journals. They made clear reference to their readings and research in their analysis which added depth to
their work and understanding of reading difficulties.
Approximately one third of my students chose to create an alternative FEAP reflection, at the
beginning of the semester all students were reluctant to do sign on for the creative alternative. Most
expressed a lack of confidence in their ability to write, especially their ability to write creatively. The
options were open and as the semester continued some became more confident and began to enjoy the
writing to learn strategies in which they participated. In the end, nine out of twenty-four students
submitted alternative FEAP reflections. I have included them in a separate submission to this paper; but
let me say, I was quite enthralled to read them. They show confidence, a new respect for multiple genres
of writing and an ability to take risks. Each of these students communicated their joy at having choice
and expressed their intent to use these strategies in their own classrooms. My hope is that this research
will encourage participants to join the reading and writing club for you can not teach what you do not
know. Becoming a teacher who writes is essential to promoting writing in ones classrooms, to become a
teacher who writes means that you model exposing a private part of your mind and soul to your students
and give them the freedom and confidence to share their minds and souls with you.

17

Sarah Gregory: How can I get my first graders to elaborate upon

their writing on their own?
This question is why I came to the National Writing Project, where was my
simple answer? Surly there was one thing I could do and magically these children
would want to write, in fact they would love it so much they would complete their
ideas and use interesting detail. Too bad the answer I found was not so simple.
As we were writing I noticed the pieces I enjoyed writing were just
naturally better, filled with voice and purpose. It must be the same for my students.
If they like what they are writing about they should become more involved in the
process and therefore produce a better result. Why hadnt I thought of such a simple thing? Well, I had, but
pleasing 19 completely different people is a difficult task. It goes back to choice and fun. Even when I presented
my demo, giving my classmates the choice of writing type allowed for much more creative and engaging pieces.
They also had a blast creating germs from paper scraps and googly eyes; yes these are adults we are talking about.
They all wrote about their germs and followed my objectives but the results ranged from report like pieces to silly
stories to poetry. It was an eye opening experience because this group became so involved in the workshop I was
amazed. Guess a little choice and fun go a long way.
I decided to read Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate by Megan S. Sloan as a formal research
component. I learned a few new modeling techniques and helpful hints, like using fiction literature to show good
elaboration, using questions to discover, and how sensory detail could add to any piece. Mostly I learned yet again
how important choice is. Sloan says, Teaching students to discover topics that are personally relevant is very
important. Children write better if they know and love what they write about. Wow I thought, yet again choice
rears its ugly head. The thought of giving 19 first graders more choice in their writing is a scary concept. My mind
immediately flashes to chaos, almost like the adults of our classroom got when the paintbrushes came out. People
everywhere, talking, paint flying, pure creative chaos. I needed a way to incorporate choice without things getting
out of control. How could I do this, and still meet school and state standards?
As the demo lessons flashed through my mind I immediately thought of Jackie Greens presentation on
using writing as a discovery tool. She mentioned different genres of writing from ABC books, advertisements,
R.A.F.T.s, poems, narrativesECT. In fact it seemed like the list would never end. It gave me an idea; I could
choose a few different forms and allow my students to have a choice of presentation. That shouldnt be too crazy,
and they are all working with the content I need them too.
Another idea I had stemmed from Ali Conants presentation on wordless books. We did an activity where
we zoomed out on a picture, starting by recording a small section of detail and slowly describing more as we
zoomed out to the entire picture. First graders love to talk about their lives and getting them involved through a
personal artifact is a great hook. Not only has that, but the zooming out allows students to focus on finding rich
detail in the smallest spaces. This is a great idea to introduce elaboration and using adjectives in our writing.
I guess my answer is best found through my fellow teachers. As I was learning new techniques and ideas,
I was thinking how my students would enjoy writing with these experiences, something new and different. I know
that I need to keep growing as a professional and keep writing. Its so easy to forget how much fun writing can be
18

when we have to worry about hitting all the standards and styles and even getting first graders ready for the FCAT.
I need to remember William Glassers ideas of every persons basic needs. Every person needs to feel love,
belonging, fun, freedom, and power. When my students have all of these puzzle pieces they will be free to
experience real expression in their writing, and hopefully use elaboration naturally to make it great. I guess
answering my question wasnt quite as easy as reading a book, but the action research means so much more.
Hopefully I can continue to grow as a learner and keep things interesting for my students.
Work Cited
Sloan, Megan. Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate. New York: Scholastic, 2008. 144. Print.

Theresa Howard: What are the most important aspects of writing to

focus on when working with in the primary grades?
I am always questioning what the best methods of teaching
the beginning stages of writing are. I ponder the structural process, as
well as which should carry more value; content or syntax. I was
fortunate enough to read Of Primary Importance written by Ann
Marie Corgill, where I was presented with a more apparent outlook
when looking at the stages of writing in the primary grades. The text
provided valuable tips and strategies for working with young writers.
Ann Marie included some tips that she finds to be vital for youthful writers which consisted
of:
Daily writing time
Opportunities for choice in topic, format, or genre
Demonstration, practice, teaching and celebration during the workshop
Reasons to write for a purpose and an audience
Support for the writer
Necessary tools for writers to write and publish their work
Time for writers to think, talk, write and share everyday
I really felt that Ms. Corgill's guidelines were based around logic with the full intent
of making writing structured and daily occurrence for the young writers. With that being
said I wanted to research this topic a little further to ensure true validation.
In the book titled "Teaching children to be literate: a reflective approach" written by
Anthony V. Manzo, and Ula Casale Manzo, the authors discuss guidelines that are very
similar to Ms. Corgill's. The text states the importance of writing on a daily basis, writing
for a purpose, and building a community. The author included two powerful and valuable
points. She mentions that children will write when they have something to write about,
19

and also states that it's essential that these young writers are given the opportunities to
write about things that interest them. They also noted that writers at young ages should be
able to evaluate their own work and also accept criticism from their peers and teachers. If
children are able to identify areas of weakness and be willing to rewrite their work, the
writing process will become routine for them.
After completing my research I have a clear vision to what I need to be
implementing in my first grade classroom. I plan on utilizing many of the authors'
guidelines when I work to create the ultimate writing environment for my students. My
goal will be to incorporate writing on a daily bases, build a community that is cooperative
and supportive, while also providing my students the opportunity to write on topics of
their choice. These readings have made me look forward to implementing a more
structured and functional writing curriculum this year! If you are looking for a book that
provides ideas, examples, and resources then this is the book for you!
References:

Corgill, A. M. (2008). Of Primary Importance:What's Essential in Teaching Young Writers. Portland, Maine:
Stenhouse Publishers.
Manzo, A. V., & Manzo, U. C. (1995). Teaching children to be literate: a reflective approach. Lake Forest, CA:
Harcourt Brace & Company.

Kawana Jones: Can Readers Theater motivate my students to

write?
It has been a very daunting task trying to get my 10th grade
students excited about writing, especially in a time of web surfing,
texting and video games. Then I happen upon Readers Theater.
Please keep this in mind that I knew of Readers Theater, especially
after teaching 3rd grade for three years but I did not have a
significant amount of knowledge on how to fully implement it
within my classroom. After attending several Readers Theater
workshop I went back to my classroom armed with more than
enough literature and a plan to get my students to enjoy writing thru Readers Theater.
Readers Theater is easily adaptable and can easily be used with all grades and
reading levels. In Readers Theater there is no right or wrong way to go about it. The only
requirement is that students need a script to read, whether premade or made by the students
themselves. Students are excited about every component of Readers Theater but more so by
20

being able to write their own scripts. Students remain engaged and attentive throughout
whether theyre speaking their parts or listening to their peers the students are actively
engaged (Flynn 2004/2005, Moran 2006).
I decided that for my 10th grade students it would be much better if they were allowed to
create the script themselves. When students are working in teams they are easily capable of
scripting short, simple stories no matter what reading or grade level they are perceived to be on.
My students realize that by writing their own original scripts it gave them a sense of ownership.
I notice that when students are allowed to own their assignments they put in a lot more effort
and take great pride in their work. In the end the students are able to put on an engaging
performance that has increased student motivation, confidence and pride.
Practitioners have noticed that students even recognize their improvement and that of
their peers (Neumann, Ross and Slaboch 2008). Recent studies have shown that students
reading and writing enjoyment increased after the implementation of Readers Theater in the
classroom (Griffith and Rasinski 2004). In Readers Theater motivation is always a key result.
Sources:
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/index.html
Casey , S, & Chamberlain, R. (2006). Bringing Reading Alive Through Readers' Theater.
Illinois Reading Council Journal, 4(34), 17-25.

Laurie Kemp: How can I balance helping my students to

develop comfort and love for the writing craft, while also
maintaining the principals expectations for using the schoolwide mandated writing program materials to help them achieve
passing scores on the state writing assessment?
I ask myself, am I training a one-trick pony? Unfortunately Im
afraid the answer is yes. When I think of writing, especially in the
real world, I do not see one type of writing that can be plugged
into a formula. Though there is a time and a place for conforming
to a template, to really become a writer, one has to have more than
one trick in the bag. As a teacher and doctoral student, I understand the need for academic
writing. Believe me, I do enough of it on a daily basis that I think Ive misplaced my creativity.
But this is what Im afraid of for my students. Am I fostering a love of writing- or at least a
comfort with the craft? Or am I simply prepping them for a single test, on a single day, on a
single sheet of paper? Participation in NWP reinforced what I already know. Good writers can
do more than take a test. They practice their craft daily in all sorts of formats and genres, and
they write across all content and subject areas. Now, how can I make this happen while still
using the materials that my principal expects us to use? Its a fragile, intricate marriage
between what I have to do and what I should do.
21

Perhaps the first order of business is to get back to the writers workshop. It makes no
difference what type of writing program or curriculum a teacher uses; it is easy to blend the
writing workshop. Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi are huge proponents of the writing
workshop and between the two have written a plethora of books on the topic of writing. They
suggest that instruction using best practices will yield better results on formal tests, even
without explicit teaching to the test, (Fletcher and Portalupi, 2001). In the writing workshop,
students are given choices, write in different genres, and spend time in prewriting activities,
drafting their writing, revising, and editing. Creativity is encouraged, and styles, conventions,
and forms are taught through the use of mini lessons. These mini lessons are referred to by
Fletcher and Portalupi (1998, 2001) as craft lessons and are inspired by childrens literature and
nonfiction materials. Writing workshops engage the writer, and provide time for writing,
sharing, and conferencing. They emphasize the process as much as the product. Students
receive feedback from their peers and the teacher, in brief sessions that lead them to focus on
few, if not one aspect of their work at a time. However a teacher chooses, or is required to
teach writing form, the writing workshop is a great format for encouraging authorship.
Although research is limited, one study in Florida (Shelton & Fu, 2004) did indicate
comparatively higher FCAT scores in a classroom where the teacher used writing workshop.
According to Miller and Higgins (2008) students who have had authentic writing experiences
through the use of writing workshop, feel confident that they can be successful at any writing
task. Yes! Thats what I want for my students. Not just a passing score on the FCAT, but the
security of knowing that they can take anything that comes their way once they leave my class.
Most of all, I want them to enjoy writing.
Participants at this summer institute emphasized a lot of prompting, inspiring, and
motivating students to write. Another strategy that is easily implemented for meeting both of
my goals, complying and nurturing, is the use of multisensory and varied prompts or
invitations to write. For example, Fletcher (2006) encourages to teachers to look for model
texts from topics and literature that interests boys, who typically have a greater struggle with
writing. Several of the NWP participants, including myself, addressed students with more
creative or multisensory needs. In considering the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners,
Walling (2006), insists that if these students are to write well, the teacher must find ways to use
their preferred learning style. This may require varied stimuli and/or varied output. I plan to
use a lot more creative expression for pre-writing activities. No longer will students in my
classroom be limited to illustrating when they are finished writing. Instead, they will paint,
draw, taste, touch, observe, move, and listen to music as a stimulus for writing. Perhaps their
connections will be deeper, and their writing more inspired. They will surely be motivated, and
they can still complete the required prompts and activities following their sensory experiences!
Finally, I plan to use writers notebooks and response journals with my students. To
clarify, these two tools will not be where students will complete timed writing prompts or
premade activities from the required writing kit. The writers notebook will be a personal book
for students to decorate how they wish, to jot and sketch ideas that they have, and to keep
tidbits that may inspire writing. The choice is theirs what to put in it. According to Fletcher
(1996), A writers notebook is not a diary its not a reading journal in which your teacher tells
you to summarize the main idea of a book, or write a letter to a character. (p.3) In other words,
I will not be telling my student what goes in their writers notebooks, nor will I give them an
assignment to be written in there. It will be each students individual treasure trove of writing.
The response journal is not an assignment notebook either. Though as the teacher I will
22

provide a prompt (not in the sense of the FCAT style prompt, but in a writing stimulus), the
student will choose how to respond based on the way they feel or react to the stimulus.
I know there are ways to fit this all in. I am confident that I can be creative in my
integration of these strategies into the preexisting template I am given. I know that more
writing can be done across the content areas, and that different modes and genres can be
utilized in ways that meet the demands of the required curriculum and foster a love for writing
in my students. I wont allow them to be one-trick ponies. I want them to be word wizards who
can create magic in any way they are asked to and to go about it with great confidence and joy.
The NWP summer institute has given me my own bag of tricks and the inspiration to make it
happen!
References
Fletcher, R. (1996). A writers notebook : Unlocking the writer within you. NY: HarperCollins.
Fletcher, R. & Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing workshop: The essential guide. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Fletcher, R. & Portalupi, J. (1998). Craft lessons: Teaching writing K-8. York, ME: Stenhouse.
Fletcher, R. & Portalupi, J. (2001). Nonfiction craft lessons: Teaching information writing
K-8. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Miller, M. & Higgins, B. (2008). Beyond test preparation: Nurturing successful learners
through reading and writing workshops. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 44(3), p. 124-127.
Shelton, N. & Fu, D. (2004). Creating space for teaching writing and for test preparation.
Language Arts, 82(2), p.120-128.
Walling, D. R. (2006). Teaching writing to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Diane Kratt: Will embedding writing into the College of Education

undergraduate courses help the teacher candidates become teachers of writing?
Being a relatively new instructor in the College of Education, I have relied heavily
on what has been done before me when it comes to creating a course syllabus
and planning my lessons. However, as I gain a higher degree of comfort and have
experiences of my own in these courses, it makes me wonder what changes I
could bring to the survey courses I teach in order to increase the level of
effectiveness for the education students during the course and in their future
teaching assignments. Finding ways to embed various writing assignments
throughout any education course can certainly help them to become better

23

writers, but will it also help them to become better teachers of writing?
It hasnt taken me long to come to the conclusion that yes, embedding writing into my courses will indeed help the
teacher candidates to become better writing teachers. The entire NWP summer institute is an example of this. Just
by having all of us write several times a day during our institute has helped me become a better writing teacher so
how could it not do the same thing for my students?
The book I read for the institute also helped me to see the idea clearly. One of the main points I took away from
Because Writing Matters by the NWP and Carl Nagin is that it is extremely important for a teacher to believe that
writing does matter and have a love for writing themselves. I do feel this way and I want this to come across to my
students in what we do in the classroom. I also would hope that as we engage in various writing activities with
which everyone can feel success, the teacher candidates positive feelings towards writing also increase.
According to an article I read called Be a better writer, be a better teacher by Marsha Grace in the Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy (Sept. 1999), people who write come to know themselves better. The author states
that becoming a person who writes is important but becoming a teacher who writes is essential. Writing is one of
the most powerful and accessible communication devices we have and it is imperative that we all engage in using
it frequently to better ourselves in whatever we do.
I certainly will be looking at my courses through a writers filter now and finding ways to incorporate writing during
each of our class sessions. I feel that by doing this I will be improving my own students and therefore helping to
improve the students that they will teach in the future. My hope is to turn students in the College of Education into
believers that writing matters for everyone and at every grade level and that they can all be effective teachers of
writing, no matter what content they are teaching.

Alessia Leathers
Research Question
Im a new teacher and learning on the job.
Frank McCourt, The Teacher Man
How effective is it to disclose to college students our
double role of being teachers and learners?
I was a TA when I started teaching in 2007. After being a
journalist for more than two decades, it was absolutely
refreshing to try a different profession. What helped me in my new role in front of the class,
I am sure now, was the fact that I was also a student finishing my M.A. in English. So while
my students were dealing with the blank page, so was I. Or when they were trying to finish
in time their research papers, so was I. We were drinking from the same cup of coffee. So I
shared with them my vicissitudes as a student from day one. I was also concerned about
issues like how to manage my time between writing and reading. Also, how to juggle three
papers during the same weekend? How to decipher my own handwriting in my notebooks?
Yes, we were, well, how to say it, partners in crime. I was with them, not against them.

24

And that is how I have been trying to keep the relationship with my students in Composition
I and II at Florida Gulf Coast University.
However, if you read carefully, I said trying. I frequently question myself. Should I
be open with the fact that I am in the same process of learning? Should I let them know
that I am not a walking dictionary or that I have not swallowed the Chicago Manual of
Style? Of course, these initial questions were followed by others. Should I be open about
my double role right at the beginning of the semester? Could this openness jeopardize my
legitimacy as a teacher? Could the discussion of this duality cause insecurity and uneasiness
among students who need a god-like figure in front of the classroom? Honestly, I have been
playing pretty much by ear these last three years. It is just now, thanks to the National
Writing Project, that I have the time to discuss my viewpoints and methodologies with other
teachers as well as start looking for answers in different books and essays written by
recognized educators.
Paulo Freire (1970) gave me the initial frame I needed to clear up my doubts. In his book
Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the Brazilian educator criticizes what he calls the banking
concept of education that positions students as empty vessels to be filled by the teacher.
In this vertical approach, the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing, the
teacher talks and the students listen-meekly, the teacher disciplines and the students are
disciplined. In other words, the teacher is the subject of the learning process, while the
pupils are mere objects (p. 59). I felt less lonely after reading Freires theory. In the open
dialogue I establish with my students, my ultimate goal is to build a community of learners
in which we identify ourselves as seekers in the thirst for knowledge. I am not the owner of
the truth. In a community we all share what we know; we all drink from the water fountain.
Even before Freire, American educator John Dewey (1859-1952) was already in favor of
recognizing the active role of students with his constructivist educational theory. So I was
not too far-fetched when I was trying to empower my students by recognizing their prior
knowledge as well as cultural and intellectual backgrounds. My students have their own
voices and I want to hear them.
It is precisely my desire to fully carry out my role as a teacher that I of necessity have
to learn from them. I need to hear their needs and weaknesses, as well as their
accomplishments and strengths. As professor Carol Ann Tomlinson (2008) explains, the lack
of connection with the teacher spells academic failure (p. 27). Teachers in tune with their
classes should assiduously study their students (p. 29). It is through this learning process
that teachers are able to provide a sense of ownership to students. If the assignments and
lessons are far away from their realities, students would not be motivated to participate in
the learning community. And apathy is a recipe for failure.
Now, my role as a student goes beyond my desire to learn about them. If I want to be
a teacher who truly leaves the podium, I also need to be a student who learns with and
from them. As J. Larson and J. Marsh (2005) note in the book Making literacy real:
Theories and Practices for Learning and Teaching, in the complexity of the digital era,
teachers are co-constructors of knowledge, since teachers must acknowledge that
students sometimes know as much, if not more about certain things (as cited in The
Reading Teacher, 2009). Yes, we need to share the chalk.
There are two main problems that arise when we want to assume the almighty role of
the primary knower, as Maren Aukerman (2006) observes in her essay Whos Afraid of
the Big Bad Answer? First, students focus on matching the teachers interpretation;
25

second, they try to satisfy the needs of the teacher, not their own needs. So the students
are secondary knowers whose ideas are not legitimate unless they coincide with the
teachers. As a result, students do not become critical thinkers, but sheep chewing at the
echo of someone elses voice.
Professor Joseph M. Shosh (2004) had an epiphany about his teaching methods when
one of his students bluntly asked him, Why is that English teachers almost always care less
about what students say than how they say it? (p. 53). As he notes in his article Making
Meaning in a Dialogic Discourse Diary, his student made him realize that his role in the
classroom was as a transmitter of authoritative discourse (p. 54). Now Shosh admits the
need to reduce his monologues and teach students to write and think through questioning
themselves and others (p. 54). I wonder if Shosh realizes that the word others includes
even him as a teacher. I think this premise brings the ultimate question. Should we allow
ourselves to be scrutinized by our students? It sounds frightening, right? How much power
are we willing to share with our students? If the final outcome benefits the students without
jeopardizing the legitimacy (and sanity) of the teacher, well, why not? In his book Writing
without Teachers, Peter Elbow (1998) confesses that he can set up something like the
teacherless class if I adopt more the role of a learner and less the role of a teacher (p.
vii). I would love to see how Elbow handles his classes. Also, I would have loved to see the
students faces of Frank McCourt (2005) when a few decades ago he told his students that
they dont have to swallow everything he told them (p. 119). What I see now is the faces
of my own students and how, after the initial surprise, they quickly get involved and take
the best out of the learning community we build in the classroom.
In the end, it is not really a matter of if, but when and how. When should I let my
students know that I am also an active learner? Should I do it right off the bat? How should
I share the blackboard? Are they academically and emotionally ready to take the chalk? If
we recognize that each student has his or her own voice, as well as pace and needs, I
believe this question should be answered by each teacher based on the dynamic of the
classroom. Each group of students has a particular beat, a rhythm in the learning process.
We as teachers need to listen carefully to the heart of the class. That is why I will continue
playing it by ear.

References
Aukerman, Maren. (2006, October). Whos afraid of the big bad answer?
Educational Leadership. 37-41.
Elbow, Peter. (1998). Writing without teachers. New York: Oxford University Press.
Freire, Paulo. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum
Larson, J & Marsh, J. (2005) Making literacy real: Theories and practices for
learning and teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
McCourt, Frank. (2005). Teacher man: A memoir. New York: Scribner
Shosh, Joseph M. (2004, September) Making meaning in a dialogic discourse diary.
English Journal, 94(1), 53-58.
Tomlinson, Carol Ann. (2008, November). The goals of differentiation. Educational
Leadership, 26-30.

26

Laura Link: How might teachers writing groups help

teachers in their classroom instruction?
My inquiry into the question: How might teachers writing groups
help teachers in their classroom instruction? focused on gaining
information from two primary sources: my National Writing
Project summer institute, and the internet.
Our NWP facilitator, Stacey Elmeer wrote: We here at the
national writing project, if we truly believe in writing, we must
write ourselves. As teachers, we run the risk of never getting any writing doneof only ever
loving other peoples books and poems, but if we are to truly enter into the conversation, we
too must write.
Elmeers insights match my own: after four weeks, our NWP group has become an intensive
writers community. We have practiced prewriting, writing from the senses, using knowledge of
left-brain and right-brain strengths in guiding our own and our students writing, writing about
nature, journaling and so much more. Nearly all of the strategies we practiced accomplished
the two goals: improving my own writing and improving how I can teach writing to my students.
As a writing and journalism teacher in high school, I already have many ideas from NWP to
bring to my lessons.
I searched the term Teacher Writing Groups on both Google and the National Writing Project
website, www.nwp.org. The internet is always either my first or second step in any type of
research, from formal inquiry to a price comparison on cameras. The following is from an article
by Anne Elrod, reprinted on the NWP site. She writes about her experiences in an e-mail writing
group comprised of three teachers.
We all knew, too, that teachers of writing also should write. As writing project teacherconsultants, two of us had even worked together in a writing group before, and we knew what
attentive response from a group could do for our writing. Somehow, though, it took us two
years as colleagues and friends before we figured out that we could combine all those bits of
knowledge, that the same connections that enriched our writing classrooms could enrich our
own lives, and that we could stage an exchange of our ownan online writing group just for
us, writes Anne Elrod in Reflections on an Online Teachers Writing Group, published in The
Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 1 , Winter 2003
In my search, I discovered a few books by writer and teacher Judy Reeves. An Amazon.com
review of her book, Writing Alone, Writing Together: A Guide for Writers and Writing Groups,
says, This is a great resource, whether you are trying to piece together your own writing
27

group, deciding how to choose a group to join, or hoping to reinvigorate your current group.
Ms. Reeves offers plenty of practical advice, with true-to-life examples. This is a great
follow-up to her collection of writing prompts, A Writer's Book of Days, which I have used
almost daily for the past four years!
Based on my research, I will read Judy Reeves book, and I would like to begin a writers
group especially for teachers. It may be based at my school or more informal with a few
friends from the NWP. Regardless, this decision is an answer to my research question in
action:

teachers writing groups can help teachers in their classroom instruction by getting
teachers to practice their own writing.

Lee Moody: Will the application of creative/free writing in

the classroom help to strengthen the students
factual/functional lab reports?
I teach science. As Worsley (2000), says historically science
teachers do not teach writing, because science teachers are
worried about stepping on the toes of the Language Arts
department. This is why I have to wonder if creative writing will
help in the classroom, Knipper and Duggan (2006),
reports: Writing is often left out of content classrooms because
of an overemphasis on produces writing and the confusion between learning to write and writing
to learn. Thus helping me to formulate my research question: If we add creative writing within
the subject area classrooms, will it help students with the other factual writings that they will
have to do throughout their academic careers.
Mc Conachie, Hall, et al (2006) voice: To develop complex knowledge in any discipline,
students need opportunities to read, reason, investigate, speak, and write about overarching
concepts within that discipline. Then Knipper & Duggan (2006) states: Writing to learn is an
opportunity for students to recall, clarify, and question what they know about a subject and what
they still wonder about with regard to that subject matter.
Writing allows the students to express what they are thinking, experiencing, reading, or just to
question things that they are wondering about; assisting them in self expressions. As you read
any student work, you know that this is the area that is really lacking. They simply do not know
how to phrase things so that their reader understands what they are thinking. Furthermore,
writing can help to strengthen the students comfort level, their self expressions, their semantics
and their syntax. So if we research and adopt multiple ways to implement creative writing within
our classes, we should be able to see a vast improvement within their factual writing.
In reading Knippers article, it is clear that adding the process of writing to learn will forge the
students understanding. Benjamin (2005) sums up the research: When students are writing
28

something in of for your class, they are processing what they are supposed to learn in your
subject. Writing is not just a demonstration of what has been learned (assessment); writing is a
means to learn (process). Therefore, the application of creative writing within the classroom
will help to strengthen the students factual reports.
References:
Benjamin, A. (2005). Writing in the Content Areas, 2nd edition. Eye on Education. Larchmont,
NY.
Knipper, K. J. & T. J. Duggan (2006). Writing to learn across the curriculum: Tools for
comprehension in content area classes. International Reading Association; Vol. 59, no. 5;
February 2006. Pages 462-470.
Mc Conachie, S.; M. Hall; L. Resnick; A. K. Ravi; V. L. Bill; J. Bintz; & J. A. Taylor. (2006)
Task, Text, and Literacy for All Subjects. Educational Leadership, October 2006. Pages 8-14.
Worsley, D, & B. Mayer (2000). The Art of Science Writing. Teacher & Writers
Collaborative. New York, NY.
Yancey, K. B. (2009). Writing in the 21st Century. National Council of Teachers of English.
Pages 1-8.

Cheryl Moss

Where does functional writing meet the

Language Arts curriculum?
To answer this question, I first went on-line to the
Next Generation Sunshine State Standards website to
look at each grade level checking for functional
writing skills. I discovered that the Language Arts
strand is broken into two major categories, Writing
Applications and Writing Process. In the Writing
Applications strand, there is a standard that is Informative. Under that
section, at every grade level, there are specific objectives for life long,
functional writing. Some examples are:
1. developing a thank you note with the teacher as a scribe in
kindergarten
2. recording
information
related
to
a
topic
using
observations, lists, notes, charts, and legends in third
grade
3. writing
business
letters
and
formal
invitations
and
designing detailed directions using cardinal and ordinal

29

vocabulary,
landmarks,
and
distances
along
with
an
accompanying map in seventh grade
4. using primary and secondary sources accurately in report
writing; writing memos with succinct information; and
writing work-related documents such as resumes, cover
letters, applications, speaker introductions, and letters
of recommendations in eleventh and twelfth grades.
The most important thing that I saw while researching this question is that
what was expected in the lower grades shows up repeatedly throughout the rest
of the grades with higher writing expectations. Therefore, I can comfortably
say that the state of Florida includes functional writing into the standards
for students at all grade levels.
Next, I went to research articles for information from the educational
experts. Willard Bill Daggett, Ed D, has developed a framework for school
reform: Rigor/Relevance Framework. He believes that students have always
asked themselves the question, Where will I ever use what I am being taught
today? His premise is that states, school districts and teachers must focus
on providing a rigorous and relevant education that allows students to become
life-long learners, rather than spending time preparing them for a multitude
of tests. At the annual Model Schools Conference in Orlando, Florida, Dr.
Daggett spoke about his framework. It includes the following four quadrants:
Quadrant A Acquisition Students gather and store bits of knowledge
and information. Students are expected to remember or understand this
knowledge.
Quadrant B Application Students use acquired knowledge to solve
problems, design solutions and complete work. The highest level of
application is to apply knowledge to new and unpredictable situations.
Quadrant C Assimilation Students extend and refine their acquired
knowledge to be able to use that knowledge automatically and routinely to
analyze and solve problems and create solutions.
Quadrant D Adaptation Students have the competence to think in
complex ways and to apply their knowledge and skills. Even when confronted
with perplexing unknowns, students are able to use extensive knowledge and
skill to create solutions and take action that further develops their skills
and knowledge.
Using this framework, Dr. Daggett believes that students will be given
instruction that is meaningful to their daily lives and prepare them much
better for the world of work that they will enter when their formal schooling
is over. He believes that this framework allows all students to continue
searching for solutions to the problems they face as adults in the work place
and at home with their families. It is evident that Dr. Daggett believes that
functional writing is an important component in every student's education.
The next article that I read was Real World Writing:
Making Purpose and
Audience Matter, written by Grant Wiggins and published in the English
30

Journal. He writes ensure that students have to write for real audiences and
purposes, not just the teacher in response to generic prompts. He is a
proponent for authentic assessment using the following criteria:
1. Use of engaging and worthy tasks of importance
2. Faithful representation of the contexts
3. Non-routine and multistage tasks real problems
4. Tasks that require the student to produce a quality product
5. Transparent or demystified criteria and standards
He continues with the premise that the overwhelming majority of Americans
will not write academic papers for a living, yet in schools across our
nation, we prepare students for this type of writing at the expense of
writing tasks that will be expected of them in the world of work. He
encourages teachers to practice introducing a real purpose whenever students
are asked to write and to give them a specific audience to address. This
article also supports the utilization of functional writing as part of the
Language Arts curriculum.
The final place that I looked to support the standards and educational
experts was the Language Arts text that my students will use next year,
SRA Reading Mastery - Language Arts. I turned to the Curriculum Map at the
end of the teacher's edition. It is divided into the following sections:
1. Vocabulary
2. Comprehension
3. Grammar
4. Composition
5. Study Skills
The Study Skills section was the area that had functional writing included.
The students have many instances to practice letter writing, developing howto manuals, making directions, and multiple examples of note taking. Students
also become familiar with more advanced sections of books, like the appendix,
an index, and glossaries. The text also supports the answer that functional
writing is indeed covered as part of the Language Arts curriculum.
In conclusion, I have discovered that the standards developed for our state
and the materials purchased for our students do support instruction in all
grade levels in functional writing through the Language Arts curriculum. The
objectives build upon each other and become increasingly more complex as the
students age and skills gain momentum towards graduation and the world of
work.
Works cited:
Daggett, William. "Relevance, Rigor and Relationships." Educator Fall (2009): 4-9. Print.
Engelmann, Siegfried. SRA Reading Mastery Signature Edition. Columbus, OH:
SRA/McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.

31

"Florida Department of Education L Standards." Welcome to CPALMS. Web. 11

July 2010. <http://www.floridastandards.org/Standards/FLStandardSearch.aspx>.
Wiggins, Grant. "Real-World Writing: Making Purpose and Audience Matter."
English Journal (2009): 29-37. Print.

Whitney Oakwood: How do we build confidence in writers whose low,

writing self-esteem, stops them from writing?
I have many students who have a hard time writing, but two in
particular who had an unusually difficult time this year. These
are students who literally write nothing. They would sit and stare
at their papers which had nothing more than their names on
them. When I would come by and ask them if they were stuck
they would say that they cant think of anything. If I would
read the prompt or reword it to them, they could usually quickly
verbalize a good answer, but it did not occur to them that it
would be something acceptable for them to write down.
My best guess is that this is a confidence problem. When I have a student who has a blank page
verbalize something, I would tell them to write down whatever they have just said. I would look
at the student, say, yes, thats great, write that down and tap the blank page. The student would
look at me as if I was crazy. Why would I write that? their face seems to say. They feel as
though their words are not worthy enough to be written on the page.
Summer institute participants have suggested that too much openness in writing can be
overwhelming, and that giving loose examples is helpful to these students. Students may also
need more ownership over their writing so that they care more about it. Allowing the kids to
personalize their own writers notebook would be another great solution to this as suggested by
Carmen Davis.
Some research shows that students who experience writing anxiety can be helped by placing an
emphasis on pre-writing strategies. Students who practice pre-writing strategies are shown to
write better and have less anxiety. (Schweiker-Marra and Marra, 2000).
The majority of students who have this problem in my class tend to be males. Ralph Fletchers
book Boy Writers, points out the difference between boys and girls in writing, and asserts that it
is important to make sure boys feel comfortable writing in boy style. This includes an
appropriate and tactful use of violence and boy humor. Fletcher encourages teachers to look

32

for the intelligence behind writing styles that are specific to boys and stresses the importance of
giving boys the freedom to write this way. (Fletcher, Ralph 2006).
It seems that students would be more confident by pre-writing, which can help relieve the
pressure of immediately producing perfect work, taking more ownership of their writing by
keeping a personalized writers notebook and providing more modeling where needed.
References:
Marra, William T., Schweiker-Marra, Karyn E. (2000). Investigating the effects of prewriting
activities on writing performance and anxiety of at-risk students. Reading Psychology,
(21) 2. 99-114 Maryland; Frostburg State University.
Fletcher, Ralph. (2006). Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke.
45-46
Caren Pearson: What strategies that integrate writing into
the visual arts, will motivate and engage students?
At first glance, writing in the art classroom may seem
incongruous. However, there are many parallels between visual
and verbal literacy. Teachers who integrate writing into their art
classes, help students learn to articulate their ideas, explore their
feelings and express themselves, using both words and nonverbal symbols and images. Finding ways to include writing in
the art room is challenging yet rewarding.
Recent developments in neuroscience have helped researchers unlock secrets about how we
learn, process and remember things. Different regions of the brain have different functions. The
left hemisphere of the brain is more analytical, sequential, rational and verbal. It breaks
information into components and focuses on what is said. The right hemisphere of the brain
processes new information simultaneously. It is emotional, looks at how things are said and
synthesizes the parts into a whole. The left is literal and functional and the right is metaphorical
and visual.
However, both sides are mirror images, continuously working with each other. The brain pools
information from both hemispheres via the corpus collosum (a thick band that connects both
sides in a continuous neural bridge. (Carter, 1998). It is in making connections that both
hemispheres integrate thinking and construct ideas.

33

As teachers, we need to be familiar with the learning styles of our students, and offer them a
range of assignments, both verbal and visual, to address their needs. We can teach students about
the basic structure of their brains and help them understand how they learn. Both verbal and
visual approaches use the same kinds of cognitive strategies to strengthen students abilities to
express themselves and communicate their ideas. When we synthesize the two approaches, we
match instruction to how the brain works best, and help our students succeed.
We also should be aware of their Multiple Intelligences so we can include different kinds of
opportunities to encourage writing and make art. Writing can provide structure to lead discussion
and help students organize their ideas. Using different kinds of prompts for writing can offer
choices to students of different learning styles.
The National Writing Project was a valuable source of ideas for creating interesting writing
prompts that work in a variety of ways to meet differing student learning needs. Making a
painting to use as a writing prompt, like Mena Granatino did in her presentation, engages the
visual and kinesthetic learners. Laurie Kemp and Bambi Fischer played music to resonate with
the auditory learners, enticing them to write lines that flow from lyrics. Caren Pearson led
students into a guided meditation while listening to music and creating a piece of art from which
the writing emerged. Theresa Howard, Irene Stevens and Heather Krystofiak taught us about the
benefits of multi-sensory learning, using food to stimulate our senses to generate sensory writing.
Ali Conant taught us to Zoom in and out of pictures to tell a story. Pictures, photographs and
paintings can produce vocabulary based on imagery and motivate creative writing. Helen Davis
used mentor text and music to stimulate and improve writing. This uses both sides of the brain
together. Sarah Gregory used a non-fiction book about germs and collage activity to explore
writing and make interesting connections.
Looking at art work, hearing a quotation from a famous artist, reading about a period of art
history, listening to music from an art style, building a sculpture can all be used to inspire
students to write in the art room. Allowing students the freedom to respond in different ways
gives them options that appeal to their learning styles as well. There are many ways to integrate
writing into the art classroom besides asking them to write a five sentence paragraph. Some of
them are: writing in an interactive notebook or journal, drawing cartoons or storyboards, making
a word map for art vocabulary words, write a song, write artists statements, do an art critique,
create skits, take dual notes with writing on the left and drawing on the right side of the paper,
and write or paint to music.
Art teachers, as well as other content teachers, are reticent to give up precious time for writing,
concerned that competition for time and attention may dilute disciplinary rigor. (McConachie,
et al. 2006) If we keep in mind that verbal and visual literacy both aim to achieve similar goals:
to aid students in their ability to build learning and creatively express themselves, we help them
34

use both sides of their brain. Writing reinforces the art curriculum and helps students see
connections in a non-linear framework. In teaching art, we encourage divergent thinking and
multiple correct answers. By including writing in the art room, we are opening more doors to our
students learning and offer more bridges to their future.

Andrzejczak, N., Trainin, G. and Poldberg, M. (2005). From image to text: Using iages
in the writing process. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 6 (12) 1-17.
Barnes, N. S. (2009). Hands-on writing: an alternative approach to understanding art.
Art Education, 5 (5) 40-46.
Carter, R. (1998). Mapping the mind. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of
California Press.
James, P. (2002). Ideas in practice: Fostering metaphoric thinking. Journal of
Developmental Education, 25 (5), 26-33.
Leslie, C. and Roth, C. (2003). Keeping a nature journal. Hong Kong: Storey Publishing.
McConachie, S., Hall, M., Resnick, L., Ravi, A., Bill, V., Bintz, J. and Taylor, T. (2006).
Task, text and literacy for all students. Educational Leadership, October. 8-14.
Rief, L. Inside the writers-readers notebook: A workshop essential. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann. (2007).
Stecklein, H.P. (2002). How to build a better brain: Neuroscience and lifelong brainfriendly learning. [Speech at A Meeting for all Minds, St. Paul, MN. June 26, 2002].
Wolfe, P. (2001). Brain matters: Translating research into classroom practice.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Lincy Reynolds: How do we break away from cookie-cutter or formulaic writing

while still meeting the rigors of academic expectations?
Nearing completion at the National Writing Project Summer Institute, at Florida Gulf
Coast University, I have been able to gather sufficient data and reasoning to support
breaking academic norms while still meeting curriculum demands. During the past
four weeks I have been able to learn numerous ways to effectively incorporate Next
Generation Florida Sunshine State Standards while traveling off of the beaten path.
My goal is to provide the How, (As in how do we do this?) that my question poses. In
the article Toppling the Idol we learn that Choice in writing is the key to inspiring
students desire to learn different modes and genres so that they can have options for
writing a particular piece. The author teaches us how she was able to generate an alternative to the dreaded five paragraph
essay by allowing her students to choose the topic, mode, and genre. It seems trivial, give your students choice and of course
theyll like it more. However, she also allows them to choose the way in which they will complete the objective as well.
Therefore the students can decide to create a brochure, a news report, a campaign etc. while still fulfilling the academic
guidelines. Another helpful handout entitled, Genre List gives you countless ways to have students create a product that meets
the objective in a non-traditional form. Ideas span from designing an acceptance to speech to creating wedding vows. This list
is incredibly comprehensive and evoked a willingness within myself to go try these out in the classroom. Vocabulary in Action:
35

Strategies for Turning Students into Wordsmiths examines successful strategies high school teacher Amy Hardwick, uses with
her students in order to help them with complex words. Hardwick outlines vocabulary strategies she ascertained through various
workshops that she uses in her own room. As an elementary teacher I know that good writing begins with good diction and
students tire of the same routines just as we do if we dont keep bettering our practice. Hardwick allows students to create
poems as a means to learn a new vocabulary word. She references a type of poetry called a Fib, which is a six-line poem in
which the number of syllables per line follow the Fibonacci sequence 1,1,2,3,5,8. I can then take this strategy and apply it to
new vocabulary and teach a different type of poetry similar to that of a Haiku.
As a teacher I was able to gain a wealth of knowledge about various ways I can still teach writing while casting aside paragraphs,
lined paper, essays, and number two pencils. While these products will always be a part of our writing component I have new
avenues to reach the desired outcome. Ive learned about the use of literature models and incorporating different mediums
besides a pencil and paper as a way to create an amazing piece of writing. So my answer is a resounding YES, we can choose
to stick to are archaic schematics or delve into a new hemisphere of writing that builds confidence and encourages creativity
while still remaining steadfast in terms of standards and assessment.

Works Cited
Roessing, Lesley. Toppling the Idol. English Journal. Vol. 94, No. 1 September 2004.
Ivey-Hardwick, Amy. Vocabulary in Action: Strategies for Turning Students into Wordsmiths.
English Journal. Vol. 97, No. 4 March 2008.
Lane, Barry. Genre List: How Do You Teach Writing? 2008.

Irene Stevens: How can I incorporate more writing with my

kindergarten and first grade ELL and ESE students?
Writing in the early grades is a process of growing knowledge.
The concepts of voice to print/text and experience with oral
language have to be nurtured into a strong root system and
trunk. Linking verbal phonemes with visual letter
representations also has to be developed as a future support
system of branches. Next come words and then complete
thoughts that form sentences for the canopy of leaves on each childs growing tree of learning.
Now that the young students have their trees of learning to sit under in the shade, they need to
practice using these skills for communication and growing their reading and writing abilities.
Now to my students. My students come to school with many challenges. All of them are
learning English. Many are the first in their family to go to school. Their parents are caring and
nurturing but they have not been able to read to their children in any language. I also work with
ESE, exceptional student education, students that require extra time and a variety of
techniques to make progress. On the very first day I like to take something that each student
36

has said and put it into print for them to see their own words. Students are sometimes asked to
draw pictures about some activity that has been completed in class. Then an adult asks the
student about the drawing and writes what the child has said. This going from image to print
was explored by Andrzejczak, et al, in the International Journal of Education and the Arts as a
pre-writing activity. However for my beginning writers this is a step in developing their roots
and trunks that will lead to their own independent writing. This coming year I need to do a lot
more of this from day one with every student.
As soon as possible I have always gotten paintbrushes, chalk, crayons, and pencils into
my students hands, usually to start writing their names. This year as part of my plan to get my
students writing more I will use techniques from Multiple Intelligences: Using Manipulatives to
Reach Tactile Learners and Student Learning Styles: Make Learning Active for Tactile Learners.
These resources suggest using salt/sand boxes for students to practice writing letters for an
active, fun and non-threatening experience. I have also used the gel bags suggested by Spalding
and plan to do more with these early on this coming year. Another suggestion is to give each
child their name cut from sandpaper. If a child has not developed legible letter formation of
their name yet, and/or for an added textural experience, they can make a name rubbing by
placing their paper over the sandpaper and rubbing the paper with a crayon or pencil.
As Mark Twain said, Write what you know. Writing by younger students can be
strengthened by using their own personal experiences and providing new experiences to
broaden their knowledge. Both of these can be guided into writing by providing a time of oral
language development during the pre-writing experience. This Language Experience Approach
to reading and writing has been used with students of all ages and with both students who have
English as their first language and those learning English for the first time. Adrian Wurr reports
in Language Experience Approach Revisited: The Use of Personal Narratives in Adult L2 Literacy
Instruction the five step process used by Jones (1986) to draw on several language learning
principles. He explains that struggling adult learners usually have low self-concept as readers
and need to be assured of some immediate success. This sounds exactly like my struggling
young readers and writers. I believe that the addition of more language experience writing with
my young students could boost their self-concept and thus motivate them to want to do more
writing of their own.
So, how can I incorporate more writing with my kindergarten and first grade ELL and ESE
students? Writing is a process. Not all children learn at the same time or in the same way. I
must remember to provide opportunities for positive experiences and success for all of my
students. By giving my students more language experiences, they will develop the oral language
needed to communicate what they have learned. Young children like to tell their stories. I need
to accept their telling of their experiences, using their dictation to put their story into words.
37

Incorporating the Districts curriculum and using the tools that they have provided in a positive
way and always remembering that it is the childrens story that I am developing that should
guide me to enhancing the writing experience for my students.
Works Cited:
Andrzejczak, N. (2005, October). From image to text: using images in the writing process.
International Journal of Education and the Arts, 6 (12).
Dill, M. (2009, August 5). Multiple intelligences: using manipulatives to reach tactile learners.
Retrieved December 9, 2009, from Bright Hub website:
http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/14854.aspx
Dill, M. (2009, August 30). Student learning styles: make learning active for tactile learners.
Retrieved December 9, 2009, from Bright Hub website:
http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/16779.aspx
Koralek, D. (2008). How most children learn to read.
Retrieved June 19, 2010, from Readingrockets.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/386?theme=print

Rachel Stokes: How can I use journal response to impact students levels of
comprehension?
Introduced into English and language arts programs, journaling has left many
teachers puzzled. Teachers often have not been instructed the most
successful methods for powerful journal use. It is no wonder why many
teachers are perplexed at the idea of implementing journal usage into their
curriculum. Teachers report that their students dread journaling and that it
is infective.
Brain research supports the model of learning through the method of
journaling. Current research affirms that right-hemispheric functions can be accomplished by either of the brains
spheres. Through journal writing, students are able to test their understanding of reality by clarifying, discovering,
assessing, reflecting on, resolving and refining what they really think and feel about experience. Personal response
encourages students to problem-solve in a self- directed, specific, and meaning-full manner. (Parsons, 2001)
Brain research tells educators that the brain will learn especially when students are reflecting and getting involved

38

in the learning process. Students begin taking responsibility and making their own decisions related to their own
learning.
Journal response is effective because it requires students to reflect thoughtfully on the material they read
or are responding to. Reflective language helps ignite the learning process. Learners using journal response
become more aware of their patterns of thought in the specific way they write. Using journal response research
also shows that students need to connect with their past to begin new entry points to acquire new discoveries.
Resources
Parson, Les. (2001).Response Journals Revisited. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Kurt Thoreson
Research Question: How does the implementation of poetry
(analogies/metaphors) enhance the retention and understanding
of curriculum in a content area class such as anatomy?
I have been teaching for one and one half years. I spent the second
semester of the 2008-2009 school year teaching freshmen biology
after the original teacher unexpectedly vacated the position. I was
quite fortunate to receive a teaching position less than one month after
graduating from Florida Gulf Coast University and in the middle of the school year. At the end
of my first teaching experience, I was assigned human anatomy and physiology; a subject I
absolutely adore. Throughout the 2009-2010 school year, I assigned writing assignments to my
students, however, I was ignorant in the multitude of writing strategies and forms available. I
have personally learned that poetry is a wonderful form of writing to aid in comprehension of
subject matter. Having attended the National Writing Project during the summer of 2010, I have
realized that I fell victim to the very same accusations I make as to why science teachers do not
include much writing in science classes. Reasons such as lack of time to administer and assess,
as well as a lack (or ignorance) of writing styles that are unanimously successful in the learning
process of high school age students. This summer is taught me how to implement new and
innovative writing strategies to improve learning and comprehension in my subject area.
Throughout the National Writing Project, participants provided superb strategies in
teaching writing strategies in subject area classes such as human anatomy (what I teach) which
not only have been researched and proven to improve learning, but comprehension as well.
Along with what the other members of the NWP brought to the table, I also read the book The
Art of Science Writing, by Dale Worsley and Bernadette Mayer. In the book, poet John Giorno
turns a NASA report into a found poem simply by breaking a few sentences apart and in creating
multiple lines in the form of a poem, with no more than four words per line. Such a writing
exercise provides the student with a simplistic approach at studying the literature and improving
39

comprehension (p. 73). I believe that this tactic in subject area writing is great in that it allows
the student to break apart a few sentences or paragraphs and discern the pertinent material from
the writing. The student then disseminated writing into a flowing poem. According to Worsley
and Mayer (2000), Poetry isthe impassioned expression which is on the countenance of all
science (p. 60). In the article Task, Text, and Literacy for All Subjects, the authors provide
examples of the use of poems which are designed to compare and contrast scientifically oriented
questions and studies. These studies in science and writing have instilled in me a knowledge and
skill of writing I intend on passing down to my students. Here are some ideas I genuinely like:
Creating poems from science text
Multi-sensory experiences to teach poetry writing
Generic character development and story with scientific concepts and themes
Poems about characters
In the study, Saying It More Intensely: Using Sensory Experience to Teach Poetry
Writing, author Nicole Baart explains the age old question, how can I make poetry relevant
and interesting (p. 98)? She explains that a teacher should develop poetry within the lesson
plans. Present the material with raw emotion and involve metaphors and similes, especially
those to which the students can relate to the best.
I intend on incorporating poetry in my curriculum and lesson plans in the future, starting
with the next school year. I will refer to www.poets.com for strategies and various forms of
poetic styles. I can already see myself implementing a poetry-related warm up exercise at the
beginning of class. I dont doubt the practice wont be opposed, but enthusiasm is
contagious, and I have learned that when a teacher implores the students to try and reassure
them that the teacher is there to assist, students generally become less anxious and are in a
better state to perform. I already use metaphors quite often, but will now do the same
practice in regards to the involvement of poetry
Worsley, D., Bernadette, M. (2000). The Art of Science Writing. New York, New
York: Teachers and Writers Collaborative.
Yancey, K. (2009). Writing in the 21st Century. A Report from NCTE, 1-9.
McConachie, S., Hall, M., Rsnick, L., Ravi, A., Bill, V.L., Bintz, J., Taylor, J.A. (2006).Task,
Text, and Literacy for All Subjects. Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 8-14.
Shams, L., Seitz, A., (2003). Benefits of Multisensory Learning, Vol. 30, No. 10, 1-7
Shosh, J., (2004). Making Meaning in a Dialogic Discourse Diary, Vol. 94, No. 1, 53-58.
40

Karen Torres: Will the writing of similes and metaphors impact

content vocabulary acquisition?

The students I work with are in a Title I school. They perform

below grade level as indicated by achieving level 1 or level 2 on the
states math achievement test. Proficiency is demonstrated with a
performance at a level 3. Sixty-eight percent of our students come
from homes where a language other than English is spoken. My
students have difficulty with the academic vocabulary. My thought
is that by using the figurative language of similes and metaphors,
students can deepen their understanding of math vocabulary.
In Marzanos Six-Step Process for Teaching New Terms, step one is to provide a
description, explanation, or example of the new term. In step two students restate the description,
explanation, or example in their own word. This is where I would have students develop their
own similes or metaphors for the term. Their own connection would help them understand and
remember the term.
To be successful in math, students need to learn concepts and see relationships among the
concepts. Mathematical concepts and relationships are abstract and constructed by people. For
students to learn math, they need to be able to construct these concepts and relationships in their
own minds. Children need concrete interaction with math ideas (Burns, p. 24).
Students require language skills to demonstrate math proficiency. Like all languages,
mathematics must be encountered orally and in writing. Like all vocabulary, mathematical terms
must be used again and again in context and linked to more familiar words until they become
internalized (Leinwand, pp. 32). This author suggests that in an effective classroom there is an
ongoing emphasis on the use and meaning of math terms. This includes their definitions and
connections to real-world and/or pictures. This is supported by the work of Presmeg. Her
research indicates that the imaginative aspects of reason contribute to mathematical learning. She
includes metaphor, metonymy and mental imagery on her list of imaginative aspects, which she
states are central to reason.
Based on all that I have read, having students use similes and metaphors will deepen their
conceptual understanding of math as well as develop academic vocabulary.
References
Burns, Marilyn, (2000). About Teaching Mathematics. Sausalito, California: Math Solutions
Publications.
Leinwand, Steven, (2009). Accessible Mathematics. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

41

Marzano, Robert J., and Pickering, Debra J., (2005). Building Academic Vocabulary. Alexandria,
Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Presmeg, Norma C. (1992). Prototypes, metaphors, metonymies and imaginative rationality in
high school mathematics. Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics, 23(6), 595-610.

42

Creative Pieces:
Dusk or Meet Me Tomorrow
By Jeff Bowditch

Favorite time of the day,

If you may Mr. Sun
Go down for me in the sea
With a few rays all around.
The colors you bring,
Mr. Sun when you are done;
Are different every time you retire.
You get some help from a cloud
That shouts out loud
With its colors of gray, orange, and purple.
In a sea of blue, what a hue
That puts you to bed
Till I see you tomorrow.

The Lure of the Swamp

By Jeff Bowditch

Come, said the flower, come to me;

Let me express my serenity.
When you come to me from your busy day,
Nothing but peace shall come your way.

43

Come, said the tree, come to my shade;

Cooling you down with the shadows Ive made.
Towering high over the landscape below,
Covered in leaves more majestic to show.

Come, said the water, come to my life-giving spirit,

The flower, the tree are right here and near it.
Laying the groundwork for all to survive,
Keeping the swamp so richly alive.

Zoo 101
By Jeff Bowditch
An oasis in the middle of an urban desert;
A sanctuary for those still living,
Remembrance for creatures deceased.
Cheery smiles, cheery faces at animal antics on display,
Makes one wonder at the savannah,
A realization of the rain forest,
A keep observation of the expansive plains,
A juxtaposition of opposites in the jungle.
This place, this symbiotic reality
This refuge in the middle of humanity.
Placement

44

Kathryn Calcaterra, July 2010

Leonardo da Vinci was perhaps the greatest mind that ever lived. His observations and imagination led to
over 13,000 pages of notes filled with writings and sketches. These words can be seen as mirror image cursive,
not, perhaps, because he wanted to write in code, but because he was left-handed and this was probably more
comfortable for such a voracious writer.
Leonardo was born in Vinci (now Florence) on April 15, 1452 and died at the age of 67. He was a true
Renaissance man, as he was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor,
anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer.
Even though very few of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is best known to the masses through his
artwork. People still line up every day to see the Mona Lisa displayed in the Louvre. The Vitruvian Man, a study of
proportions of the human body, is a logo for many businesses. In an attempt to accurately draw the correctness of
the body, Leonardo dissected human corpses to study the muscles, the heart, the vascular system and even the
effects of age and rage. A replica of the Last Supper is displayed in most Christian buildings and an item of interest
in the popular novel The da Vinci Code. In the paintings The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist
and the Virgin on the Rocks, Leonardo incorporated sfumato or the subtle art of shading. An excerpt from The
Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci shows how well how he understand the concept of lighting and shading, not
understood by his contemporaries at this point. Leonardo states that The lights which may illuminate opaque
bodies are of 4 kinds These are: diffused light as that of the atmosphere...And Direct as that of the sun...The third
th
is Reflected light; and there a 4 which is that which passes through (translucent) bodies, as linen or paper or the
like.
Although maps had been around for centuries, they were rare and inaccurate. When commissioned by
Cesare Borgia, Leonardo walked the city to get a precise measurement. This gave his patron not only the feeling of
holding his territory in his hands but the advantage of being able to outwit the opponent with a successful defense.
Leonardo was fascinated with flying. He studied birds in flight and drew over 100 drawings. Most of his
ideas were not successful during his lifetime, but many were a precursor for later inventors. The ornithopter was
never created but it was a prototype for the modern day helicopter. His parachute and hang glider, however, were
successful in his time.
While it is fascinating to study the life of such an inquisitive mind, one wonders what a modern day
Leonardo da Vinci could contribute to our world. Could he cure cancer, provide an unlimited fuel supply, foster
world peace? Perhaps one day we will again be blessed with such a rarity and show our gratitude for such a
treasure.

45

My Life Cycle of Writing: A Few of My Favorite Things

by chance
I AM in 2006
I am fearfully and awesomely made
I wonder how to coordinate living in Africa & in the U.S.
I hear water gurgling
I see what God shows me
I want to be a blessing
I am fearfully and awesomely made
I pretend to enjoy exercising
I feel hopeful I'll succeed...sometimes
I touch people's pain
I worry I'll die unspent
I cry often whether happy or sad
I am fearfully and awesomely made
I understand the need to begin again
I say, "Jesus loves me!"
I dream of the thunder of Victoria Falls
I try to diet
I hope to improve my health
I am fearfully and awesomely made

46

Objects That Represent Me in 2007

At the end of my hot red ears, fully flushing, dangle smiling wood-carved faces bought in Zimbabwe.
Lovelier still, are the meters of African fabric in the trunk of my rusty white Honda, which were hand
delivered from Cameroon by my beloved, "Papa Billy."
As I write, reflecting on today's request to "bring my films to tomorrow's mammogram", I notice with a
Mona Lisa smile that I'm free styling with a pink Breast Cancer Awareness pen.
I'm a survivor, and these are just a few of my favorite "anchors" in a sea of uncertainty.
Primordial Peggy in 2008
Wrapped around my sleeping daughter my soul resounds, "Yes!"
Our rhythmic breathing ebbs and falls as we rock in the unity of our universe
Quietly, I produce purring like a mama lion
Smiling, I recognize its primal origin within me
My lullaby of love
Focusing in 2009
"Is it alive?" I asked in panic.
Funny, the urgency to find a pulse
had superseded the novelty
of finding a mermaid, I thought
in retrospect.

Layers of Loss in 2010

Ryan sunk slowly as sunset, finally settling in the sediments of my soul
Colton came crashin' like a chariot o' fire, charisma blazin' as that bullet
Dante man-child morphing as we danced, saved, sanctified and slugged in slumber
Dennis damn you love you how dare you love you how could you fuck you miss you
Emmitt fishin' really F'd you up huh fella? followin' rules never was your forte
Mom miraculously in motion silently, selflessly serving everyone but yourself
47

Tyrone tired of not tellin' what nobody but us noticed never needed nutn' but a nod
Dad, you turn 90 this month.......thanks for not dying.........young
And in the morning, I awoke remembering Jomo, whose joyous smile soared, shot, silenced
Bob's body was shown on Sunday, handkerchief in his shirt pocket, bible verses in his soul
Ali Conant
Reflections: Inspired by Animusic Harp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgt4DEBQy50

A Magical Symphony
As the screen appears a silence falls over the room like a whisper of wonder. Then slowly the movement on the
screen begins its life flow.
As I looked upon this awe inspiring dance...the fluidity and melding of music and movement were timeless in space.
The staccato of the water was filled with a gentle reminder of trying to reach beyond what is in our control, knowing
that there may be a rapid or waterfall at the end of this watery trail...yet we never give up. The flow continues.
To begin were the initial two--they were the leaders trying out the patterns and sequences. They found their playful
rhythm together--just as we as teachers hope to find our rhythm and tonality with each class---each child. Though
there was a repetition to the movement, they were working in unison---a flowing dance with no deliberate leader, as
they were both working toward the same goals. They invite others to draw upon their joyful dance---to inspire and
encourage; at least "they" are not alone---together the rubato---the purpose is so apparent; growing stronger with
each beat.
Subtly, others start to pay attention---to wonder, so they join in the dance. At first they as new comers are tentative,
unsure of where the melody will take them, yet they slowly begin making their contribution to the overall musical
arrangement---the overall learning experience. Questions emerge from their movements; How do I fit in? How can
I contribute? Will I be able to create such a smooth dynamic sequence? Together they find strength in what they can
accomplish....together we can achieve a stronger melodic learning environment for our audience...can we sustain
this?
A harshness begins within....a feeling of strong undertones which at times seem as though they are fighting the
natural dance upon which the initial premise has been formed. Moments of doubt. Moments of hesitation. Feeling a
resistance.
There begins a transposition of tempo and soon the partners find their rhythm within the symphony once again, no
longer acting as individuals but as a whole...relying upon each stroke the other makes. They realize their
contributions add a dynamic and powerful explosion to the dance. Together there is a strength that cannot be
denied---all built upon a chance a pair of explorers took; which in turn has led to a symphony of congruence.
We are teachers...we are conductors of a magical symphony of learning.
Though the speed of the dance may change and at moments it slows to where we can barely find our flight...we
begin again.
The music we create never sounded more influential.
The harmony we create continues to grow more powerful.
48

Ali Conant
Come Walk With Me
Come walk with me
See the reflections of life...
Look closely
Lands of wonder embrace the beauty...
The lounging lizard;
Swoosh goes the wind...
Vines creating a gateway
inviting me in.
Pollinating bees,
Emerald paths leading to more wonders...
A soothing symphony
of toads and gators
engulf my spirit.
The flow of nature...
Come walk with me.

49

Marge Cox
The Importance of Continual Professional Development from a Personal Point of View
My first year of teaching, one of the experienced teachers in our school told me she was mad that the principal
hadnt shown up for her scheduled evaluation that day. The reason for her frustration was she had created a new
lesson, because he was coming. Now she would have to make another fresh one. Otherwise, she could just repeat
what she always did. A part of me wanted to say, Did you hear what you just said? Youre upset because you
have to do something new. Dont your students deserve your newest, freshest approach? However, what I
actually did was smile sympathetically. I wish I could say that she was the only teacher that I ever met who didnt
want to learn anything new or do anything differently than the year before. Unfortunately, Ive met several more
since that day back in the 70s.
How does an educator dig a rut so deeply that they just want to stay where they are and not have new
experiences? How does someone who teaches, not see the value in personal learning? I think part of the problem
is they dont value professional development. Good professional development inspires me to try new ideas and
gives me the tools to implement them. So what makes professional development impact teaching and learning?
Timing provides one important aspect. It needs to be continual and specific, not just a onetime general approach.
Another aspect of timing is making it long enough to cover the material and short enough to keep it interesting.
It needs to be held at a time that participants can attend without missing other duties. Our school adjusts our
teacher day, so that we can leave earlier four days a week and we stay later one day a week for professional
development. We work the same amount of hours as everyone else in the district, we just work them differently.
Individualization allows for every participant to work at their level of need. Difficult to do? Absolutely. Possible?
You bet. That may mean structuring responses so they come from each individual or from small discussion groups.
It could be surveying for personal needs before the actual training starts. Offering different topics, so participants
can choose their area of need allows for more specific training. For example, we have polled our teachers to see
what their technology needs were and then planned the appropriate training. Everyone was happier, because the
teachers felt like their needs were being addressed, so they were a better audience. The presenters were pleased
because they knew they were answering specific concerns.
Quality presentations and presenters provide the opportunity for participants to enjoy professional development.
A part of that is equipment that works, but a good presenter always has a plan B. To my way of thinking, a good
presenter involves the participants in meaningful activities and utilizes multiple learning styles. A sense of humor
and willingness to see other points of view also add to a presenters appeal. To put it simply, they practice what
they preach and do it with style.
So what is left to make professional development impact teaching and learning? Participants need to come with a
mindset that anticipates learning something that will help them better serve their students. They need to accept
responsibility to look for and learn at least one thing that they can use in their classroom.
Professional development allows me to continue to grow and develop as a human being in general and as an
educator specifically. Let me accept responsibility to be a lifelong learner and in turn, teach another generation to
love learning, too.

50

Carmen Davis
A Good Education
Mr. David Saenz, was a pretty incredible man. As an only child who lived to see his wife bear
eleven children, he knew very little about rearing them. His education only took him to the
fourth grade and this really bothered him. He decided to do something about it. Hed been
talking to a man where he worked sweeping. Manual labor was all he really knew. Mr.
Hammond asked him, David, can you read?
David replied, A little. Why?
You want to sweep all your life? Mr. Hammond asked.
I like your job. It doesnt look that hard. David retorted, continuing his steady, meticulous
strokes.
Come over here, Mr. Hammond commanded. Do you see those buttons and knobs? He
pointed to the boiler which ran the plant. If you dont keep that water at a constant
temperature, youll blow up and so will everything around you for miles. It may look easy, but
there is a lot of responsibility that goes with just sitting here watching all the gadgets.
David looked at the tall thin man, So whyd you want me over here?
Here, read and learn this, Mr. Hammond gave him a book. If you have any questions, ask me
while Im here. Im retiring in a couple of months, so dont take forever. Id like for you to take
my job when I leave. Ill talk to the supervisor, after youve read the book and we go over every
single page in it.
He hesitated, but still took the book. What if I dont get it? David asked Mr. Hammond.
You probably wont the first time. Dont give up. If you have any questions, write them down
and Ill help you while Im here. Im off the next two days, so read as much as you can while Im
gone. While Im still here, Ill ask you some questions and show you how the pictures in the
book match up with the instrument panel on the boiler, Mr. Hammond encouraged David.
Thanks, man. Enjoy your days off with your family. Ill be reading til you get back.
Sure, David. I know you have a large family and if my instincts are right, youll be a hell of a
boiler operator for Corn Products, Inc., Mr. Hammond smiled. And that began my dads formal
informal education. He was, pretty much, a self-taught man.

51

Mr. Hammond continued helping David, questioning him and making sure he knew the jargon
related to operating the boiler for Corn Products. Talk about seeing a happy man. He was
thrilled when he got the job. Mom says he had a photographic memory. Little did we know.
His children obviously didnt acquire those genes having to work hard for anything to stay in our
memories. Dad worked at Corn Products until he retired. Corn Products, Incorporated was
sold, changed names, and Dad continued working for the new company, Valero, for many more
years. It became his life.
Dad has been an inspiration for many who didnt have much, to try to better themselves and
not just sit around feeling sorry for themselves. He always told all, eleven of us, how important
getting a good education would be in our futures. If we wanted to be successful, we needed to
work toward going to college. That was all there was to that.
All my siblings are wonderful working adults. There is one post office manager and a postal
carrier, two registered nurses, two police officers, a terrorism analyst, a plant boiler operator, a
secretary, a home expert at a major home store, and a teacher. What diversity!
Dad was always a proud man. He would always tell us how much he loved all his little ones.
He was a loving man who only wanted the very best for all his children. He obviously knew
what it felt like to have children and not be able to give them everything in the whole, wide
world. We had what we needed. He always made sure of that.
Dad passed away last September. Its sad to see your loved ones leave this earth, but after he
had been in a nursing home for over three years due to a series of strokes, everyone felt he
moved on to a much better place.
Thanks, Dad, for all your life lessons youve taught us without a formal education. You had
the best kind: real world experiences and caring teachers along your journey.
Your dream of having a doctor in the family has taken a really long time. Though I was the first
to get a degree and then Vicki and Bobby, it appears that your grandsons may be first to realize
your dream. Little Bobby is studying to be an optometrist, and Caleb is at Rice University
brushing up on his Spanish so he can have a better bedside manner with his oncology patients.
They both love being where they are. And with more than twenty-five grandchildren and more
than twenty great grandchildren, theres great hope there will be a few more doctors in our
family.
This is their journey. Youd be so proud of them; I know, we all are.

52

We have some really big shoes to fill, Dad. You have set the standard and yes, we will continue
your legacy instilling in all our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, the grand
importance of a college education. Your love will endure.
The Naples Zoo
Count my blessings, yes I do!
Weve just been to the Naples Zoo!
So many animals that yodel and poo,
Oh my, even saw the monkeys world new.

Aromatic plants; white, pink, and blue

Grateful on the boat trip, the wind finally blew
Snow white herons, one added to the two,
Looks like this ardeidae family grew.

The beautiful military macaws, that once flew

Wings now clipped, can only coo.
Its getting late now, two hours driving straight through
Well be back, but for now, adieu!

53

Letter to my first 67 by Helen Davis

You taught me more than I taught you.
Sixth graders should not be rewarded with a Milky Way
because when the candy evaporates, no one has anything to say.
Since water bottles make great guns that squirt,
teachers should always have an extra shirt.
Band aids should not be left in plain view
because you will always gild with more than a few.

You taught me more than I taught you.

I - The New York Times, eloquent and satiated ignored you - The National Enquirer, starving and unappreciated.
Stop bothering me, Vinny
libeled Woman Has Vampire Baby.
I should have told you maybe
that my dad left me too
or that the FCAT was something I once had to do.
I told you to read, read, read,
but never scoured shelves for books you need.

You taught me more than I taught you.

As the Blonde Diablo,
I was your foe.
But you were the teacher,
and I should have been meeker.

54

You taught me more than I taught you.

FCAT scores departed
another school year was allotted.
Better kids were sent my way
with a promise that I would stay.
More to school than a number
you awoke me from my slumber.
*******
Black like velvet
the charred palm sits.
Antlers stick out like horns in defense
as new life stretches toward the sky.

Reaching through the plank,

I try to reclaim my territory.
Up and through
Up and through
I twist and turn
back to the place I once was.

Sitting at the top,

I glance out towards the cypress forest.
Affixed at the bottom,
I observe a hidden spider resting on his zig-zag web of spaghetti.
I think: there is so much life up and down.

55

Sister Geraldine - by Helen Davis

Now listen little lady! You are in this class and you will behave! Turn around in your seat and pay attention. Get
your belongings off the floor. That purse belongs in the cloakroom. I snapped to as Sister Geraldine, gargantuan
in spite of her size, remonstrated my classmates with that distinctive Irish lilt. Janine Tidona, one of the tough
girls in our all-girl class was close to tears and it was only the first ten minutes of class. This 90 pound, 4 10
dynamo was not one to toy with. Even I, the jokester, was in awe and unnaturally subdued, glued to my seat for
our first face-to-face introduction.
This is the cloakroom. Your belongings must be placed in the cloakroom upon your arrival at school. This is the
procedure we will follow to use the cloakroom. Row one will go first, starting with the last girl in the row. Coats
must be placed on the assigned hooks. Glaring at Janine, Purses may not be in your possession at any time when
you are in your seat. She nodded her disembodied head swathed in white and black, white cardboard across the
forehead and in a circle around her neck for emphasis.
See this instrument? she queried, pulling out what looked like an expandable, broken-off antennae. This is my
pointer. From my desk, I can use my pointer to tap Miss Player in the back row or Miss McNerney on the far side
by the wall. With this I can touch you, and you, and you. With her weapon she took out girls at random as she
demonstrated how we were all within her power. In fact, it didnt take too much to convince us that she was
totally, completely, in-charge. It was part of boot camp.
As if we needed further convincing of her domination, she said, I can also see in many directions at once. I can
see on either side of me in the classroom without turning my head. In fact, out of the corner of my eye, I can see
out the window, past the houses and the Nazarene Church, to Troost Avenue. I can see all the way to Smaks
Restaurant where they serve ice-cold Coca Cola. I like to drink Coca Cola with lots of chipped ice.
******************************************
th

We 7 grade girls knew we were in for it this year. We knew it before we even stepped one foot into the gender
divided world created for our moral development. War stories from previous combatants had prepared us for the
engagement. These tales went as far back as Rita Jedlikas father who was one of her pupils 45 years previously.
These scouting reports warned us of the dreary battle ahead. Our class was well ordered: mathematic
calculations while we were still fresh in the morning, sentence diagramming before lunch, standing and singing
after lunch. My friend Nancy manned the piano keyboard while Sister Geraldine beat time on her back with the
back of her hand while she kept time with her pointer, commanding the rhythm. It seemed that we took an
especially long time with music every day. It must have been her favorite activity. The only time we were released
for R and R was Reading, late in the afternoon. Some of us lucky ones actually had class with the boys because we
were grouped by ability. I felt sorry for those left behind with Sister Jellybean, her whispered nickname when we
were sure we were out of earshot- but still, not daring to drop the Sister. Most of us acquiesced to her control
and became obedient recruits instead of the silly, boisterous girls we were normally.
She was everywhere though. We werent the only victims. It was early fall, and Patty Millard noticed it first,
probably because she was always checking out the boys. We were all back from recess, balls and coats stowed in
the cloakroom, waiting patiently in our seats. Sitting close to the window, a member of the well-padded row,
th
Patty observed sister below with a hapless 8 grade boy, finger pointed in his face, head tilted up at point blank
range, squinting into the eyes of her victim who towered a foot over her. Whispers spread throughout the
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classroom and soon as we were assured she was definitely out there and not sneaking up on us, we clustered at
the window, quivering with a mixture of thrill and pity, to peer down at the scene. No one knew what he had
done, but it didnt matter. She had him.
Yes, ster, yes ster, he mumbled with obeisance as he head bobbed like a marionette in wooden attention. His
eyes were locked with hers, not daring to look away. A press of students passed by, each craning his neck in
curiosity, but no one stopped, thankful not to be the victim of her attack.
Now listen little man, you think you are so tough. You think you know it all at the age of fourteen. But you are
nothing but a CREAM PUFF: all hard and crusty on the outside, but soft and mushy on the inside!
He nodded agreement, numbly bobbing his public surrender. Not satisfied, she led him away by the crook of his
elbow. We scurried back to our seats and wiped our faces clean until they took on an innocent sheen for her
return.
I went home and shook my finger in my fathers face, Now listen little man. You think you are so tough but youre
nothing but a cream puff! My voice mimicked Sister Geraldines inflections and Irish brogue. Now listen little
man. You march right back to the cloakroom. Dad grinned. Endlessly, I brought home tales from the classroom
that entertained my eight siblings and parents at the dinner table. Horse sweat, men perspire, and women are all
aglow, was another of the many politically incorrect bullets with which we were peppered.
She had a system for everything: collecting our coats from the cloakroom, reciting the times tables in unison,
standing straight beside our desks singing, handing back papers, preparing for a class visitor. We practiced for
weeks to be ready for the Sertoma Club member to come with copies of the Declaration of Independence,
marching, row by row, in a continuous line for what seemed hours. From our seats, we circled round to the far side
of the room, filed back through the cloakroom which was a partial wall at the back of the room, emerged from the
other side, and paraded along the outside window wall, back to the front of the room where she ceremoniously
pretended to hand each one of us a scroll. Then the line, straight-backed girls with heads held high, would
complete the circle and reenter our row from the rear. Sertoma is an acronym. It stands for service to mankind.
Ser- service, to to, ma mankind. Sertoma. She drummed it into our heads. The president of Sertoma will
come and hand out to each student a copy of The Declaration of Independence. Good God! The president! we
thought.
We practiced and practiced, but then with no ceremony, no fanfare, no president, no explanation, we came in one
morning and a scroll was placed on each desk. Of course we had a theory. Even THE PRESIDENT was afraid of
Sister Geraldine.
**********************************
Not content with just the enforced sequence in our academic drills, sister also enforced several layers of order to
our five rows of desks. She cordoned off areas of the room with special designations. One row was Babes in
Toyland aka Sleepy Hollow. The ultimate humiliation was to be placed in this row reserved for those doing poorly
in their schoolwork. It was changed periodically (one of her favorite words) to reflect the varying fortunes of those
struggling in her class. Imagine our surprise when Denise McNerney was consigned to this section. Another row,
the row alongside the bank of windows, was transformed along with the increasingly bleak, grey sky and falling
temperatures to the well-padded row. I was never there. I was the antithesis of well-padded.

57

Another day, she was handing out papers. Standing regally at the front of the room, her whole 410 drawn up to
full height, she imperiously called out names one by one and handed the returned work as if it were gold.
Megan Madden, she called. Meg stumbled to the front of the room. She took it out of sisters hand with a
distracted slight grab.
Hand that paper back to me, she demanded. Meg did. With an arch tone of voice, she declared, Grab that again
if you dare!
Did Meg decide this was her Waterloo? Maybe she wasnt thinking straight right then or maybe she was teased at
lunch or maybe she had had enough of Sister Geraldine. Whatever her reasons, Meg snatched the paper back, just
as she had the first time. Melodramatically, there was a collective gasp from the whole class. Purposefully or not,
Meg staked a brave stand on an unfortified hill. Quick as a flash, Sister Geraldine had Meg in tears, humiliated, and
sent home. She was a girl crushed, a girl banished with a pointing finger and a single word, GO!
My battle was coming on another day. I thought I had been extremely cautious so far, although I am naturally
fidgety so Im sure Sister had her eye on me. I wanted nothing of her wrath. But fall, I did. I dropped my pencil. I
turned around, giggled and made a face at Meg when I picked it up. For this I was sent, desk and all, out into the
hall with my work. Sister Conetius, the principal walked by. Why are you out here?
Our principal had quite a reputation too so I answered, blinking back tears, I dropped my pencil. She pressed her
lips together, looked long into my eyes, and with no further questions, turned and walked away, leaving me
wondering. I thought I heard her sigh.
The next day, I was allowed back into the room. Immediately I noticed a change, an almost imperceptible shift in
Sister Geraldines attitude. After that, she didnt seem to watch me as much. On the playground, circled together
in vain attempts to shut out the cold, we girls endlessly discussed our classroom and tried to make sense of it. We
searched for a common thread and finally came to the consensus- a truce has been declared. Once she makes you
cry, once she wounds and breaks you, once she towers over you in triumph, you are conquered.
But being conquered can be a relief.

Stacey Elmeer
Tigers Eye

Patches of fur through a diamond back fence

Ocelot paces in calm eloquence
Cameras that allow you to peer up close
At the reptilian slitherings feared the most
Lemurs in stripes housed in a cage
Spider monkeys stand in pot bellied rage
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Plumes of color write on the wind

A message that signals its time to begin
To look through the golden marble eye
Of a tiger willing to defy
Human beings who believe
Their king rules the sky

Meels

by Stacey Elmeer

She sends me a text message with a picture attached of some girl Ive never seen before though I recognize her
face. Yes the face. But I am certain I have never seen this girl with long shiny blonde hair before. The blonde hair is
not right. I almost reply, Who is this? until I read the text part of the message, I wanna be blonde, she writes.
Ugh. No. No. No. Now shes sitting on the couch. She takes up the whole couch. Shes bigger than me. Her feet are
bigger than mine. She will be taller than me, and I am happy about that. I want her to be the tallest giant - huge
and gorgeous with a humongous heart. I want to dye my hair mom.
You cant. I say, Your eyebrows are almost black. It will look strange to have black eyebrows and blonde hair.
She walks away in silly socks, knee high and fluorescent and plaid all at once. If I cant dye my hair, can I get a
second hole in my ear?
Yes, I say, Fair trade.
Five minutes later and Im driving her and her friend to the mall to get her ears pierced. Did we have to do this
right now? Today? You are so impulsive. Everything has to be done right away. Im tired. Cant I rest? I can never
rest.
She is very proud of her second ear piercing. At least her hair is still brown, I think. I do love her so much but I
want her to know she does not have to be like me. She does not have to be like me. I want her to escape any weird
traits she might have genetically inherited from me. I want her to grow tall. I hope she is a giant.
Hey, I say ribbing her, I think we are both just a bit bipolar. You should know about this because no is a really
big trigger word with you.
No is a trigger word with you too, mom.
Yeah. I know. That is why I want you to know.
Great. Now Im a just a little bit bipolar.
Hey. Its ok. I am too.
Can you be just a little bipolar?
Yes. I think so. Hey, at least you are not blonde.
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Yeah? Well youre not either mom. You dye your hair.
Good point. Well done.
So then we are the same, she says.
Yes. We are the same.
I smile. But I want her to be bigger than me. I want her to be a giant. The tallest giant in all the land with the
biggest heart . and hands delicate enough to hold the tiniest of flowers.

Sarah Gregory
A Ball of Fun
A ball python, squirms and slithers
He flicks his tongue, smelling the air
A gerbil scurries, trying to escape fate
The python snaps, suffocating and smothering
The helpless prey, is alive no more
The jaw opens, stretching unusually wide
The python content swallows his dinner
Many believe, the perfect pet.

Sarah Gregory
Colors of the Swamp
Everywhere I look the colors take my breath away
Who knew there were so many shades of green, brown, and pink
Tangerine wings catch my eye as they flutter to gather lunch
Thick mossy carpets coat the water, a whole plethora of life
Leaves in every size, shape, and color provide me a relieving shade
Midnight berries, small and hidden, protected by huge trees
Fairy pink and purple flowers delicately nestle between the blades of grass
A dainty ghost clings to the old, sturdy tree in a rare bloom

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Murky waters protect unknown creatures, which may choose to share their beauty
The colors surround and envelop me,
Welcoming, comforting, and helping me experience their home.

Sarah Gregory
Cubing Past College

On May 10th, 2008 I was lined up on the side of the stage at the Portland Civic Center waiting for
my name to be called and to finally receive that coveted piece of paper. That single piece of paper that
would secure my future. My heart was racing, and my stomach was a hamster wheel continually
occupied and turning at the speed of light. Would I trip? Would I reach for the wrong hand? These
thoughts loomed over my head like a dark cloud about to release a downpour on some poor
unsuspecting person. Then I heard it, Sarah Gregory. I held my head up high and proudly walked up
and accepted my diploma. I didnt trip, bobble, or make a single mistake! My family and friends hooted,
hollered, and cheered on my triumph. I was astonished; I couldnt believe that I had done it. Four years
of hard work, late nights, incredible memories, successes, failures, and heart aches. Just like that it was
over, like the flash of a camera.
After the ceremony I was more confused than ever. I felt so accomplished, but the unknown of
the future seemed even closer now that college was officially over. I was leaving my friends who had
become my family and moving to a whole new state, practically across the country because my parents
had decided that sunny Florida was a much better fit than gloomy New England. They chose to move
right in the middle of my sophomore year, which was perfect for spring break, but now their decision
was not something I was feeling happy about. Would I be able to get a job? Make friends? Could I be an
adult?
This makes me think of how your best day can be your worst. How sometimes you dont want to
grow or change, but events push you along like the thimble across the Monopoly board. You start out
trying to reach a goal, but what happens when you get there? Move on and create a new one I guess. I
think thats the hardest thing, moving on. The past is comfortable and safe like that tee shirt youve
washed 100 times. Sure its worn out, but it makes you feel so good. The future is scary; theres always
something new waiting for you, like the unexpected knock on the door. Whos there? Is it good or bad?

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I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I stayed in Maine, in my glory days of parties and
friends and never ending fun. Would I have been forced to become successful? Get a job that inspires me
to keep learning and growing, a job that makes me feel fulfilled? Would life be as great as it was in
college or would it have moved on without my consent, pushing me to grow up? I have a few friends
who stayed up there in an attempt to extend their college experience. I look at them and think about
the year they wasted trying to re-live the past, without the correct cast of characters or the proper setting
of classes and University life. Dana became a waitress, Damian took a stock position at Target, and
Hannah chose to work in a University lab. Their lives went on, but they werent accomplishing those
things we had all talked about. The good job, benefits, and putting our degree to work. Sure they were
able to hang around the college parties, but they said it wasnt the same. They were starting to feel out of
place, they didnt belong there anymore. I got many late night phone calls from these friends, telling me
of their exciting escapades, new gossip, and details of how school was changing. They sounded like they
were having fun, but the call would always end the same. They would say how much they missed
everyone and how they wished they had left and gotten real jobs. My friends have all since moved on
with their lives and gotten out of that college town. Dana is now working at a medical research lab,
Damian is in nursing school, and Hannah is working for the Red Cross.

They are working towards their

goals, even if their pace is a little delayed.

If I hadnt graduated then I wouldnt have the fabulous job or great tan that I have now.
Seriously though, I wouldnt have been forced to grow up, something I needed. Now I am glad for the
change and the new challenge. I feel like I have been given power, my batteries re-charged. I have faith
in myself as an independent adult, able to take on something new and make it work. This event has
made me think of how trying to relive something isnt living. We have memories for a reason. The
image captured in our mind or through the camera lens is a reminder of what we have done, the good
and the bad. Its those memories that help us learn and grow and keep pushing us across that monopoly
board. Sure life seems like a never ending game, but each pass around our lives are richer even if our
pockets arent.
Theresa Howard
My Christmas Memory
I remembered my brother Richie coming into our room every Christmas morning yelling, "He came, he
came!" He was the typical pain in the butt, but always goofy big brother, who we constantly seemed to follow. My
little sister Andrea and I were waiting anxiously for alarm; our stomachs full of butterflies as we lay in twin beds
fully equipped with matching Little Mermaid sheets. As we leaped out of bed, and made our way down the
hallway, my older sister Tina seemingly exhausted and annoyed was dragging her feet behind us. Some might say
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she was tired of the human alarm. We disregarded her disgruntled teenage mood, crept by the tree, took a peak,
and tip toed back to our waiting post. We knew we couldn't pass the hallway until Dad returned home from
delivering newspapers and gave us the okay to assume our gift opening positions.
Impatiently waiting in the hallway, we sat huddled up and pondered about what presents we were going
to receive this year. In an unspoken rotation, we each took a mad dash towards the tree, and returned with a
description of size and names of a few gifts. When the creaking noise of my mom's bedroom door sounded, we
rushed back to our permitted location, and gazed at her with our excited and oh so innocent smiles. She started
her coffee as we expressed our uncontrollable excitement! Soon after, my dad entered through the garage door.
Despite his exhaustion from work all night, he put on a smile and found a spot on the couch. Thus, the mayhem
was ready to commence.
This annual memory is something I hold dear to my heart. A time when our biggest worry was that the
day wasn't long enough for our holiday adventures. I miss the moments of trying on fresh outfits, playing with
fabulous new toys, and enjoying each other's company. I feel a sense of sadness at times, wishing that it could be
as if we were kids again; when my sister Tina wasn't working two jobs to support her three little ones, my brother
was still called Richie not Rich, and Andrea wasn't miles away but home with me creating lots of shared memories
of the holidays past.
When I think about childhood memories, I am filled with great love and admiration for my parents. I will
always appreciate the time and effort they took to make each holiday memorable. Although we have grown up
and have chosen a variety of paths we have the opportunity to continue these traditions. We can continue the love
and bond of what makes a family.

Who am I?
I am who I am
but again I ask

WHO AM I?

I am a wife
Who promises to love,
honor and cherish,
in sickness and in health,
till death do we part.

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I am a soon-to-be mother
eagerly enjoying,
anxiously anticipating,
nervously awaiting,

I am a daughter
who loves her mother
even more at a distance
who cherishes her wisdom
and unfailing love and support.
I am a sister
who is the oldest
but sometimes feels like
the youngest,

I am a friend
trusting,
never judgmental,
fiercely protective and
amazingly supportive,

I am a lover of dogs,
big or small,
sniffing or snarling,
digging or dragging.

But again I ask

WHO AM I?

I am all of these
because each of them
Defines who I am!
By: Kawana Jones

64

The Forgotten Dance

By Laurie Kemp

Ive lost my artists pen

It may be buried
Under my lessons plans,
My curriculum maps, my students work

I think it may be hidden

Beneath the textbooks,
The journal articles, the sticky notes

Ive lost my artists pen

I may have washed it
Away with the sheets,
The clothes, the rest of the laundry

I think I caught a glimpse of it

In the drawer with my creative license,
My Crayola colors, my Origami paper

Ive lost my artists pen

I may have spotted it
Up high on a shelf
With my photos,
My journals, my poetry

It calls to me in my dreams
65

It stares at me from the shelf

It begs of me

Remember me
Hold me
Dance with me

The Brain Piece

Diane Kratt
As an educator with a Masters Degree in child development, I felt I was equipped to be a successful
parent. However, raising my now 16 year old son has proven to be quite a challenge. I never understood why
consistently providing both positive and negative consequences was not molding him into the person I knew he
could be. I also felt terrible that however much I tried to empower and support him, his self-esteem just lowered
with each passing year. It was devastating to see how irritable he felt and to hear him say his life was not worth
living when I tried so hard to make sure life was enjoyable and that he felt loved.
As most parents do, I sought the help of many professionals over the years. I first contacted those who
were most accessible to us, his teachers and the pediatrician. We also saw counselors, psychologists, and
eventually even psychiatrists. It was the general consensus that I might have too high of expectations and that he
was probably suffering from ADHD. On and off for six years he was prescribed various medications for that
disorder. They either helped for a little while, didnt help at all, or sometimes made his symptoms worse. I knew
something was wrong but I didnt understand what it was until I learned more about his brain and how it was
functioning.
It was the brain piece of the puzzle that has led us to a better understanding and a more enjoyable life.
We flew to Denver and had SPECT imaging done at Brain Matters, Inc. This scan is similar to the scans typically
used for medical purposes but differs in that it shows how the brain is functioning, not just the structure of it. The
SPECT showed us that my sons brain was overactive in several key areas. It did NOT show the typical pattern
associated with ADHD, so we were able to rule out that diagnosis. It appeared that the functioning pattern in his
brain was more in line with that of bipolar disorder.
Knowing this was a mixed blessing. I was happy to gain a better understanding but sad to know the caliber
of what we were dealing with. I have since learned that in children the symptoms of bipolar disorder are very
similar to those of ADHD and it is common to get a mis-and/or dual diagnosis. There are a lot of symptoms listed
for early-onset bipolar disorder but a few that really stand out to me are things like irritability, impulsiveness,
rages, sleep problems, over reactive, distractibility, and sensory sensitivity. I continue to educate myself about the
disorder, the medications, and what it would mean for us as a family as well as for him as an individual. With the

66

help of our local psychiatrist, we feel lucky to have found a combination of medications that works pretty well for
him.
Today, we are both a little different. He is happier and enjoying his life like a typical teenager. He is a high
school student that is looking forward to graduating in 2012. He is a competitive BMX racer and has earned first
place in his division for the 2010 state season. As for me, I am still an educator but I also have become an advocate
for childrens mental health in general. I have teamed up with our local affiliate office of NAMI (National Alliance
on Mental Illness) to help bring more awareness, education, and resources for children with a diagnosis and the
families and educators who work with them to our area.
I am confident that children have had mental health conditions all along, but it has not really been
recognized until quite recently. While reports state that millions of children in our country suffer with a mental
health condition, the majority of those go undiagnosed and/or untreated still today. When that happens the
results are often seen in areas such as poor self-esteem, school failure, substance abuse, suicide, and criminal
activity. Those problems escalate as the children grow into adults.
These children and their families need professionals who understand, friends that will support them, the
latest in medical research and technology, and a community that provides services to help them. Along with those
things, it is extremely important to change the stigma usually associated with mental illnesses or brain disorders.
Many times these disorders are inherited and are never something a child chooses to have. I have come to firmly
believe that children do well if they can. It is crucial for all of us to make sure that they can.
Heather Krystofiak
Neighbors View
The window is wide open and I see the figures moving anxiously by the light. I wonder what the problem
is this time. I say to myself. Its 2:00 am which means bars are closed. This seems to be a routine that he my
neighbor sticks too. He and his girlfriend usually leave while I am walking my dog at his 9:00pm potty time. This
means 5 hours of countless dollars spent on worthless booze that only brings these poor kids to their endless
night. As I am looking in I fear for the well being of these two kids.
He is stumbling around the living room with his plate of food. He is enjoying his television when she
comes out and looks as if she is screaming some words at him. It must not have been delightful because he jumped
up quickly to throw the full plate down on the table and storm out to the garage. She stands in the doorway with
what appears to be tears falling down her red hot cheeks. She leans against the wall in almost a Dear God, get me
out of here fashion. She jumps and scoots back to wherever she was in the beginning. Oh here he is storming
through the living room with a ferocious look on his face. He disappears to the hallway that she just walked back
into. He runs out with his face beaming red with an ungodly expression and grabs the white lamp next to the door
near the hallway, picks it up over his head and thrashes it against the wall. Pieces fly off of this beautiful white
floor lamp (pieces of the wall it seems also). What the hell is he doing? He has an enormous grim on his red out
of breath looking face. Oh No!! He is going for it again! It looks as if he is yelling out something. He grabs the
broken lamp fiercely and smashes it repeatedly into the wall until it is all in tiny pieces along the carpet.
She walks out and looks in horror as this guy is breaking the lamp. He stands up and walks toward her. She
turns and runs back into the room. Should I do something? I think as my eyes are now in a permanent stare in
their window of unhappiness.

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There is great fear pouring over me. A fear for her and him. He usually seems to be a nice guy. At least
when I run into him. What has she done so wrong to upset him so much? Or is it his own insecurities that bring him
to this dark place? All I can do is watch and wait for the next thing to happen.
Her View
Sleep, Sleep, Sleep. SLAM! The door leading to the garage says. Honey, I brought pizza! He bellows
through the house. Great, I mumbled from the comfy bed. He walks in and asks, Would you like some pizza? Hes
wearing his drunken smile again. No I am just going to go to sleep sweetie. I said.
He began to flicker the lights on and off repeatedly while giggling. How annoying!!! I think to myself.
Please stop! His smirk turns upside down and he slams the door. Wow, why did he get so angry? Oh well not I
will just close my eyes and ignore the possibility of a brewing fight or problem.
He peeks in the door and says, You always want to sleep, thats all you ever do. I ignore the antagonistic
remarks. I lay here with my cat beside me trying to ignore the fact that hes wasted. We left the bar hours before
because I wasnt feeling up to par. I remember him saying that he didnt want to stay home and he left. I didnt
really care to thing where he went as I was feeling pretty tired and yucky. Who would think he could go out and
drink a few then sit down and relax at home? I wasnt stupid enough to believe that. He didnt care that I was
feeling sick so why should I care hes out and about. WHO CARES?
Hes out in the living room, I just heard him set something down that sounded like a plate on the clean
glass coffee table. He turns on the television and begins turning up the volume. Louder and louder it gets. Im not
that far away so it is now impairing my ability to just fall asleep and ignore the surroundings.
I decided to get up. I walk out to the living room, Can you please turn down the television? He just looks
at the TV so I say it louder, Please turn the TV down!
He looks at me, throws his plate of pizza down on the table, and furiously walks out to the garage. As I
lean on the wall looking in the living room, I keep thinking, What am I doing here? I hate this. Fight after Fight!
Drink after drink. I want to go see whats bugging him, if anything but I am not in the mood for his cries of pity
tonight. I am so used to the cry that I am always sleeping or I dont pay enough attention to his want to stay out or
awake.
BAM! The door closes; I recede to the bedroom and close the door to avoid a drunken encounter.
WHOOSH! The door flies open and hits the wall. Just leave me alone will you? I ask him. Oh you want me to
leave you along? he responds. Yes you are being ridiculous. You want to see ridiculous? He slams his leg into
the sliding closet doors. Simultaneously he is kicking it until it breaks off the hinges and falls from the frame. My
eyes feel frozen on him and the door. He screams, Ill show you ridiculous! He slams the door to the bedroom
and walks out.
One minute passes and my heart is beating so fast. My cat ran underneath the bed. I wish I could join
her.
All of a sudden I hear a loud smash against the wall. I get out of bed to go and see what that was. As I
approach the door I hear it two more times simultaneously. I take a deep breath, thinking, What am I supposed to
do? Do I try and leave? Where do I go at 3:00a.m.? How can I take my cat?

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My heart races as I pill the door open and walk out. My lamp! My white porcelain floor lamps shattered
to hundreds of pieces on the floor. Im in shock that this man could do such a thing. He looks at me like the devil is
in his eyes so I slowly turn and go back into the bedroom. I lock the door contemplating what to do. I am so
absolutely angry. Oh No my car is blocked in, in front of his. Tears of fear fall down my cheek. This is the first
time I have ever feared for my well being.
What caused him to go to this dark place? What did I do wrong? All I know I can do is to wait to see what
happens next.
Poems by Alessia Leathers

I.
Quiz maana volvern

Perhaps tomorrow

las olas

the waves may come again

a susurrar el canto de su sal

to whisper their salty song

en mis palabras.

in my words.

Quiz maana

Perhaps tomorrow

aquellas olas

these waves may remember

recordarn la arena que trajeron

the sand they brought once

de otras playas.

from other beaches.

Quiz maana

Perhaps tomorrow

cuando esas mismas olas

when the same waves

partan a otros puertos

embark to other ports

pueda yo subirme en ellas.

I may leave with them.

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II.
In the solitude of the ocean floor
I will find the words
you threw once
against the wind.

I might keep them

or
I might place them
inside the shell you'll
one day
find on the beach
without knowing
that what whispers in your ears
is my own waves
watering down
your salty words.

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III.
Nothing ever happens in the desert
until you keep it quiet
and sense
how the wind takes the grains of sand
across the wavy dunes.

Until you keep it quiet

and hear
how the lizard extends its tongue
to catch the fly.

Until you keep it quiet

and taste
the treacherous cactus
you just felt
behind your back

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IV.
Mira girasol
el viento trae tu amor
gira mirasol.

A giant yellow
whispers to the sun at night:
"I love you so much."

Pain Perdu
By Laura L. Link
I want to be a witch. Not the flying on a broomstick, double, double toil and trouble kind of witch. I want to wiggle
my nose and read minds and predict the future. I want to blink and well, I suppose thats the problem. Im not
even quite sure what I would do if I could wiggle or blink it all better. What would I really change, if I could? Good
things come out of pain. Lemons make lemonade. What gifts would I lose if I magically eliminated all the hurtful
experiences from my past? Perhaps life is perfect.
It was perfect that I was born in New Orleans. Perfect that I choose for my parents (I believe there simply has to be
some level of choice there) two from among the Citys ancestral soup who were soaked, salted and dried in the
saints of the holy days, the music of the voodoo and the deep waters, and abiding faith in the goodness of life.
I, the firstborn of Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Rand, came with some kind of soul memory that wasnt quite agreeable
to the idea of being human. If there is consciousness in the before-life, which I do believe to be quite possible, then
I foresaw things that caused my eternal soul to be ambivalent about incarnating.
Heres one of those painful memories. My father tells a story about the day I was born. Why do I tell you his story?
Because my mothers story consists of in those days, they knocked us out and handed me a baby that may or may
not have come from inside me.
So Daddys story was the one that stuck. And Italians from New Orleans havent told a story until everyone they
know has heard it 86 times. By the way, were Italian on my Daddys mothers side, so we lost the name. Ruggiero.

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Every time he tells the story of my birth, it begins the same way: They didnt let the dads in there, which made no
sense to me. I mean, I was there when it all started if you know what I mean. So I was pacing in the labor and
delivery waiting room thinking about those blue cigars Im gonna be handin out, even though I wouldnt smoke
one of those smelly things.
He was always putting down cigars. Guess his pack a day of Salems was a more attractive habit.
Finally, Dr. Dell comes to the door, continues Daddys narrative. He comes right up to the window and mouths
through the glass, Its a girl. My heart sank. It never occurred to me that my first born wouldnt be Edward Lyman
Rand the third.
Now you cant interrupt Daddys stories, but that didnt stop me from sassing him in my head. Why on Earth are
you telling me this? Your heart sank at the mere announcement of my lack of a you-know-what? I ask silently.
Next thing you know, the nurse is holding you up to that tiny window. All wrapped in pink, the most amazing
th

thing Id ever seen in ma life. My daughter, his chest literally puffs up even in the 87 telling. I fell in love with
you on the spot.
How very touching.
He thinks this is sweet. He thinks I am pleased to hear how my head of black hair and wide eyes and beautiful
hours-old face rescued darling daddy from a lifetime of disappointment. Edwards Daughter.
Those wide eyes and perfect nose hardened a bit that day. Thats the truth of it.
I was the Princess. And you know what that makes Daddy. Im not sure how old I was when it became a conscious
thought, but at the hundred-millionth telling that year it clicked: If I worked hard to imitate the King of the house,
then Id be the son my Daddy never had. I would be perfect. If I never made a mistake, he would love me.
I remember a few years later, visiting the McDonalds on Causeway Boulevard on the way home from shopping
with Mama in Lakeview Mall. What big brown eyes you have, said the McDonalds cashier, handing me my
Quarter-Pounder without cheese to go.
The better to see you with, my dear, I wanted to say. But I smiled and I thanked her. Do you know how many
times Ive heard about my big brown eyes? Its the reason my Daddy settled for my being a girl, you know.
OK. I admit I am being hard on Daddy. He loves me and all his girls. But Mama? Mama wanted girls all along. I
didnt know what I would do with a little boy, she was fond of saying.
Another memory: Im a teenager and Mamas pregnant again. Shes on the phone: No, not at all. How can you say
that to me? Really!
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I dont know who shes talking to, but theyve been on the phone for a while now, so I suppose its a friend of hers.
Careful not to step on the long yellow phone cord, I watch my grilled cheese bubble in the microwave so I can take
it out before it gets hard.
Mama ends her conversation on a polite note, and she hands me the receiver so I can hang it up for her before I sit
down at the kitchen table to eat. Do you know what she thought? Mama said, partly to me and partly to the
azaleas on the other side of the kitchen window.
Who? I asked, genuinely curious to know who had upset my Mama so.
Mrs. Robicheaux. She wanted to know if Im trying for a boy this time? I get that everywhere I go. At the store, at
church. Of course, Im not trying for a boy! I wouldnt even know what to do with a boy!
I smile. Naturally, my moms feelings about her childrens genders put me at ease. I mean, by now, my dad doesnt
want me to be anything except what I am, but my mom? Well, she makes me glad Im a girl. It may sound like such
a simple thing- for your gender to be approved of by your parent, yet this makes me feel happy to be alive. I want
her to go on.
You, Laura, well, maybe I didnt know what I was doing with you, either. I was 21. You were my little baby doll. I
would dress you up and then change your outfit, just to see what looked best. I loved your dark brown hair, but I
always put you in a bonnet when we went out; you have a double crown and it made your hair stand straight up
until you were almost three and it was long enough. Which reminds me: we have to go to the shop at 3 if you still
want a perm.
The shop was my aunts beauty salon, and I did want that perm. My hair may have stood straight up when I was
a baby, but now it was just plain straight. It stuck to my head in the 100 degree 100 percent humidity South
Louisiana summers. It was almost my birthday, and I was ready for a change.
Just the thought of my birthday made my mouth water for French Toast (or, as the Cajuns say, pain perdu. Lost
bread. Stale French bread lost in a mixture of eggs, milk, a little bit of cinnamon; buttered and sprinkled with
powdered sugar.) French Toast and Caf au Lait: my birthday morning ritual.
The best thing about my Mother is breakfast. And driving an hour and a half round trip to Folsom, Louisiana to buy
fresh milk right out of the cow. You had to say it was for your cat. Mama has a hippies spirit in a preppys body.
Fresh milk was one of her many rebellions against the establishment. And she was ahead of her time. Today, little
girls are getting breasts at nine because of the hormones in our milk and meat. With no scientific proof to back up
her intuition, Mama found milk from the grocery store unnatural and wrong for her family. She didnt want us girls
growing up thinking milk came from a paper carton.

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She also invented frozen yogurt and fruit roll-ups decades before TCBY or General Mills had a clue.
The worst thing about my Mother was just before breakfast. Dont even talk to me until Ive had my second cup
of coffee. We didnt know then that she had hypoglycemia. It explained a lot.
My Mamas coffee. You cant get it any stronger. Dark roast and chicory, drip brewed and poured to halfway full in
an oversized cup that says Mom. Steaming fresh cow cream fills the rest of the mug. I was hooked on it by the time
I was seven. Only when I got hooked, we didnt have the fresh cow milk yet. But the regular kind was delivered to
our door step in actual glass bottles. And Im not talking 1942. I turned seven in the summer of 1973. Mama read
that caffeine helps relieve migraines which I have had every Monday since I was six.
You know, Laura, there was a time when I was really scared that Id never get pregnant. We tried for three
months before you were conceived, Mama revealed to my one summer morning, sipping her third cup of caf au
lait.
She confided in me that she had been secretly afraid for those 90 days that God had made her infertile as a
punishment for the sin of taking birth control pills for the first six months she was married. I think she went to
confession over it. Im sure God forgave her; they had four more babies after me. All girls.
Im Laura Lyman Rand. The first. And the firstborn. Daddy said more than once, Laura, you are the one who is
teaching me how to be a parent. Of course I took that to mean that any mistakes they make with me or with
any of my sisters after me is because I didnt do a good enough job teaching them how to be parents. Everything
they say about the oldest child is true. Perfectionist. Peacekeeper. Daddys girl.
There are definite benefits, however, in coming first. Expectations were high, but so were the rewards. At first.
Can you remember when you were two? I had a nightmare before my sister was born. The one whos 21 months
younger than I am. Ill never forget that dream as long as I live.
Im not yet two and Im with my Daddy. We are walking up the street to the hospital where Mama is with my new
little baby sister. We are going to visit her. I miss Mama bad. I want her to hold me. But Daddy tells me that little
children arent allowed in the part of the hospital where Mama and the baby are and I have to stay here. Here?
Where? My heart starts to flip over but I cant talk. Daddy, my King, brings his little Princess over to a dead end in
front of the hospital and leaves me in the tall grass. Just leaves me there. He is going to Mama and the baby and I
cant come and Id be crying but it is one of those dreams where you are so terrified that nothing comes out of
your mouth.

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Abandoned.
My very first memory.
When I was born, I was the only one. There was no one else, Daddy says so himself. In fact, he tells another story
from when they brought me home from the hospital. He pulls the car up that little house on Shirley Drive and gets
out. Whats the first thing he does? Gathers me up and brings me safely into my new home. Carries me over the
threshold or something. He doesnt use those words, but I do. You know why? Mama is sitting in the car forgotten.
Princess arrives and the Queen is old news. Daddy thinks its cute that he was so wrapped up in me that he left his
wife in the car struggling with episiotomy pain and heavy breasts and hardly the strength to pull herself up and out
of the green 1964 Toyota.
But Daddy couldnt understand the mother-infant bond. Had no clue and wouldnt accept any way that I was more
hers than his. I may be one part Edward, but I am 99 parts Mama. Take me away from her and you rip my arm off
and silence my voice. Detach me from my Mama and you tear me in pieces. Hurt her and you hurt me. Her
heartbeat has been my angelic choir since the two cells split into four. You dont need ears to hear your mothers
heartbeat. It reverberates within you even when you are nothing but a few cells starting to organize into
something that will one day be able to sing lullabies to your own daughter.
Daddys story doesnt say how Mama finally did get out of the car. I always wondered. Did he remember her and
leave me alone in the house to go get her? Did he stay with me and let her fend for herself? Did he come back
outside with me in his arms and juggle the both of us up the porch steps?
Life may be perfect, but parents surely arent. Neither are their offspring. But would I really twitch my nose and
magically change my childhood? I think Ill take the words of Glinda the Good Witch as excellent advice to anyone
searching for home- whatever that means:
It's always best to start at the beginning and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road.
-fin-

My Dreams Lee Moody

I was raised by my Mother, without any knowledge of my Father, nor any part of my
paternal family. I was the average child, with an average intelligence. In school, I was mainly a
B/C student. Yet I had no one to talk to, no one to listen to me, no one to comfort my skinned
knees nor my broken heart. I was shunned at home, and laughed at in school. In social situations,
like church, I felt as if I was being totally excluded. I noticed that while in a group setting, no
one heard what I had to say. The entire time I yelled into myself, Here I am! I count too! To
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deepen my seclusion, some people even turned their bodies totally away from me, as if to
commit me into further exile. I never had true friends that I shared secrets with. I didnt want to
give anyone any more reasons to laugh at me.
I had 2 older sisters. My sisters were verbally and physically abusive. You dont get it!
they would roar. You are the sole reason why your Father left! No one can stand to be around
you! they persisted. As if the sisters werent bad enough; they would scurry away to tell Mother
total lies that I wounded them! And what was worse, without even listening to me, Mother
believed them! My sisters would never say why my Father left and I dare not ask Mother. I felt
as if the eyes of their whole world were focused on me, for the not so good reasons. Thanks
mainly to my sisters, I felt as if I was an alien creature from the deepest of the ocean depths,
compared to everyone else. My sisters and my peers in turn picked up on this insecurity/low self
esteem and tantalized me immensely. My classmates would tell me, You know, to get into the
cool crowd we have to tell you, NO ONE wants to be your friend! So, I certainly dont want to
be your friend, Why not I wondered? What have I ever done to hurt anyone? Please tell me;
dont I deserve the right to apologize? I would ask myself.
Like most children, I had to ask questions. My questions were voiced mostly internally,
because that is where the world seems to continually confine me. My questions: Where is
Daddy? What is he like? Who do I look like? What does he look like? What would he tell
me? Do I have other siblings? What can he teach me about my other family? Would he care
about me? Does he want to get to know me? How could he not? Was I the reason for the split
from Mother? I felt as if I was constantly looking over my shoulder to see if the man I saw was
my missing link. Thanks to the continual nagging of my sisters, I begin to wonder if I were the
reason for the loss of my Father. My sisters made it clear, that any emotion I was shown, was not
love, but loathing. I was filled with a constant agonizing wonder about my life and my purpose.
My family was incomplete; therefore, I felt as if I was physically incomplete. My teachers told
Mother that I was a day dreamer. Little did they know, my day dreaming was but a small part of
my world. My dreams were not the typical dreams that you hear about. My dreams were in
beautiful sparkling colors! I found total peace and solace internally, I became an avid dreamer. I
was at total peace within my dreams. That is what I needed, a place where I could tune out the
abuse. A chance to totally surrender myself and be me, I could laugh, I could ask questions,
without shame. Yes, my childhood dreams were the answer for me. In my dreams, I found the
answers to all my questions.
My dreams were my answers to the emotional turmoil embedded deep within my
being. My dreams have never been the typical dreams that everyone else talks about, because my
dreams are genuinely unique. For the most part, the topics of my dreams are most often confined
to those people that are close to me. In my dreams, I dreamt what my Father looked like. I
dreamt my Father lived in the Northern USA; I had a grandmother who was unique. I dreamt
that I had more things in common with my father than my mother. I dreamt that I would have a
younger sister, with blond hair and blue eyes. I always wanted a big brother, so I dreamt that I
had an older brother. My dreams didnt stop there.
In the spring of my 13th year, I spotted a guy that I thought was just awe-inspiring. I
worked hard all summer to get his attention. Alas, he saw me, but he didnt care who I was, the
story of my life! Consequently, I had to think, were my sisters right? Was I doomed to live a life
of nothing? These thoughts and the lack of attention from Mr. X seemed to change my
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dreams. Now, my dreams were less about what my family, and more about this awesome
guy. After many months, the dreams of my true love waned, and more dreams of my family
reemerged.
Two years later, I was dreaming, a wildly vivid reoccurring dream, about a wedding in
my family, which was yet to happen. During the third night of my dream, I had a scarcely odd
sensation worse than the dj vu feeling. It was as if my fight or flight mode was wildly out of
control. This sensation caused me to suddenly sit totally straight up in bed, wide awake. Then it
came to me .. the meaning of my dream. My dearly beloved Grandmother has passed on. I was
to be alone again. I couldnt believe what I was hearing my brain think! How dare I think such a
thing?! I loved my Grandmother, she listened to me. She was like my one and only friend. Since
my Grandmother had moved closer to us, I had grown even closer to her. Yet, I knew this to
without any doubt or question. Shortly after I was awake, the telephone rang. Mother answered
and began screaming .. this was my final confirmation; my Grandmother had left my Earthly
world. Now, my dreams were more numerous and more powerful. Not only were the dreams
more intense, but I discovered the magic number of 3. After 3 dreams, I could put a voice my
dreams, I knew what was to come.
Some years later, I started college. One of the lessons I learned in my dreams, I was never
to be late. I hate to be late; I hate it with a dark purple and lime green polka dotted passion. I hate
it so much, that when I am on time I am late. So regardless of where I go, or how stringent the
requirements are, I am always early. And so it came, my very first day of college! Nervous,
scared, and not sure of where my classes were; or how long it would take me to get to the
building, I went in early (of course). I found my first classroom; there was a class meeting in the
room when I arrived, so I sat at the end of the hallway, and waited for my class to begin and give
time for my nerves to calm down. Remembering what my sisters and Teachers had told me
throughout my adolescent years, I was really worried that I couldnt accomplish my goals. As I
was waiting, sitting there on the floor for about 3 minutes, someone joined me. I had never met
them before, but since I am so shy, I started a conversation; just the usually friendly chat. Then
out of nowhere, there was this really exceptional looking guy. Oh gosh, was he adorable! Next
thing I know, my brain was talking again, Hey there cutie, are you just going to ignore us? The
new friend that was sitting with me whispered, I cant believe you just said that! Oh my, did I
say that out loud?! I replied. The cute guy came over to talk to me! I couldnt believe it!! This
never happened in high school!
After a few minutes, I asked this nice adorable guy, Randy, to go swimming with me that
afternoon. To my surprise, Randy came over to take me up on my offer to go
swimming! Wow!! For the next month, we were swimming every day after classes. Then, out of
the blue, Randy began to tell a tale of something that happened to him about 5 years earlier. I
could not believe what I was hearing, blushing like an over ripe tomato, I finished the story! That
is when it hit us; I was now officially dating Mr. X, I had literally dreamed about during the
summer of my 13th year! This was yet another dream that has come true for me. Much to our
parents mutual dismay, I married my real true love that I had dreamed about for so long.
Another one of my childhood dreams was that I would have a daughter, and a son. Randy
and I had a daughter that was named for his dearly beloved Grandmother, Rachel. Our Rachel is
a good child; she is that dream child that every parent wishes for. She does everything she is
asked and then some. As many parents do, we wonder, Who does she look like? Who does
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she take after? The truth is, while she may look like her dad, she has dreams, just like her
mother. Like her mother, all of her dreams come in 3s and have come to fruition. Like most
parents, Randy and I found out this gift by total surprise. Because when Rachel was 3 (there is
that number again) she announced to everyone she knew, and even total strangers: When I turn
4, Mommy & Daddy is going to give me a baby brother, or a baby sister! Randy and I learned
about this when people started congratulating us on the upcoming birth that we were 100%
clueless about. Sure enough, Rachel turned 4 in January and as unplanned as it was, in August,
Philip was born.
I did finally meet my Father; and the first meeting happened just as I had dreamed. Daddy
looked exactly as he was supposed to. My every minute with my Father was very precious to
me. I felt an endless supply of love, tenderness and tranquility with Daddy around. He didnt
know it at the time, but he confirmed all of my childhood dreams. I have a younger sister, with
blond hair and blue eyes. I also found out that I have an older brother; whom I still havent met.
I told my Daddy about my dreaming. Daddy explained to me that it runs in the blood. He taught
me that I am a Cherokee. My Daddy is only half Cherokee on his mothers side. I was taught that
throughout Grandmothers life, she has been urged to join the reservation. But Grandmother
knew the history of treatment of the Cherokee, and like many others, refused to submit. Daddy
told me that Grandmother was well known for her dreaming abilities. Was Daddy right? Could it
be genetic? Although I usually believed everything my Daddy told me, I was skeptical on this
issue. In my opinion, it is too soon to tell; so far, we know it is only with the females of the
family. However, I am waiting to see what happens with the next generation. Like my Paternal
Grandmother, whom I never had the chance to meet; I have never claimed to be a fortune
teller. Nor would I ever take money to enlighten others as to what will happen to them in the
future. I loved Daddy; I could tell my Daddy anything! I was a lot like my Daddy, and I was
proud of that. Is this what other children had that I was lacking all this time? I was genuinely
resentful.
After getting to know my Daddy for 6 months, I had an odd dream; I was walking in the
mountains on a foggy, dewy morning with my Cherokee Grandmother. My dream was so vivid, I
felt like I was there. I felt the cold fog nipping at my arms while the warm sun warmed our
soles. What joy filled my heart! It was so breathtaking; Grandmother was teaching me how to
use my talent and more about my family. I had this relaxing yet odd dream again, and
again. During the 3rd night, I sat up and began to cry. Randy woke up to comfort me, Bad
dream? he inquired. Horrible! I wailed. Daddy is dead! Later that day, we received the call,
that this dream too, was all too true.
After Daddy died, I began researching my personal question/skepticism on the issue of
dreaming and genetics, when I discovered new authors (who have quickly become my favorites),
Kathleen & Michael Gear. The Gears have written many wonderful tales of Indian cultures. Yes
indeed, the Indian dreamers are well documented, and dreamers do tend to follow genetic
lines. Although these books are mainly fiction, the Gears are both scientists who have done
extensive research in the Indian culture as well as their dream worlds. I have learned to
appreciate my uniqueness, my abilities, my dreams. I learned to be more comfortable with who I
am and I have learned pride, as well as a new found self worth. Scary though it may be, I will
continue to honor my heritage; I will embrace my dreams, as I continue to dream of the future.

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Cheryl Moss
Reflective Piece
Good night, fellow felines. I trust that you have all had a quiet day full of snoozing in a comfortable place, maybe
with a patch of sunlight warming your fur. The C.A.T. Council has asked me to give you an introduction of my
account of living under a bed, from a cat's perspective that will be in next month's Journal. Before I begin,
however, I must give you some idea of how I came to be in this room and under this bed. It is a terrifying tale, I
assure you. If you are tender hearted, you may not want to stay for this part of the meeting. However, this is my
story and I shall tell it as I recall the events happening.

I began life as a kitten that lived with human females I shall call The College Girls. They were most often nocturnal
and had many evenings of festivities. They then slept all day long and would encourage me to cuddle with them. I
did not like to cuddle, but would tolerate it for short periods. If they became too aggressive, I would be forced to
bite them. They would then say, Bitch! and literally toss me out of their room! Bah, then I would need to find a
new bed to sleep on for the day. I was lucky to have four College Girls that lived in my dwelling. Discovering a
sleeping girl was not a difficult task..

My dwelling mates referred to me as Kitty. We lived in the Gator Nation, also called UF, or College. The
Gator Nation was some sort of tribal group, I think. They wore orange and blue garments, painted their faces with
gruesome green lizards with very large and sharp teeth, and danced excitedly in front of a box and spoke of
football. Liquid was drunk and food was eaten at these weekly rituals. I was lucky to live through the festivities,
that I was not served up along with popcorn, chicken wings, and a foul liquid called beer. Many humans packed
into our dwelling during the rituals and I would find a quiet corner under a bed. I always felt safe there and if a
human male came near, I would growl deep in my throat to let him know that I was fierce, did not like to cuddle,
and he should stay away. It always worked, as the human males instead would cuddle with one of The College
Girls. As I stated earlier, The College Girls liked to cuddle, so this worked out well for all of us.

A weekend came when The College Girls were highly agitated. They had long robes hanging in our dwelling and
would yell at me if I went near them. No, Kitty! they exclaimed. Your claws will make a pull in my graduation
gown! Stay away! One by one, The College Girls took the gowns, all of their garments off of the floors, the soft
covers off of the beds, cleared off the desks, and pet me before getting in their cars and driving off. Only one
College Girl was left. We both wanted to cuddle that night neither of us wanted to be alone. The dwelling
seemed very empty.

The next day, I was very awake, having slept the whole night away! I was meandering in the yard, searching for a
pleasant spot to snooze when a New College Girl drove up in her car. She entered the yard and called to me,
Here, Kitty! Well, I was feeling quite out of sorts that morning, so I allowed her to rub my head. Oh, she smelled
good, just like my other College Girls. I wound my body around her legs as I saw my dwelling mate carry my Litter
Box out of our dwelling and put it in the car. Well, I didn't think much about that as I was distracted by the New
College Girl rubbing a very tender spot on my head, right near my ear. I believe that I may have been starting with
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a bit of a Migraine after all, I had missed my nightly prowl that will always cause a terrible Migraine the next
day. Oh, so sorry, I digress. This is so disturbing to speak of I do so apologize.

You see, before I knew what was happening, I was rudely picked up and thrust into the back seat of the car! I was
startled to realize that I was being cat-napped! And I am not talking about sleep, mind you! My College Girl was
crying and waving her fingers at me through the car window as the New College Girl drove away- with me in the
backseat!

Well, fellow felines, you will be proud to know that I growled deep in my throat! I cried with ear piercing howls! I
whined and even hissed! But, I was cat-napped alright! Straight to a new dwelling with the New College Girl. She
also was part of the Gator Nation, had festivities, and I was mistakenly coerced into believing that this New College
Girl would treat me as those before her. I was shocked to realize that she was an evil human when she took me to
a horrible, antiseptic smelling facility where I had my front claws removed, and an important section of my innards
were taken for research purposes, I am sure. It is a very good thing that we felines are forgiving and have
marvelous short term memories, as I quickly healed from this bodily intrusion. Life went on much the same as
before. I soon forgot my terrible ordeal and eventually settled into life at my new dwelling.

One afternoon, I was snoozing in the front window of our dwelling, the filtered sun warm on my fur and a slight
breeze lulling me through my dreams. A knock at the door jolted me awake and my College Girl was handed a
piece of paper. Oh, the lamenting, crying and hysteria that ensued. She grabbed the instrument that was often
held against her head and wailing and crying ensued. The only words I could ascertain were Mom!, Evict!, and
I can't take Kitty to the Humane Society I would feel so guilty!. The rest were undecipherable to me, but
whomever this Mom character was, my College Girl eventually stopped her wailing and settled down. She ended
her conversation with Mom saying, Thanks, I'll see you on Saturday.

I did not know what a Humane Society was, but visions of the horrific bodily intrusion experience came back to me
in a flash! Sure enough, a few moons later, I was again thrust into a car with my litter box and a bag of food and
unceremoniously driven to the place where I now dwell to this terrifyingly feline-filled facility made to look just
like a regular human dwelling. But, I was quickly aware that this was not a place where College Girls dwelled. No,
this was not the Gator Nation. There were no night time festivities with much food and drink. This dwelling was
made up of 2 older humans and multiple ferocious felines. This is where the real story begins and tonight I have
only enough time to share with you those that currently live in this dwelling with me. I ask that you bear with me
as I describe to you the characters that will be unfolded within my account next month in our Journal. I shall call
them The Family, as that is what they tried to convince me I had become part of.

Kitty that would be me, a gray-striped tabby with a luxurious coat of fur, the cat who resides under the bed, your
storyteller.

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Trinity an attractive, deep orange, black and snow white Calico, the leader of the family, frequently addressed as
Mother Superior or The Queen Mom.
Apoc the head male, Trinity's litter mate, the most beautiful of the family, an exquisitely marked gray-striped
tabby, not the sharpest nail on a claw, has the unique characteristic of begging like a dog, a new anomaly a
canine-feline.
Lil a domesticated cat with very common blood lines, I suspect the runt of her litter, she may be a Calico also, as
she does have a tiny, triangular pink hued face with a bright pink nose, the tiniest of the family, generally docile,
except when it comes to me.
Phil Lil's litter mate, quite mentally and physically challenged, shaped surprisingly like a raccoon, often referred
to as fat Phil by human and feline alike. He is the one feline that I may be able to abide although for very short
periods of time - as he is very needy and quickly becomes annoying.
Hairman the human male of the dwelling, very gifted at verbalizing multiple feline sounds which typically attract
female felines and terrify the males, a favorite of all ladies in the dwelling. I believe that he may be a distant
relative of a mythical creature in feline lore Sasquatch.
Cat Lady The human female of the dwelling, the source of accumulating all of us together under one roof, a
rescuer of lost souls, and the one that feeds, provides water, and cleans all of our litter boxes. We all adore her
for without her, we would be out on the street, fending for ourselves or worse.

The things we were SUPPOSED to learn in kindergarten

By Whitney Oakwood National Writing Project, Summer Institute 2010
Perhaps my students didnt go to kindergarten because a lot of them dont know the
common courtesies you should be afforded in life.
Dont take things that arent yours. Now, I know that pens are not very valuable and
that you probably didnt mean to take them, but I lost countless pens this year; including the
ones that were not for student use, and including the ones on which I had taped the message:
You may BORROW this pen but it belongs to Ms. Oakwood.

I can forgive the pens. But my giant pump of hand sanitizer, slightly less forgivable.
Why did you steal it? It had my name all over it! Did you think it was yours? And then
after I pointed out to everyone how ridiculous it was that you stole it, Can you guys believe
that someone stole my hand sanitizer? How ridiculous is that? It had the pump on it and
everything. Then after that, after I got another to replace it, and wrote my name all over that,
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you stole it again. Im not buying anymore hand sanitizer, you can find your own way to
sanitize your hands. Maybe you were trying to follow the wash your hands before you eat
rule, but in the process you broke the put things back where you found them rule.
Share everything. You took this quite literally. You were not supposed to share
answers, and texts and all those germs. It was nice of you to share your gum, but I wish you
hadnt stuck it under the desks.
Clean up your own mess. Based on the gum, I guess Im not surprised that this one
didnt stick either; and would explain why you leave your freshly graded papers and pencil
shavings all over my floor. Maybe you didnt want your gum wrappers to be lonely down there.
Take a nap every afternoon. This means take a nap when you go home. Not in the back
of my class, or the front of my class where I moved you because you kept falling asleep. At
least care enough to pretend you are not asleep and do the hair in front of the face thing, or
the book on your lap that youre reading move. I dont buy them, but at least it shows you
feel a little guilty about it.
No hitting. I went almost the whole year without seeing a fight and on the second to
last day of school you have the nerve to fight in our very own room? Desks were toppling like
dominoes, flying like tidily winks into the walls. I thought I had finally gotten through to you
and now I am picking one of your dread locks up off the floor.

Caren Pearson
At the National Writing Project, every morning begins with an Invitation to Write. This is my
first response. This opportunity is welcoming and yet, a bit daunting. As an artist and art teacher,
I am more comfortable in the visual realm, but I want to challenge myself and explore my verbal
side. When I learned that I had been invited to participate in the NWP, I described it to a friend
as finding a new room in my house. Last night, I dreamt that I opened that door and walked
into a group of strangers, fellow travelers on the NWP ship. Who are they? How will we relate
with each other. I am excited yet unsure. I am on stage with the curtain about to go up, but I
dont know the play. I am the main character in a play, but I havent seen the script. I am open to
the possibilities of learning things in new modalities, trying new approaches and looking at
writing, teaching and thinking in new way

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An invitation to write My first instinct was to envision a blank canvas, morph it into a blank
journal page, and remind myself that I am going to be looking from the verbal rather than the
visual perspective. Even my words seem to emerge from the visual side of communication (a less
familiar and less comfortable place.)
As I face the blank page, like many before me, I hope that inspiration will appear. I wait and try
to assuage my own fears of not being able to express myself well. I remember hearing
someone say, It is more important to be honest than to sound smart. What a relief! I urge
myself to the brink of the writing abyss, to use this honesty to carry me on the waves of another
reality, a parallel universe of words. I brace myself against the uncertainty of the depths, what
might be lurking under the surface, and then I take a deep breath and dive in.
Nothing is achieved without enthusiasm. In his essay on Self-Reliance (1841), Emerson said,
Insist on yourself. Becoming yourself is a life long journey. I open the book that is me, and I
write my experiences, recount my authenticity, record my travels and draw the things I see and
feel. This dynamism shapes us as we create our own path, not follow anothers. Follow your
dreams and walk on your own feet. Each of us has opportunities, but we must courageously
make them our own. Enthusiastically inhale the new air of each day, confident that it will add
new colors to our palette, each new experience adding to the richness of your ever-changing you.

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Lincy Reynolds
Childhood Lullaby

Best beloved please dont be in such a rush

Hush child, hush hush
Play with the soft warm Earth beneath you
Let both your friends and enemies teach you
Catch those lighting bugs in a jar
Try to catch a northern star

Best beloved dont be in such a rush

Hush child, hush hush
Blow out your candles and make a wish
Eat all the ice cream in the dish
Make your list for Santa too
Whip up a batch of Me Stew

Best beloved dont be in such a rush

Hush child, hush hush
Crush the fall leaves neath your shoes
Dont pay attention to the grown ups views
Sing in the rain with umbrella high
Stomp in puddles, touch the sky

Best beloved dont be in such a rush

Hush child, hush hush
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Dream your dreams with monsters lurking

Look under the bed the dragons smirking
Beg for puppies and plead for more
Spend all your money in the candy store

Best beloved dont be in such a rush

Hush child, hush hush
Play with the child that no one will
Forget the looks theyre jealous still
Befriend the new kid show your smile
Run in circles for a country mile

Best beloved dont be in such a rush

Hush child, hush hush
Go ahead and play with your food
Try not to cop an attitude
Staying up late learning to drive
Dont worry child it will soon arrive

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My First Hurricane
It hasnt happened, yet
Everyone tells me that it will come
Ill do everything I can to get
Ready for the event

They say the sea will rise

And the winds will howl
Im only a little scared of this prize
That in my golden years Ive come to experiment

I bought the water and all the supplies

The house has been checked
I listened to everyone, I hope some were lies
As disaster I try to prevent

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Irene Stevens
June, 2010
My Haiku from Corkscrew
Pond apple bowing
Looking over the water
In expectation

Education
Education is the most important thing in the world!
Education is about communication not just the giving of knowledge but also the feedback of
ideas from student to teacher.
Education is all about understanding, building within oneself and others, a greater ability to
cope with the world around us and perhaps even make it better.
Education is life. Hopefully we can all be life-long learners.
Education is full of anticipation, just like Christmas. The first day of school is full of expectation.
When the actual day comes the trick for teachers is to be sure to fulfill that anticipation. As
teachers we build the level of expectation in children. In kindergarten we say that you will learn
to read and then we have to make that happen. Even for the child who doesnt have the
understanding that those squiggles on paper have meaning, we have to find a way for that child
to read something. It is all about expectation! The districts expectation of us is one thing but
most importantly the fulfilling of the expectation and anticipation of the children. That is
education.

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Rachel Stokes
Sanibel: The Sun in My Sky
Sanibel, you are forever my home. As a native to your island, I have come to appreciate whats unique and
special to me. You welcome people from all over the world who visit your beaches and collect from the varieties
of your seashells. There is something magical about you.
Sanibel, you contain the chapters of my families history. I have trotted and enjoyed the same sand as
eight generations ago. Tales told of hurricanes, how roads were named, and how countless mosquitoes were
controlled are just a few of the stories lingering in my family history.
Sanibel, youve never failed me. Your beaches offer a place of refuge with your stylish landscapes strongly
rooted exotics like the sea grape, palm, mangrove and palmetto trees. Your trees are thick as bricks, holding you
together in times of trial like our many summer hurricanes.
Sanibel, youre my teacher of nature. Youve taught me about periwinkles and hibiscuses which are
sprinkled among your birds of all shapes, sizes and colors like the roseate spoonbills, pelicans, cormorants, and
seagulls. Fishing your back waters and through the Gulf of Mexico created life for my great-granddad and my
granddad as commercial fishermen. I watched my younger island brother grow as did his passion for fishing.
August moonless nights, flashes of phosphorescence map the heavens as the surf breaks. Some of your sea life
inhabitants living rent-free include starfish, jellyfish, mollusks, snook, mullet, trout, and redfish. You taught me
how to dance the Sanibel Shuffle to ward off sting rays, common for islanders who attended frequent trips to
the beach.
Sanibel, youve been my personal theater on your beaches during a muggy, hot summer night many times
as I go to watch heat lightning storms. Your magnificent sunsets offer solace, flooding the hearts of your visitors.
Sanibel, you are my get away, my home I love.
Sanibel, you are the sun in my sky.

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Thoreson - THE TIME FOR A NEW ME HAD COME

The day I moved out of my parents home was the day that my path altered forever. Raised in a small
town and in an even smaller neighborhood, I was unaware of the world awaiting beyond my sight, a world waiting
to be unveiled. From the moment I could comprehend what college was, I was certain that I would leave home
when the time came. I was excited when I toured Florida Gulf Coast University during my senior year of high
school. It was in Florida but far enough from home that I could have a life of my own. Heck, I even bought an
FGCU Eagles shirt and wore it to school the next day. Three months later, I graduated high school and was
preparing for my freshmen orientation at FGCU. I did not know what the orientation was about or whom I would
meet. With trepidation, I met some kids at the orientation, but I forced the issue. I was as adept at introductions
as I am at dancing: I can do it, but you may want to look away. After orientation concluded, I knew what the next
step was.
As the end of summer drew near and fall semester was about to begin at FGCU, it was time to go. While
my parents assisted me in packing, I was very mum on the issue; I did not know how to feel or how to react. The
drive down to Fort Myers from Terra Ceia Island made the transition undeniably clear. In a few hours, I would be
on my own. One by one, box after box, the contents of the vehicles became smaller, as did the available space in
my new bedroom. I had never seen a smaller bed, closet, or overall home for a person in my life. I was already
feeling my heart beat faster and faster, I felt I could skip to the beat. I could feel the sweat streaming down my
temple. I had not felt such anxiety since my first date with a girl. Eventually, the last box needed to be taken out
of the night black jeep and set down in my new home. After the vehicles were unloaded and my petite dormitory
was some-what organized, I hugged mom and dad before they left. As I watched the tail lights on moms jeep get
smaller and eventually disappear, I felt joyful and hollow. I was not sure how I was supposed to respond. Should I
be happy or sad, anxious or stone cold? To be honest, my emotions at the time were nameless. I did not feel
much of anything. I am the kind of person whose mind races without a finish line, but at that moment, my mind
was static. I was fearful of what may lie ahead. After several moments standing alone in the campus-housing
parking lot, I felt a calm breeze at dusk, and the weight of the moment finally collided on to my shoulders. I turned
and went into my poor excuse of a bedroom, shutting the door behind me.
However, in my ignorance and misfaith, I stepped outside to introduce myself to my new neighbors. I
made a declaration to myself that day. The person I was back home will stay there. I would no longer be shy,
timid, or afraid of new people and new places. In high school, I was the epitome of anti-social. I played on the
football team not because I loved the game with a fiery passion, but so I could make friends. The experience was a
partially successful. I made friends, but my enthusiasm for the game was lacking. I had the mindset that if I avoid
whatever scares me, I would not get hurt. Such tendencies denied me what life can truly provide to ones soul. 2
Samuel 23 speaks of Beniah, who confronted his fears and tackled a lion, king of the beasts in a pit on a snowy day.
Beniahs courage was a template for the change I must make in my own life. It was time for me to confront my
own lions. The time for a new me had come.

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The LIGHT-ning of My Life

By
Karen Torres

Lightning, a beautiful spectacle from afar, creating spidery webs of brilliant yellow
ribbons on backgrounds of pastel purple and orange, natures dance of light and energy. It is all a
cruel illusion. Its out there waiting, watching, ready to strike at any time! The Jabberwocky, the
beast, call it what you wish; this thing is stalking me.
We first crossed paths when I was a mere elementary school girl. It was a typical humid
summer on Long Island. The heat was sweltering as we sat at the dinner table that evening, the
windows wide open for cross ventilation. Without much warning, a thunderstorm blew up over
us. Suddenly, a thunderous clap sounded. As the deafening roar shook the house, we bore
witness to what my father later referred to as a water snap. A two inch wide blue ribbon of
electricity shot out of the kitchen faucet. It flew down the length of the oblong dinner table
spitting yellow sparks from each end. This snake of power whipped past us and serpentined its
way through the living room and escaped under the front door jamb. I finished my supper dazed
from the paralyzing fear I had just experienced. Life went on.
Summer again, Long Island circa 1974. I was now a self-assured teen looking forward to
my final year of high school and life after. My childhood home sits on a small hill (bad enough
for being closer to the lightening action), when my parents new found hobby added an extension
to our chimney. It was a brand new three pronged CB radio antennae, standing guard over our
house, straight and stoic as if taunting and daring the electrical Gods of nature to just try and
strike. And strike it did, with a vengeance. Angry bent yellow fingers flew out of the sky
grasping each of the prongs of the antennae. The first prong diverted its blast to the radio
antennae of Dads blazer, electrifying it, shorting out everything in it. The bolt attacking prong 2
leapt at the exterior air conditioner, missing and tumbling to the ground. The third prong was
unable to deter the assault of the bolt grabbing it. The bolt gained access to the house. It ran
amok through the electrical system in the house, leaving a path of destruction. Before departing,
the lightning performed one more scandalous deed. It illuminated the television screen and
pulsated as if laughing at us. In a flash, it was gone. I never recovered. The devastating encounter
shook my confidence to the core and had sent me running for cover to the safety of an interior
closet when ever the faint rumble of thunder teases with a storm. Life went on.
Five years later, the year 1979, it was a quiet and serene summer night in June, on Long
Island. The boat engine gently murmured as it glided on the calm sea taking us many miles from
shore. Fishing, enjoying the abundant catch the sea offered, we laughed and reeled in big blues.
Our pleasurable night was abruptly interrupted by a vicious squall. The once mirror flat sea was
whipped into a frenzy of anger, throwing waves of contempt over the bough. Everyone was
quickly herded into the cabin of the boat, a sanctuary from the storm and driving rain, shrouded
in windows. The boat mates were still outside scurrying around the deck securing the gear. They
looked like bathtub rubber duckies in their yellow slickers and hats as they placed 10 foot
bamboo gaffs skyward in cuplike holders. Uh! Oh! I thought. Instant lightning rods! Through the
rain I could make out other boats joining us, circling up like a Conestoga wagon train did for the
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night. Safety in numbers, I guessed. As I watched the mates it happened. The upset Gods hurled
a bolt of dismay. It connected with the metal hook on the top of the gaff directly in my field of
vision. The two mates were instantly knocked to the deck. The thunder roared around us. I was
sure I witnessed my first murder by nature. Silence filled the cabin as we were all in shock by the
magnitude of what had just occurred. All was still. Miraculously, the mates slowly regained their
feet, unscathed by the incident. As quickly as it had come, the storm had gone. The wagon train
of boats called it a night, uncurled, and followed each other back to the dock. I never set foot on
a boat again. Life went on.
I fled to Florida, lightening capital of the world. Ive been on the run for 35 years. My
desperate strategy was to hide from lightning in the obvious spot, in plain sight. So far, it has
worked. Shhhhh.

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Book Reviews:
Jeff Bowditch

Revised 7/14/2010

Book Review
Content-Area Writing: Every Teachers Guide by Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke
Heinemann 2007, 278 Pages
The purpose of this book is to help content-area teachers (such as Math, Science, and Social Studies)
become more familiar with writing strategies that they can use in their classrooms. These writing strategies would
foster not just better writing skills among students, but also a better understanding of the subject matter. The
book begins by presenting the question Is there a writing crisis? The subjects of increased accountability in the
classroom and increasing time constraints that keep teachers from writing in the classroom are discussed. Also,
among this section the role of technology and whether or not it promotes student writing is also discussed. The
authors suggest that teachers can use their strategies within a limited amount of time and still cover the required
content.
The book is basically divided up into two sections. The first section involves Writing to Learn strategies
and the second section covers Public Writing strategies. Some of the strategies covered in the Writing to Learn
section are: writing break, exit slip, clustering, mapping, KWL, write-around, and reflective write. In the Public
Writing section the following strategies are discussed: people research, Faction, RAFT, brochure, webpage, social
action paper, and I-Search paper.
In chapter two, the authors discuss why writing to learn strategies are important and why they are a first
step before engaging in public writing strategies. Their premise is that the smaller writing assignments that we do
really are important and help us build a foundation for the larger, more in-depth writing assignments. They assert
that they are short, spontaneous exercises that help students explore issues in their content area. They are
informal, personal, and often unedited and ungraded. The authors claim that in-depth grading every time on
students papers can be counterproductive and can discourage students from doing more serious writing later on.
In chapters three and four, the individual writing to learn strategies are introduced. The chapters are
organized with a gray sidebar to indicate to the reader which subject area the strategy applies to such as Math,
Science, Social Studies, or Language Arts. The index is also organized so that teachers in content-area subjects can
look up writing strategies they may want to use as a quick reference. With all of the time constraints that contentarea teachers face, this is a feature of the book that would prove most helpful.

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In chapter 5 and 6, public writing is introduced and also how to support the writing process. The authors
believe that public writing needs to be more substantial than smaller writing to learn assignments; it must be
planned, and authoritative. Public writing must be targeted towards a specific audience; it must be composed,
edited, and graded. Within this process, the authors contend that students will be better public writers when they
have some control over the writing topics they choose, have time to write in class, and are allowed to collaborate
early in the writing process with both their peers and their teacher.
Chapters 7 and 8 discuss shorter writing projects and how to run a writing workshop. These projects were
very helpful in allowing the students to become familiar with real-life situations where they might be required to
write and be required to address a specific audience. The information about conducting a classroom writing
workshop was valuable in that it ensured that student writing gets done and allows the teacher to tailor instruction
to students that need it most.
The book concludes with chapters 9 and 10 which promote more in-depth public writing projects and how
to write for tests and other assessments. These chapters gave helpful hints in how to make what is considered the
most difficult form of writing go much smoother. Chapter 9 has important charts and rubrics that can help in this
process. In chapter 10 the authors explain how to overcome some of the limitations that sometimes seem to be
self-imposed when one is designing a writing assessment. They suggest that making writing tests an integral part
of the learning process and teaching students how to respond on these types of tests can make test taking a more
meaningful and productive exercise.
Overall, I believe this book did achieve its purpose. As a content- area teacher, I would definitely use the
strategies laid out in this book. The book was well-written and easy to read. Another thing that kept my interest
up was the humor and interesting anecdotes that were scattered throughout the book. This helped me to identify
more with the authors because I really believe they were trying to make a connection with me the reader.
I would definitely recommend this book for any content-teacher of any grade level. I believe that the
strategies outlined in this book would allow teachers to be more efficient in their use of writing while at the same
time, allow their students to learn the valuable content that they will be accountable for -- a plus for both students
and teachers.

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Book Review: Razzle Dazzle Writing, Achieving Excellence Through 50 Targeted Skills

2001

by Melissa Forney
Review by Kathryn Calcaterra, July 2010

Melissa Forney has written a book to help educators teach students in grades three through eight. The
book is easy to use and very teacher friendly. It is designed to introduce a skill and provide students with some
practice material. It is not intended to be a complete writing series. Teachers are permitted to copy anything in
the book for use in the classroom, which is an extra bonus. Teachers may choose to use a checklist of writing skills
that follow the layout of the book. This allows teachers to keep a log for each student to indicate that a skill has
been a) taught, b) tested, and c) applied. This two-page checklist allows the teacher to determine areas of
weakness either in the student or the class and plan accordingly. The book also has templates, for example the
story glove which is a foldable for a student authored book or graphic organizers. Throughout the book there are
several recommended reading lists for young authors and teachers alike.
The premise for successful instruction is that children's writing will prosper if the teacher follows the
Five-Step Method.
2.

Explain Children need to know why the skill is important. Connecting to authentic learning or
how it applies to them either in the present or in the future is most valuable.

3.

Demonstrate Show students how you as the educator would accomplish a skill, through a stepby-step process if necessary.

4.

Model Students will complete the task along with the teacher. This affords the student the
opportunity to ask questions and lets the teacher see where the student is having difficulty.

5.

Practice Give the students plenty of opportunity to practice. The teacher may wish to draw
from a variety of sources to allow for mastery.

6.

Teach Have the students teach the skill to someone else. If they are able to verbalize their
knowledge to another, they demonstrate a true understanding and hopefully a lasting memory
of the skill.

Ms. Forney demonstrates two ways to write conversation, one with dialogue and one without dialogue.
The opening lesson give specific rules for dialogue a) use quotation marks, b) punctuation goes inside the
quotation marks and, c) indent whenever there is a new speaker. The next lesson deals with dialogue tags which
specifically identifies the speaker by name. This is followed by several lessons that begin with review and
examples followed by a portion of the page for independent practice.

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This book will be a valuable commodity to me in my position as an ESE resource teacher. The format of
the book will enable me to teach a lesson in the short period of time I have with my students. The checklist is an
excellent way to record student progress so that I can adjust my lesson plans and also bring documentation to
parent meetings. I would highly recommend this book in addition to the language arts textbook for additional
practice to be used as a center activity or perhaps a homework assignment.

Ali Conant (2010)

Book Review:
Reading, Writing, And Learning in ESL: A Resource Book For Teaching K-12 English Learners (5th Ed). 2008.
by Suzanne F. Peregoy and Own F. Boyle

Authors Suzanne F. Peregoy and Owen F. Boyle haven taken a unique approach to working with the ESL student by
exploring contemporary language acquisition theory and within their book, Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL,
have created a plethora of methods and motivating strategies to engage the ELL student at all levels of learning.
The book highlights content-based instruction, and features differentiated instruction for English language
learners.
The 5th edition of this book, balances accessibility and comprehensiveness in a unique and engaging way for the
reader. The authors start each chapter with thought provoking inquiry and continue to weave authentic vignettes
and real-life scenarios into the chapters to illustrate concepts and make the text user-friendly. To keep each
chapter flowing, a relative comic strip appears to keep the conversation flowing between author and reader in a
light-hearted way.
For example, there is a brand-new chapter on vocabulary teaching and learning presenting current research and
strategies such as vocabulary journals, word cards and word wheels, with an emphasis on helping students
understand and use new words for reading, writing, and subject matter learning. Within this chapter, the authors
take a humorous look at teaching idioms to the learners. The comic strip in this section is a classic Peanuts
adventure in which Lucy is staring desperately and longingly at a newspaper, obviously trying to make sense of
something. Finally she gives up and puts the paper down in true Lucy fashion. When Charlie Brown asks what is
the matter she simply replies, "No matter how hard I try...I can't read between the lines!" A solid example of how
sometimes our English language is not that cut and dry.
This book incorporates many new teaching ideas for differentiated instruction and assessment, vocabulary
development, and standards-based curriculum, development. Classroom organization and language acquisition
theory also have a strong presence in this informative book. It has an updated and revised chapter on effective
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English learner instruction, including 2006 TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) standards
and content-based instruction. It has new material on varieties of English spoken around the world as they relate
to issues of power and prestige, a new chapter on vocabulary teaching and learning, revised sections on school
cultures and their impact, and new references and activities. New material has also been added to each chapter,
including sheltered instruction observation protocol, emergent literacy and explicit, direct instruction, working
with errors in writing, promoting independent reading, and selecting appropriate reading materials and
multicultural literature.
E-Learning: My Education Lab component is a fabulous resource that accompanies this text. Once you set up your
online account, you will have access to several videos of master teachers showing you many of the strategies you
have read about in the book; several in-depth and informative lesson plans, and actual student artifacts. This is a
great way to see the strategies in action. Each Education Lab component finishes with questions to help you refine
your teaching skills.
If you are looking for a book to give you more in-depth information on young learner language acquisition, literacy
development for ESL students, this is the book for you. "Reading, Writing, And Learning in ESL: A Resource Book
for K-8 Teachers" by Suzanne F. Peregoy and Owen Boyle, provides excellent background while also including
activities to theory into practice. A must have for any professional educational library.

2010 National Writing Project

Book Review of Inside Writing
By Marge Cox

Graves, Donald H. & Kittle, Penny. (2005). Inside Writing: How to Teach the Details of Craft. Portsmouth:
Heinemann.

Donald Graves, one of the giants in the world of teaching writing, continues to show how to impact students
writing. In this volume, his co-author, Penny Kittle, adds another voice to this three-part program of book, DVD,
and quick write notebook.

The book begins with an overview of the DVD and ideas about how to use it in a professional development
opportunity. Since the DVD spans 160 minutes, this background information makes it easier to know how to use it
effectively. The books other segments: The Teacher as Writer, Learning How to Reread Your Writing, and Bringing
Teacher Writing into the Classroom provide additional explanations. Notations in the outside margins show the
specific links from the book to the DVD.
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The Teacher as Writer emphasizes the importance of teachers sharing their own texts to teach writing. It explains
the importance of using quick writes as a basis for a writing program and explains how the segments of the book,
journal and DVD work together.

Learning How to Reread Your Writing gives specific techniques for meaningfully rereading your writing. On the
first rereading, it says to first look for words you like, then a sentence you really like, and finally a section that
surprises you. The second rereading provides the opportunity to find the heart of the piece as well as sentences
that are most and least connected to it and four words that sounded just right. During the third rereading, look for
three precise verbs, a simple and direct sentence, and three nouns that represent possible additional information.
After the third rereading, use the information and try rewriting. Authors might then work on pronouns, adjectives
and adverbs. They would follow that up with considering point of view. Seven specific steps for rereading to
improve point of view were given. After that, the authors considered poetry. It was suggested to end each line
with a noun or a verb. Changing letters into essays was the next topic. A personal narrative evokes emotion in an
essay. Directions were given about how to effectively reread a letter and then create an essay from the letters
content. The last segment in this part of the book focused on fiction. These authors believe that fiction basically
focuses on characters, but very young childrens fiction places more emphasis on plot. Five questions were asked
for rereading fiction. Each rereading segment included print samples.

Bringing Teacher Writing into the Classroom gives five reasons why teachers should share their writing and then
tells how to get started. The five reasons:

1.

Writing with students builds relationships and nurtures respect among all writers in
the room.

2. Writing with students teaches them how to see things from a new point of view.
3. Writing together creates energy.
4. Modeling your decision-making process helps them see that the process is ongoing.
5. Writing with your students saves time.
The authors then focus on five elements of teaching writing: choosing a topic, rereading a text, using details,
conferring and using conventions.

My Quick Writes for Inside Writing notebook provides a great definition to the form. Quick writes nudge us to
discover topics that matter, not to respond to a question that may have nothing to do with our experience. When
writing quickly, our own thoughts can surprise us. Quick writes seek diversity, not conformity. Thirty quick writes
then follow. The five point of view quick writes provide the opportunity to write on each side of the issue. Ten
poetry quick writes offer several ways to get started with that format. Six letters into essays quick writes give

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several topics that could evoke either essays or letters. The volume closes with seventeen choices for fiction
writing.

The DVD shows teachers in their grades 2 6 classrooms demonstrating the techniques discussed in the book. The
clear photography and good sound quality make this a piece sure to be used in professional development. Each
segment clearly tags back to details in the book.

Novices at writing and teaching and more experienced educators will find this book a worthwhile addition to their
collections. The examples focus more on elementary and middle school, but the content could be helpful to high
school teachers, too. The interactive nature of the book makes it one that teachers will use, not just read and
shelve.

We do a lot of professional development in our school. Im chair of our school writing committee, so I anticipate
that well use the book with our staff.

This volumes three sections makes it easy for teachers to use

independently or in small groups. Personally, Ill use it to refresh myself on some of the details before I teach
students.

Carmen Davis

Book Review
Notebook Know-How -Strategies for the Writers Notebook by Annie Buckner
Stenhouse Publishers 2005, 136 pages
Teaching Resource

This book written by a teacher for teachers is about using the Writers Notebook with the writing process.
The purpose of this book is to guide teachers through lessons, tips and student samples using the writers
notebook. Buckner, a fourth grade teacher, poses questions and provides solutions to many questions teachers
have regarding successfully using the writers notebook as an effective tool for teaching writing in grades three
through eight. Her easy-to-follow narrative makes interesting and quick reading of the book. With a foreword
written by Ralph Fletcher, author of A Writers Notebook, Unlocking the Writer Within You, Harper Trophy 1996,
the book is a wealth of information to help any teacher begin the writing process using Writers Notebooks.
The most important chapter is the first one which passes along the understanding about what writers
notebooks are and why they should be used to capture the process of students writing. Buckner tells in Chapter

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2, Launching the Notebook, that at the beginning of school, students do a great deal of storytelling to encourage
them to realize that they ARE writers and they do have much of value and interest that others would love to read
about. She also shares ideas for beginning notebook writing and the importance of encouraging students with
strategies like the history of a name, and writing from a list, a word or observations, just to name a few. She
culminates the chapter with having students understand what the expectations are for keeping their writers
notebooks.
Chapter 3, Kneading Notebooks, provides many student samples where students expand topics and
build their collections of ideas. Here is where students reread their notebooks and really look at what they have
written. They really look at samples theyve written and look for patterns in ideas and in writing styles. Theyre
free to write in the margins to help them identify those patterns they see. She teaches them strategies for writing
and conferring which she feels are very important. From this point, students pick a piece they want to write on
and expand to publication. The author shares strategies to help students collect more ideas and materials for
expansion of their writing piece, like three-word phrases or writing from another point of view.
When Writers Read is a chapter where Buckner expresses the importance of writers reading. She says
that writers have mentors too and that they are in front of us often. They are books. Reading is a very important
key for writers to see good forms of writing reading like a writer. She shares a strategy, Grabber Leads Anchor
Chart, where fiction and non-fiction books are labeled by titles and the leads are written next to them. Some are
statements and others questions, and some just catch us off guard. In Buckners strategy, Try Ten, she tells of
using texts you love as long as its well written text, even student writing. She shows two student samples inspired
by e.e. cummings.
As writers, understanding of a strong structural foundation for writing is critical. In writing, this is genre.
Understanding of elements of different genres enables writers to develop their writing appropriately. The
strategies in Chapter 5 are applied during the revision stages of the writing process. The author is interested in
teaching strategies that will help ten-year olds understand the thought process and allowing light bulbs to go off as
connections finally come through. She hangs many charts in her classroom that she has thoughtfully included in
the back of the writers notebooks. Also included in this chapter are various strategies, such as summarizing your
story and using Venn diagrams.
Chapter 6: Writing Wrongs: Editing, Spelling and Punctuation is all about the editing process. Buckner
shares strategies and guidelines for making the editing process less painful, by providing samples, rules and many
narratives. She agrees that editing is a lot of work, and that the writers notebooks are a place that students can
keep their papers together and that writing can be a productive mess.

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The final chapter deals with assessing the notebook. With so much work that goes into a great writers
notebook, grades become a necessity. The how-to about getting these grades is translated into a rubric. Her rubric
is based upon three parts: flexibility and fluency, thoughtfulness, and frequency and their corresponding letter
grades. She also goes into formal self-evaluations for mid-year and end-ofthe-year.
The most used tools are found in the books appendix. The author has placed all the main questions
about considerations for the notebooks, charting author style, the mid-year self evaluation, and end-ofthe-year
self-assessment, all handily available at the back of the book.
I would recommend this book for any teacher in grades 3-8 interested in starting Writers Notebooks with
their students.

Book Review:
nd

In the Middle New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning (2 Ed.). 1998.
by Nancie Atwell
Review written by Helen Davis (2010)

Author Nancie Atwell started her teaching career as a control freak: she planned her curriculum, sat
behind her big desk, managed the class, and maintained the curriculum. As her career progressed, she began to
evolve as teacher and attend professional development seminars. At a professional development institute, she
listened to Susan Sowers praise the highlights of giving students options in writing, daily time for writing, and
conferences with teachers and peers. After attending this workshop, Atwell came to terms with a hard truth. She
had no idea how to share responsibility with her students, and she wasnt sure if she wanted to (Atwell, 1998). In
the Middle depicts her successes in turning her classroom into a reading and writing workshop while offering
suggestions and explicit instructions for those teachers wishing to turn control over to their students.
The impetus for Atwells rationale for abandoning her sage on the stage classroom model was not only
Sowers research, but the response of her students. When she asked them about their own ideas for writing, she
shocked at the depth of their interests and answers. Eventually, she loosened the reins on student writing, and
she found that students began to take chances, try new subjects, styles, and formats and use writing as a way to
solve personal and worldly problems. She knew that she needed to leave some instructional time in to the
curriculum, so she developed mini-lessons. Each class starts off with a five to seven minute mini-lesson on an
aspect of writing and ends with time for children to reflect, read, and write. She provides extensive lists of topics
ideas for mini-lessons, but leaves the teacher with the charge to develop her own based on student needs.

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Atwells mini-lessons are effective because they are concise and cogent in an era of information overload and
instant gratification.
After the mini-lesson, Atwell invites children to read authentically. Authentic readers read independently
at their discretion and interest level. They do not trample through the library and ask for books that are a specific
Accelerated Reader level.

Atwell combats passionless reading by creating a reading workshop. A reading

workshop makes reading a social process by providing time for silent reading, book talks, and literacy letters. In
the literacy letter, students respond, connect, question, predict, and summarize the books they are reading.
Letters can be addressed to peers or the teacher.

She comments on why her approach is so suiting for

adolescents, This place is a workshop, a way of teaching and learning uniquely suited to young adolescents of
every ability.

A workshop approach accommodates every adolescents needs, invites their independence,

challenges them to grow up, and transforms the status quo (1998). In the index of the book, Atwell provides
charts and handouts aspiring teachers can use to track student writing and reading topics during the workshop.
As a reading teacher at a school that implements Accelerated Reader, a reading workshop atmosphere
would eradicate student obsession with points and goals. In a workshop, students are free to choose what books
they would prefer to read as well as recommend books to peers. Choice brings freedom, fun, interest, and
conversation back into the reading process, which are elements that are typically lost in the Accelerated Reader
battle. Similar amounts of freedom and fun are married back into the writing process during Atwells writing
workshop.
Threads of choice, action, and challenge tie Atwells classroom together. Her students are able to choose
reading materials and writing topics while given time to actually read and write. They are even challenged to be
published. In an age of standardized testing and data, Atwells classroom practices are proof that teaching
students to read and write by treating them like real readers and writers produces notable results. Atwell is
successful in connecting student experience, choice, and education. In the Middle is a must read for any teacher
wishing to step away from the control of formulaic reading and writing programs and into programs where reading
and writing can be transferred to the hands of the student.

Teaching Adolescents to Write: The Unsubtle Art of Naked Teaching

Stacey Elmeer
Last year, I read Jeff Andersons Mechanically Inclined, and I gained many great ideas that I was happy to use when
I returned to school in the fall. I was so happy with that book, that I did not expect to stumble upon a second jewel,
but I did. This one was an easy read. What was not finished on the airplane ride there, was finished on the way
back and I was intrigued and engaged the whole trip.

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In Baines and Kunkels Teaching Adolescents to Write: The Unsubtle are of Naked Teaching, two master teachers
show other teachers the true ingredients to student success. Their interesting narratives come complete with
slightly sarcastic student commentary and honest teacher responses, keeping the book real. Each step of their
involved projects is noted and recorded in an organized manner along with trouble shooting tips and scheduling
recommendations that will help teachers complete complex projects in respectable time frames. Baines and
Kunklel offer student samples that will inspire teachers to take risks in the classroom. By the time readers have
finished with the text, the word naked in the title has evolved into vulnerable and authentic, for teachers
and students alike will need to put down barriers to respond honestly and thoughtfully to these challenging
assignments.

My favorite chapters (or units of study) revolve around three major components I plan on integrating into both my
sophomore and senior classes next year: Growing Up: Using students childhood experiences to explore sixteen
different kinds of writing, Screenplays: Promoting, reading, writing, thinking, and performance through the moving
image, and The Conduct of Life: Teaching philosophy and rhetoric with an edge.

Baines and Kunkel build their students skill levels, scaffolding assignments in preparation for such impressive tasks
as writing novels and directing movies. In addition to an engaging classroom narrative for each instructional
chapter, the writers include unique handouts with detailed particulars that any teacher can adapt for his or her
class. Peer review focus sheets identify interesting elements not typically found in a peer review exercise such as
identifying a theme song for a fellow students short story to help familiarize both students with the concept of
mood and tone.

Baines and Kunkel take the guess work out of creating authentic learning communities in a classroom. The book
entertains, reads well, informs, motivates, and inspires.

Mena Granatino - Book Review

Bishop Verot High School
Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into a Writers Workshop
By Jeff Anderson
I would consider it a miracle if a book could snap me out of my malaise and prod me into
enthusiasm for the all-too-soon next school year. There is such a thing as miracles then. This
book has revived me: a glass of iced tea on a hot day. I have mulled over and over how to best
incorporate grammar in a meaningful way in the classroom. This book has the answers and

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explains how to immerse the student in examples and applications that relates directly back to
what they are reading and writing.

When I taught middle school English, I used the writers workshop approach, and the students
responded with dedication to writing. For the most part, I taught grammar as a separate entity,
correcting sentences and completing worksheets. This contrasted severely with the more
student-centered writing, peer conferencing, and student- teacher conferencing approach I was
using in the writers workshop. It just didnt seem to fit. I moved to high school and now had
to add another huge component- literature. Grammar fit even less now because with the
increased demands for time, the lessons had to be effective and meaningful. The ideas
presented in Mechanically Inclined will provide the necessary efficacy that is needed to weave
these lessons into the content in a way that the students will be able to understand and apply.

The premise of the book is to provide scaffolded lessons within the writers workshop and
literature study. The overall approach and organization of lessons is described in Part I The
Blueprint: Teaching Grammar and Mechanics in Context. An individual writers notebook
and an abundance of visual supports posted throughout the class provide the basis for
classroom organization and teaching.

Working collaboratively, the class constructs posters and wall charts throughout the year to
enhance learning with examples and visuals. The writer makes a big distinction between
posters and wall charts. Posters are for rules that are cut and dried like the rules for
capitalization, the rules for commas. As the body of knowledge grows, the class adds to these
wall charts. An example is an Editors Checklist: a developing list of the different concepts of
grammar and mechanics. One the Editors Checklist will be such things as Capitalization Rules!
Or Dialogue Rules! Each of which in turn refers the students to a poster with the rules that have
been discovered in class and listed on a poster. Another example of a wall chart is Two Word
Sentences to develop awareness and understanding of the basic structure of the sentence. These
can come from literature or from the students own writing and reinforce the essential elements
of a sentence- subject and verb- someone or something doing some action. This is added to
throughout the year. Compound, complex, compound-complex sentences are also discussed

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and examples displayed. A wealth of different posters and wall charts are described and
pictured.

Along with these visual reminders, concepts are further reinforced in a writers notebook where
the student not only records the class lessons and examples, but also gathers writing samples of
their own. The notebooks are kept in the classroom and provide the reference point for their
growing understanding.

The notebook is divided into four sections:

I. Writing Eye, II. Writers Secrets, III. Word and Phrase Palette, IV. Gems: Sentences That Work.
Each of these sections has a specific purpose.
I.

Writers Eye
This section is for the students own writing whether it be in response to a prompt
or a piece of literature, or simply a subject that they want to write about. Here they
gather their own pieces with a purpose of idea generation and fluency. These pieces
of writing can also be fodder for editing as I will describe below.

II.

Writers Secrets
Here is a place to record the different scaffolded instruction about grammar and
mechanics. For instance, if capitalization is the focus, the rules can be delineated
here and examples recorded. It is a reference for their growing awareness of the
different areas that the class discusses. The rules can be in the form of a mini-booklet
that is attached in this section of the notebooks. Capitalization is a purely
mechanical rule bound concept but this section can also be used for more
grammatical type concepts. For instance, students will gather examples of the four
types of sentences as described above along with their original sentences modeled
after the example.

III.

Word and Phrase Palette

The class collects interesting words and phrases in this section as an appreciation of
art and style. It can take many forms. One example from a piece of literature was
shown as this: the paper is divided into four quadrants with words and phrases from
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The Kite Runner. One quadrant is Active Verbs, another -Smart Similes, third- Naming
Nouns, and finally- Awesome Adjectives. Other types of phrases could also be listed
with the intent by categorizing words, we have a concrete way to stay in touch with
parts of speech, emphasize function, and work on the writers craft of word choice.
IV.

Gems: Sentences That Work

This section focuses on sentences that not only are well crafted but provide good
examples of sentence variety. Some of the categories would be pages or entries
composed of a growing list of such things as: two words sentences, interesting
introductory phrases, interrupting phrases, and closing phrases. Each of these
sections would be anchored with an example sentence with the part that is being
pointed out highlighted. Some sentences will of course be Combination Platters or
complex sentences constructed with all of the above: introductory, interrupting, and
closing phrases.

Part II Constructing Lessons: Background, Mentor Text, and Visual Scaffolds delves into a
framework, lesson by lesson, that is teacher friendly and walks the neophyte through example
lessons.

The six parts are the following: Section 1 The Sentence: A Way of Thinking and

moving on to subsequent sections: Section 2- Pause and Effect: Crafting Sentences with
Commas, Section 3 Pronouns: The Willing Stand-Ins, Section 4 The Verb: Are We All in
Agreement?, Section 5 Adjectives and Adverbs: The Modifier Within, Section 6 The Power of
Punctuation: The Period Is Mightier Than the Semicolon.

Each of the sections provides a series of lessons along with literary examples, student-teacher
dialogue, student notebook entries, and wall charts and posters. All the lessons are based on
the 20 most common errors that have been identified in student writing. By using this format, it
allows the teacher/reader to make the adaptations to fit their own curriculum, inserting their
examples from whatever literary works are included in the curriculum.

As an example of each of these sections, I will explain Section I- The Sentence: A Way of
Thinking. Progressing from the difference between fragments and sentences, the class gathers a

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wall chart of two word sentences that also lists the essential questions needed to ascertain if the
example is a sentence or a fragment: It must answer the question- Who or what did or is
something? The Subject. What did they do? The verb. Next run-on sentences are examined
with the concept of dependent or independent inserted with an example that follows the first
format: Sentence , closer .

Core Sentence + additions attached and grouped with commas.

Independent Clause (sentence) + dependents. This is part of the student notes and the visual
scaffold for this first type of sentence. Examples are found from both literature and their own
writing. The rest of this section takes on these topics: Dangling Modifiers Playing with
sentence parts, Wrong or missing preposition, Double Negative, The absolute. All these
sections are supported with mentor text, student teacher dialogue, student notebook entries,
and wall charts and posters as I have previously listed. In a chunk by chunk approach, students
are able to categorize, understand, and construct the different types of sentences.

I am energized by reading a book like this that provides a necessary piece to the English
teaching puzzle. The challenge of teaching English will always be the efficient weaving
together of all the strands of the curriculum so that students can make the connections between
all these elements that form the foundation of their reading and writing success. This is not an
easy balancing act especially with curricular demands to fit it all in. It is important for the
teaching of grammar and mechanics to have meaningful support and teaching a concept in
isolation simply denigrates its importance and application. For this reason, I am convinced yet
again that quality is more important than quantity. What difference does it make if we read 8
books and 10 short stories and 20 poems if the content is just being covered and is divorced
from integration from the complete skill set that students need to critically think, analyze,
appreciate, and yes even, emulate? I believe that techniques such as those described in
Mechanically Inclined with provide a key puzzle piece to my quest to become a master teacher.

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Book Review: When Povertys Children Write by Jackie Greene

Every child deserves to have their voice heard and respected. This is the premise upon which Bobbie
Solley builds her latest book, When Povertys Children Write (2005). This book emerged from her seminal research
of povertys children and the teachers who teach them. Research which was conducted at Somerville Road
Elementary School, a school with a high percentage of culturally and linguistically diverse students whose families
lived below the poverty line. Bobbie Solley is a professor in the Department of Elementary and Special Education
at Middle Tennessee State University. She works as a writing consultant in schools that serve children from
disenfranchised homes. This book reminds us that children of poverty need the same opportunities that all
children need and she provides evidence and testimony to the power of childrens voices when they are supported
by knowledgeable advocates.
This book warns all educators of the biased attitudes which they may bring into their classrooms
regarding children of poverty. Many educators believe that children from disenfranchised homes are different,
that they are behind and need to be caught up to their more knowledgeable peers. But, middleclass views and
upbringing can blind people to the truth; that all children come to school with stories, knowledge, experiences but
not all stories, knowledge or experiences are honored by the curriculum. She argues against a deficit based
approach and shows the reader the power of building on the oral language and knowledge that all children bring
with them.
Professor Solley tells the story of Somerville School through the voices of its teachers and children. They
describe their journey through awareness, dignity and competence as they develop into writers across the
curriculum.

This book reads like a storybook with gems of literacy, writing strategies and success stories

embedded within a foundation of acceptance and trust. Professor Solley challenges each reader to understand the
specific needs of children poverty and to move teaching away from a deficit model and towards supporting
student success. Her chapter on assessment challenges teachers and administrators to look towards a more
student friendly assessment philosophy. Her challenges are not without helps as she offers multiple examples of
authentic assessments which offer hope instead of defeat. Professor Solley also includes annotated bibliographies,
complete strategies and student writing samples which provide a strong foundation for novice and experienced
teachers of writing.
In conclusion, Bobbie Solley speaks about wisdom and strength, growth and abilities of both children and
teachers. She challenges teachers to wander and wonder,

Teachers should wonder or seek answers that

make sense in the context of childrens lives and writing; and , teachers should wander through childrens
writing, respecting and supporting the lives of children and listen to the wisdom in the voices of children of
poverty.

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Resources
Solley, B. (2005). When povertys children write: Celebrating strengths, transforming lives. Portsmouth,
N. H. : Hineman.

Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate by Megan S. Sloan Reviewed by Sarah Gregory

Scholastic 2008, 144 Pages
The purpose of this book is to find ways to help teachers explain and encourage elaboration in their
students writing. Sloan walks teachers through step by step processes and mini lessons for several topics for
grade levels 1-3. She begins her book by introducing a general framework for writing. Here she talks of how to
model through literature, teacher created writing, and shared writing. She also stresses the importance of
knowing your students and making sure your writing community is a respectful and helpful environment. When
teaching writing, it is important that students feel safe. Writing requires risk-taking. Children need to develop
enough confidence to write about meaningful topics, (Sloan, 16)
Sloan moves onto discuss choosing a topic. She defines what makes a good topic, how to stay focused,
and how students can narrow their topics to provide a more vivid account of what happened. She prefers that
students select their own writing topic. Teaching students to discover topics that are personally relevant is very
important. Children write better if they know and love what they write about, (Sloan, 31). This book is full of
great examples of student work and how Sloan actually used these mini lessons in her classroom. On page 29 she
uses Mackenzies writing about what she did over the weekend to highlight the use of many topics and show how
the student could choose one of those events and really elaborate about it to make her writing more exciting.
Sloan also provides a great list of literary references for each type of elaboration, so students can actually see how
authors use these techniques in their own writing.
The book moves from very basic types of elaboration like using your senses to describe, to using questions
to elaborate. She also talks about using anecdotes, examples, definitions, and facts in student writing. Reading
these sections was enlightening because she broke the ideas down and showed what students at early grade levels
were able to accomplish. I really liked the lesson on page 75 where students use questions to help them research
and write animal books. I found the thought that they were able to this on their own very surprising, and it let me
know that my students are capable of doing this as well. Sloan also had constant tie ins to the writing process
starting with modeling and slowly letting students have complete control. The way the mini lessons are written,
they seem very easy to implement in my classroom.

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Conferencing is a really important section in this book and the most meaningful to me. This time allows
teachers to focus on each child individually, supporting their diverse needs as learners. The time management of
this can seem too intense for most teachers to attempt, but Sloan breaks down the process and makes it seem
almost simple. While I try to teach lessons that will touch each of them, I cant possibly give every student all that
I need to, without having some really personal one-on-one time. This personal time is the writing conference,
(Sloan, 102) She suggests working at the pace of the learners, not trying to force them to finish at a set time.
Students can save their writing to work on during the next workshop, and continue with it until they are
completed, giving them time to make a meaningful and complete product. The teacher can help each child with
the things they need and still give them confidence and ownership of their writing through the entire process.
The last section in Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate was all about gathering data and documenting
growth. She suggests we focus less on using rubrics for every piece of writing, and instead document growth
through notes and student portfolios. Portfolios of student writing are invaluable as teachers document growth.
Samples of student writing are collected over the year can be ones best indicator of the kind of growth a student
makes, (Sloan, 119). She has included teacher reproducibles in the back of the book to make the process less
stressful. These tools are helpful and focus more on the students needs and growth, and less on grading.
I think this book definitely achieved its purpose and has given me quite a few great ideas to incorporate
into my classroom come fall. My favorite is the lesson beginning on page 50 where students use their senses to
elaborate about a moment in time. The only weakness I saw in this book was that were examples from many
different students for each section. I would have liked her to use the same students in every lesson to get a better
example of their growth and ability levels as the process moved on.
I would recommend this book to any elementary teacher who has to teach writing. Although the book is
specifically for grades 1-3, the basic ideas and techniques are ones that would be helpful to apply to any students
who seem to be struggling with writing. Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate is a book I will use in my classroom
next year.

Book Review: Of Primary Importance: What's Essential in Teaching Young Writers

By Anne Marie Corgill Foreword by JoAnn Portalupi
Review by Theresa Howard
As a fellow teacher herself Ann Marie Corgill was in search of a professional text that would provide a
clear picture of implementing writing in a primary classroom. With that said she chose to research and develop a
book on her own. Her book includes a variety of tools and activities that can guide teachers who are aiming to
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provide students with an ultimate writing experience. The book is written in a format that is not only
comprehensible, but accessible as well. Broken down into ten riveting chapters, the author also includes a variety
of support sheets that correlate with the previously discussed topics. This teaching tool is a vast amount of
student examples, which provides a visual connection to the new ideas being introduced.
The purpose of this book is to offer a suggestive writing curriculum. The author provides a definitive
picture of the expectations and value of the students' work. One of the chapters of the book is based solely on the
learning landscape and how it displays the importance of being prepared not only with materials, but providing
conducive workspace as well. The logical and attainable methods probe a sense of interest and excitement.
This book is comprised of a variety of curriculum maps that correspond with new concepts introduced.
These maps include the sup-topics: key provisions, big ideas, essentials skills and concepts, possible text supports,
and assessment. Each topic is described in detail and is extremely user friendly. The value of these maps is
extraordinary as it prevents teachers from reinventing the wheel.
An incredibly valuable chapter in this book discusses building a writing community. Here the author not
only addresses building a routine, but provides a sample schedule which works in her favor. In the beginning
stages of building a writing community focus lessons are presented to display what "growing writers" do. Simple
discussions of glue use and prevention of drying out markers can really generate a more productive school year.
The book concludes in an organized format of support sheets which include record keeping, organization
forms as well as publishing pages. The accessibility of these support sheets provides teachers the opportunity to
generate meaningful tools easily. "Of Primary Importance: What's Essential in Teaching Young Writers" is a
valuable read for all primary teachers. The book provides a thorough and descriptive portrayal of the author's best
practices. If you're in search of a teaching tool that provides a variety of effective tools and support sheets as well
as a systematic approach to writing then this is the book for you.

Book Review:

Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice

Review written by: Kawana Jones

Imagine being invited to a dinner party where you would be able to participate in talk that is excited,
passionate, and persuasive about a topic you must enjoy, adolescent literacy. At the conclusion of the party, you
leave filled with new ideas that you know in some way will direct what you do next. Thats a dinner party you
dont want to miss. (Beers, Probst and Rief) Thats exactly what editors Kylene Beers, Bob Probst and Linda Rief
did. They invited the most influential names in adolescent literacy to be a part of this all-inclusive text. This allinclusive text will not only excite teachers but give them new ideas to consider and new practices to try.
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Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice allowed each individual contributor to focus on their
perspective and add insight on how we can maximize student learning through effective strategies. Adolescent
Literacy takes us on a journey from The Measure of Our Success by Kylene Beers thru Unleashing Potential
with Emerging Technologies by Sara B. Kajder and finally landing on Five Things you need to Know about
Literacy Coaching in Middle and High Schools by Kathryn Egawa.

Adolescent Literacy allows the reader to

ponder and self-reflect on material from within the text while they are reading such chapters as Effective
Teachers, Effective Instruction by Richard L. Allington and Who is the Good Teacher? by Leila Christenbury. The
reader will also gain knowledge of the importance of teaching civility as we read The Essence of Understanding
by Ellin Oliver Keene and my personal favorite The Need to Write, The Need to Listen by Ruth Shagoury which
focuses on understanding where are children are coming from in the world and the baggage that they are
bringing with them.
What follows at the end of the book is a list of trade books that were mentioned throughout the book but
not necessarily endorsed may I add. The point of the Trade Resource section is to give the reader an opportunity
to go back and review all the text that was mentioned or discussed throughout by the authors. The reader would
be able to systematically add up-to-the-minute reading material that is pertinent to them. Following the Trade
resource section, there is a list of appendixes that provide blank templates of all the strategies listed,
assessments, evaluation forms, conference sheets, dialogue with a Poem, and dialogue with a text, surveys (your
practices, professional beliefs, language and Principals).
This informational text provides the reader with an insight on how to close the achievement gap, what to
do when literacy goes underground and how to turn promise into practice. It offers a bold vision of what literacy
education for adolescents in the twenty-first century should be.

Fletcher, Ralph. (2006). Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke.
Submitted by: Laurie Kemp, NWP at Florida Gulf Coast University, 2010.

Ralph Fletcher is an author on the forefront in the subject of teaching writing in schools. An
author of childrens books, writers resource books, and teachers resource materials, he has
published a plethora of works for use by aspiring writers of all ages. Inspired by authors
writing about boys and literacy, particularly the work of Tom Newkirk, Fletcher began to
consider how writing and learning to write may be different for boys. After reflecting on his

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experiences and interviewing teachers and the boys they teach, Fletcher gave us the gift of Boy
Writers.

A pleasant and relatively easy read, Fletcher organized the book into brief chapters based on
different relevant themes in consideration of boy writers. Some of these themes are the
different attitudes of boys and girls towards writing, humorous writing, violence in writing,
handwriting strife, and the way teachers react to and treat boys in relation to all of these things.
Boy Writers, is written in narrative form weaving the authors insight, vignettes, teacher
interviews, and a section in each chapter entitled: What Can I Do in My Classroom? Additionally,
he includes an interview with fellow author, Carl Anderson. He shares some of his own writing
to illustrate concepts, and relate his experiences to those of the boys in classrooms today. The
golden nuggets are the student writing samples in between each of the chapters and Fletchers
enthusiasm about what they demonstrate. Some might raise their eyebrows at the idea of turning a
peaceful beach into a minefield, but I find it wonderfully imaginative, (p.9) Fletcher wrote about a
poem, in which a boy named Ryan describes burying mines made from ocean water-filled milk
jugs, in the beach sand and waiting for passersby to step on them.

Fletcher addresses right up front in the first chapter that addressing the specific needs of boys
and the achievement gap between boys and girls, is not an attempt to push girls aside in
priority. But boy writers have unique strengths, quirks, and weaknesses that every thoughtful
practitioner or parent will want to be aware of. (p.6) He shares modern brain research supporting
the innate and anatomical differences between male and female brains. The corpus collosum,
responsible for connecting the two hemispheres in the brain, is 20 percent larger in females than
it is in males. Boys also have better hand-eye coordination, but weaker fine motor coordination
(an important physical aspect of writing). In addition to biological differences, Fletcher
describes gender filters that influence the way we perceive the world and ourselves.
Ultimately, he wants the reader to recognize that there may be special considerations for
teaching boys to be writers, and he focuses on practical and realistic ways to create writing
classrooms that are friendlier to boys. (p.6) The authors stated purpose is not professing that
teachers should rework their entire writing classrooms, but rather create a place where every
boy feels comfortable writing.

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Fletcher first challenges the teacher/reader to consider how his or her own gender may impact
the way they respond to the substance and style of the writers in their classrooms. He asks us
to consider the classroom through the eyes of the boys and consider what is or isnt working for
them. He also encourages us to think about how we can revise our instruction to teach on the
wavelength of the boys, using high interest materials to engage them.

I wish I had found this book 10 years ago when I taught in classrooms that were 90+ percent
boys. Fletcher has achieved what he set out to do. The tips in this book are useful and easily
integrated into any teachers practice. The likely underlying assumption is that teachers are
using writing workshop in their classrooms, and some of the suggestions may be particularly
important for boys, but are appropriate for all students. Writing for varied and authentic
audiences, allowing students to find comfortable space in the room, and providing choice
whenever possible are a few of the universal recommendations. But here is what I thought of as
the most high-impact from each chapter, specifically to boys:

A boy writer must be engaged. This is nonnegotiable. We often ignore this.

Find out what the boys in your class really care about and encourage them to write
about those topics (even if the subjects dont fascinate you).
Dont automatically outlaw stories with weapons, and use well-written texts to model
skillful use of violence in a narrative (Examples are Paulsen and Poe).
Take your boys humor seriously and look for the intelligence behind it; try to develop a
new mental language. Instead of humor, think voice. Instead of silly, think satire.
When considering handwriting, think fluency. Is it untidy or illegible?
Assess the health of your classroom conversations. Do boys participate on a regular
basis? Is one gender dominating the classroom?
Keep writing conferences short. Dont be too ambitious. Dont overstay your welcome.
Less it better.
Be flexible when students use slang and popular expressions in their writing.
Embrace a more visual definition of writing that includes sketches and drawings.
Encourage the use of the writers notebook as a sketch book.
Have an abiding sense of fun and play.

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Fletchers stories and innumerable, tangible tidbits for creating classrooms that are welcoming
and nurturing for boys, makes this book a powerful tool for all teachers. It challenges teachers
to reflect upon their own thinking, their perceptions, and their teaching practice. But even
more, it charges us to go back to our classrooms and do something different.

Book Review: Because Writing Matters: Improving Student Writing in Our Schools. 2006.
by National Writing Project and Carl Nagin
Review written by Diane Kratt (2010)
Teachers have long felt that teaching students to write well is one of the most difficult tasks of education.
Students of all ages seem to struggle when it comes to conveying their thoughts and ideas through the
written word. Hence, The National Writing Projects (NWP) mission has been to improve writing and
learning in our schools by improving the teaching of writing.
Because Writing Matters is a publication of the National Writing Project. It shows how research-based
writing strategies have been developed into successful practice and programs. The book is useful to both
teachers and administrators looking to implement practical improvements in teaching writing and in
student outcomes.
The whole book is only about 100 pages and it is easily read. Its six chapters offer information backed by
research and tips that are current and useful. It suggests that the writing challenge can be met by
requiring students to write across the curriculum as well as allowing students to write in and for
different contexts. What I found to be the most important concept in the book is that the attitudes toward
writing by the teachers and the administrators can make the largest difference in what kind of writers
students become. Teachers need to believe that writing matters and that every student can write to the
best of their ability. Administrators also need to buy in. They need to support the innovative writing
techniques of their teachers and provide professional development in the area of writing.
The key points of this book are listed on the NWP website:
Improving writing is crucial to learning in all subject areas, not just English.
Writing instruction should begin in the earliest grades.
Reading and writing are reinforcing literacy skills and need to be taught together.
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Learning to write requires frequent, supportive practice.

Students have diverse abilities and instructional needs, and so teachers must use multiple strategies to
improve students' writing.
Effective writing instruction pays attention to both the product and processes of writing.
Writing should be taught in school much as it is practiced by professional writers: that is, students should
write for authentic purposes to real audiences.
Students face ongoing challenges in their writing development and need practice with diverse writing
tasks to improve.
Simply assigning more writing is not enough; teachers must teach students such skills as how to organize
thoughts, develop ideas, and revise for clarity.
An effective writing assignment does more than ask students to report what they have read or
experienced. It engages students in such processes as problem solving, reflecting, analyzing, and
imagining so that they can think critically about what they have read or experienced.
Schools cannot improve writing without teachers and administrators who value, understand, and practice
writing themselves.
Teachers and schools need to develop common expectations for good writing across grade levels and
subject areas.
Schools and districts need to develop fair and authentic writing assessments that are aligned with high
standards and reflect student progress beyond single-test evaluations.
Effective school wide writing programs involve the entire faculty and are developed across the curriculum.
Schools and districts need to offer professional development opportunities in teaching writing to all
faculty.
Even though I did not gain new ideas or knowledge from this book, it did help to validate how I feel about teaching
writing and provided me with the research to back it up. I like how the book included information on writing and
English Language learners, technology, and the writing process so that it is relevant to what is in the classroom
today. It would be a great book for policy makers to read in order to gain a better understanding of the importance
of writing and that it matters as to how we teach it. This book could also be used in a summer NWP institute as an
accompanying text for all participants to read. It is a worthwhile and informative read for all educators.

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Book Review: The Art of Teaching Writing. (New Edition) 1994.

By: Lucy McCormick Calkins
Review Written by: Heather Krystofiak (2010)
The Art of Teaching Writing gives various approaches of implementing writing throughout the grade levels. The
author, Lucy McCormick Calkins, had written an edition prior to the new edition in which she decided to change
a few looks from 1986. The book highlights the writing process, developing a childs love of writing from
kindergarten, and how we as teachers should have a love of writing and teaching.
Her chapters begin with making meaning in our lives to put on the paper. This way the writing is engaging for the
students as they pull from examples in their lives. The author writes with a flowing sense of words that makes it an
easy read for teachers to follow and translate into their classrooms.
There is a set of chapters that takes you through the development of the writing classroom through grade levels.
The author is projecting that writing is important and should be from personal discovery or personal lives.
Interestingly she makes a statement in this book about being an aware teacher. Aware of learning, but also having
an awareness of our students lives out and around the classroom. This chapter focuses on the students and that
their lives outside of your teaching. She says, When students become deeply involved in their writing, they dont
need motivating activities. This is where she leads the reader of the book to going into the personal lives of the
students and being aware of our own surroundings as well as theirs. You can do this through having the students
do Free Writes. With free writes students are given the opportunity to write about anything that is on their
mind. She has an example about a boy who was being picked on and no one knew about it. Until one day he wrote
in his journal about the verbal abuse that had been going on. She tell us to not collect all the journals every day,
but to give the students opportunity to share with us if they would like to.
Further on in her text, she gives a plethora of ideas and ways to incorporate writing into the classroom for each
grade level. It takes us through the writing process and how it can make meaning to the teacher which promotes a
larger meaning for the students. Things like conferencing, workshops, and publishing are promoted in book. The
reader is supplied with different ways to implement these things in their classroom. The author gives ideas then
explains how you can make it work. She focuses on the students mentality and the teachers as well. Both need to
make it work.
For conferencing, Calkins golden line is What might help the writer rather than what might help the writing. To
reach this goal she puts it in conference form where the teacher is not fixing the writing but giving the student
opportunity to assess their piece of writing. Questions such as, Can you tell me about how you wrote this?; Hows
it going?; When you read over your text, how do you feel about it?; If you were to lay out all your finished drafts

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and then sort them into piles of very best, good, and less good which pile would this be in and why? These
questions will take the student away from being dependent on the teachers evaluation and advice. Therefore this
will give the student ownership of their paper.
The writing process is pertinent to teaching good writing. The author supplies much information on the
development of writing through a process and gives examples of student writing going through the process.
Calkins writing process consists of Making Meaning on the Page and in Our Lives (in other words, Brainstorming
or activating prior knowledge). Also follows rehearsal or jotting down ideas for prewriting, Drafting and Revision,
Editing and Publication. All of which she has a chapter to explain the process and show teacher examples. Within
those teacher examples are student examples for each part. These examples are all explained in great detail. She
promotes moving past the definitions and incorporating discovery through speech and language.
The students discovery of speech and language comes from the conversations teachers have with students,
reading stories, and immersing the students in poetry. Sharing personal stories, for example, will get students to
open up and write about their personal lives. Calkins gives the example of Kathy Doyle, a fifth grade teacher, who
share with her students that she is half black. She goes on to tell them about how she was made fun of and shares
with them all of the things they said about her. This set up their classroom with trust and even taught the children
to be honest and respectful. Within the walls of a classroom filled with trust and care, Calkins believes that writing
will come as a second nature to the students.
Those that are looking for a book that will supplement your teaching of writing and provide research that will help
create a classroom ready for writing, then this book is for you. It is well written and easy to read. Lucy McCormick
Calkins does a wonderful job getting her points across and validates it with research. I would recommend this book
to any professional seeking to improve or make their writing instruction successful.

Writing without Teachers by Peter Elbow (Oxford University Press, 1998)

Book Review by Alessia Leathers

As childrens poet Kenn Nesbitt once said, My dog ate my homework/That mischievous
pup/got hold of my homework/and gobbled it up. We had seen this concept with different
variations such as my cat, my iguana, and my baby sister on bumper stickers, T-shirts,
notebooks, and coffee mugs. But when we thought we have seen them all, here comes another
version we can infer by reading Peter Elbows twentieth-fifth anniversary edition of Writing
without Teachers: My teacher ate my homework.
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Indeed, in order to save the writer we all have inside from the cannibalistic approach of
traditional writing methods, Elbow offers in his book a refreshing and liberating theory to fight
back and avoid the blank page syndrome or writers block.
As Elbow observes, schooling makes us obsessed with the mistakes we make in writing
(5), so that we end up killing the writer inside ourselves (that is, if a teacher has not already
done it before). In a literal way, the title reflects the initial purpose of the book, which is to share
innovative methods with people who exercise any type of writing away from classrooms and,
consequently, from teachers. A more complex and interesting reading of the title, though,
addresses Elbows final goal to silence the castrating teacher most writers carry within
themselves.
A well-known advocate of free writing methods, Elbow proposes a declaration of independence in the first
stages of writing. Independence from care, control, planning, order, steering, and the anxiety of having it perfect
the very first time. While the old school addresses the need to have absolute control over the writing process right
from the beginning, Elbow proposes to gain that control only after the material has been released. His premise is
start to write and let things happen (26). As he explains, editing is absolutely necessary, but it turns into a
problem when it comes at the same time as producing.

Elbow explains this approach through his theory of

growing (producing) and cooking (editing), and how in the end both processes are closely interconnected, since
you cant be a good, ruthless editor unless you are a messy, rich producer. But you cant be really fecund as a
producer unless you know youll be able to go at it with a ruthless knife (60). The key is to perform these two
roles in separate moments, not at the same time.
Writing without Teachers addresses the need to get rid of traditional writing methods not only when riding
solo, that is, when producing and editing in solitary, but also when writers are working together collectively. Elbow
describes all the elements required to set up a teacherless class in terms of logistics (time, type and number of
members, writing material to share) and dynamics (commitment, honesty, procedures in feedback). Elbow
explains that in order to improve our way of writing, we do not need advice about the changes that are needed or
theories about good and bad writing, but the opportunity to test our writing with real readers. So the main idea
behind a teacherless class is to create a real setting in which the writer has the opportunity to measure the
effects of his or her writing on a diverse audience.
Elbow analyses the pros and cons of two main intellectual methods used in getting or testing ideas: doubting
and believing. According to Elbow, we play the doubting game when we test ideas by focusing on errors and
weaknesses, while the believing game is played when we look for the strengths of competing ideas. The doubting
game is defined as aggressive, competitive, and rigid, since it implies criticizing, debating, and arguing. On the
other hand, the believing game is defined as nonviolent, cooperative, and flexible, since it opens all levels of
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communication by constructing, encompassing, and affirming. Even though Elbow favors the believing game, he
acknowledges that both games are interdependent and halves of the full cycle of thinking (191). However, Elbow
warns that doubting and believing cannot be played simultaneously but in delimited ways and fields.
The author recognizes that his methods are not infallible, and it is up to each writer to decide what works
best for him or her. Since writing is an organic process, Elbow is in tune with the idea that writing is a call for self
exploration not only to obtain a particular voice but even the message itself, since the meaning is not what you
start out with, but what you end with (15). Twenty-five years after the publication of Writing without Teachers,
Elbow still faces the criticism that his theory is anti-intellectual and self-indulgent. This time, though, he explains in
full the benefits of his liberating methods and how the use of the believing game is a disciplined and
methodological technique that conveys more benefits than the obstinate and severe doubting game, which
unfortunately has been played almost exclusively for centuries by the academic world.

As a teacher himself, Elbow is not afraid to take the challenge and set up a teacherless
class inside his own classroom as long as he adopts more the role of learner than of teacher. The
premise is simple: teachers depend on students to exercise their roles, but students do not
depend on teachers to learn. In other words, there is no necessary connection between learning
and teaching, and the deepest dependency is not of students upon teachers, but of teachers
upon students (xviii). In the end, Elbow proposes to abandon the podium in order to be part
of a multidimensional conversation. Perhaps that way we all can free ourselves from the
voracious appetite of old fashioned teachers who are constantly devouring our confidence in
writing.

Book Review
Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook by Aimee Buckner
Review by Laura L. Link
I was anxious to read about writers notebooks. I have been teaching for five years after a 20-year
career as a journalist, published writer and communications consultant. I keep my own writing notebook,
but it is for me alone; no one grades it.
Writing for me comes naturally. My notebooks are a combination of journal, diary, observations, clips and
quotes, notes, ideas, poems and essays. Some pieces launched themselves out of the notebook into drafts
and published works.

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What I didnt know was how to introduce writers notebooks to my students, much less assess them.
After reading Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook by Aimee Buckner, I am ready
to introduce writers notebooks, assess them, and most importantly teach my students how to make
them truly useful in their quest to be better writers.
Bucker jumps right in with a practical reason for using writers notebooks in the classroom: the first
chapters title is simply Why Notebooks? She says, For a writer, the right combination of words, the
perfect setting, or the solution to writers block can come at any time and in any place. Its important to
have a place to record these bits of life that may serve to inspire further work. That place for us is a
writers notebook. (p. 4)
In chapter two, Buckner answers the question that has been my biggest stumbling block: how to organize.
She says, Im careful to keep the organization of notebooks flexible, without a lot of superficial arbitrary
sections I have found the notebook rarely fills up if you do this. (p. 12). Her suggestion of simply
arranging the book chronologically takes all the stress out of managing sections. Less stress for me, less
stress from my students. I will simply have them leave a few blank pages in the front for a table of
contents, and Ill make sure they number every page.
In the following chapters, Bucker, a fourth-grade teacher in Georgia, gives practical strategies and
immediately useful guidelines on launching the writers notebook; using them in your classroom to build
fluency, introduce and practice a variety of specific writing, editing and revising strategies; and to help you
and your students read like writers. Despite Buckners primary grade perspective, I know I can easily use
all of these strategies in my high school writing and journalism classes.
Chapter seven is devoted to guiding teachers in assessing the notebooks. After a cogent discussion of the
difficulties and benefits of assessing such work, the author presents an intelligent rubric that delivers both
feedback and a letter grade. The categories are flexibility and fluency, thoughtfulness, and frequency;
they are assessed on a four point scale.
In a practical book like this, I feel like I am opening a present when I look in the back to see what readymade appendix items the author has gifted me with. Aimee Buckner does not disappoint. The list of
teacher considerations in developing a classroom notebook system, and the self-evaluation forms alone
are worth the price of the book.
Ive studied a few other books about writers notebooks, and my advice is simple: borrow the others from
the library, but BUY Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook by Aimee Buckner.

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Buckner, Aimee E. Notebook Know-how: Strategies for the Writer's Notebook. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse,
2005. Print.

Review of: The Art of Science Writing

Written by Dale Worsley & Bernadette Mayer
Reviewed June 2010 by Lee Moody
The art of science writing is not a misnomer by any stretch of the word. Worsley and Mayer explain to the readers
how important writing in science can be. The authors explain that the length of the writing and the topic of writing
is immaterial. The main point is that students need to write in order to truly understand what is happening within
science, writing is a must. The authors then proceed to gently guide their readers to experience what writing in
science looks like.
Worsley and Mayer start their book by explaining the different types of writing. A few of my favorite that will be
used in this upcoming year is to make futuristic science projects; how to have the students rewrite portions of the
textbook; and how to create word equations. One of the examples Worsley provides for the word
equation: H2SO4 = Happily, two screaming oblongs forgot. The authors go on to provide solid examples of each
type of the multitude given. Furthermore, the authors provide time for the readers to practice this writing
format. They point out that the types of writing do not necessarily have to fit the purpose of writing; again,
providing examples to support this claim. They offer examples of how to use more than one form of writing for the
same topic and/or purpose.
The authors provide writing samples from renowned scientists like Jane Goodall, Bertrand Russell, J. Robert
Oppenheimer, and Rachel Carson, et al. With these writing samples, the Worsley demonstrates how scientists
actually use various genre of writing. I dont understand why the authors choose to add these to their book. In my
opinion, this section had no clear purpose except to demonstrate that scientists can write; and some of them can
actually write poems.
By providing teachers of all levels the tools to implement writing for a purpose within their science classrooms, the
authors have made this book extremely user friendly. In spite of the last section; the authors have several ideas
that could prove very helpful to all science teachers. The authors have written this book so that their reader will
have confidence in their ability to incorporate the art of science writing within their classrooms.

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National Writing Project, Summer 2010, Book Review by Cheryl Moss

Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8, Second Edition by Ralph Fletcher and Joanne Portalupi
The purpose of this essay is to review the educational supplemental book, Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing
K-8, Second Edition by Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi. The book is filled with mini-lessons broken into three
academic grade levels, K-2, 3-4, and 5-8. There are 23 subject areas that will supplement any Language Arts
program used in elementary and middle schools. The lessons follow a specified format that is easy to follow with
scripts for the teacher and materials that are easily obtained in all school Media Centers.
Fletcher and Portalupi propose that the writing process is a cycle that begins with brainstorming. This is
then followed by a rough draft with the writer questioning, Does it make sense? Have I left out anything? A
revision is the next step in the process with the writer questioning, Is this my best? Self-editing is done and then
publishing can occur. The authors ask the reader to consider the steps in this process and purpose that the middle
areas of the process are the ones that are most often omitted by young writers; revision and self-editing. They
want to take a shortcut that allows them go right from the brainstorming/rough draft steps to publishing. Students
are often left on their own to check verb choice, tenses, voice, structure, supporting details, mood, character and
so forth. The premise of this book is that teachers are responsible for instructing young writers to utilize the craft
of making decisions during this part of the cycle.
Publish

Brainstorming

Self edit
Rough draft
Writers questions:
Does it make sense? Have
I left out anything?
Is this your best?

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Revise
The consistent format used in this book includes three parts:
1.

Discussion

2.

How to Teach It

3.

Resource Materials

The Discussion section in each lesson sets the objective for the teacher. Many identify helping hints and areas
where students may have difficulties. Some have quotes from experienced grade level teachers that have
commented on the lesson topic. Others might refer to an educational expert that is included in the Reference
section of the book. This section gives the reader a good idea of what the young writer will learn by working with
the mini-lesson. In the section titled, How to Teach It, a script of what should be said to the students is written out
for teachers. The book will take you step-by-step through the use of the Resource Materials and guide you through
a writing assignment for a Writer's Journal, which is recommended by the authors. These mini-lessons are not
meant to be complete pieces of writing. They target specific areas and can be taken to completion by the student
at a later date, if they prefer. To the left of each lesson is a list of Resource Materials. These are generally
Children's Literature books which are often in teacher's classroom libraries and most, if not all, school libraries.
There are one or two primary books listed and then a list of alternate texts that can be used instead. There is an
even mixture of storybooks, poetry pieces, and short stories. It is interesting to see that many of the same books
are used with the youngest and oldest writers targeted in this book. One can see that the authors believe that
good literature can be meaningful to a variety of ages and lessons absorbed in different ways.
The introduction includes the premise for developing this book and sets the stage for the teacher that
will be utilizing this book in his/her classroom. At the end is an Appendix with 31excerpts provided by Fletcher and
Portalupi which can be used with several of the lessons and are noted in the Resource Materials. There is also a
Question and Answer section with common questions by teachers who have previously used the first edition of
Craft Lessons. This section lets teachers know that they should not feel limited by the mini-lessons when working
with their students. They should feel that they can expand upon the lesson, add their own experiences as a writer,
and adapt the lesson to fit the needs of their students and their own personality. Finally, there is a page of all of
the resource materials which is great when deciding upon books for a classroom library followed by a short page of
References.
Examples of some lessons under the heading Ideas that are recommended for students at K-2 are
Describing the Setting, Developing an Idea, Physical Description of a Character, and Using Illustrations to Convey
th

Information. At the 3 - 4 grades, writers can continue to improve with Staying on Topic, Summarizing Information,
Using Sensory Details, and Unpacking a Heavy Sentence. Fifth through eighth graders practice Experimenting
with Irony and Symbolism, Getting Your Characters Talking, and Pruning the Bushes Cutting What You Don't
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Need. Besides the Ideas mini-lessons, there are also mini-lessons under the headings Design and Language. Design
focuses on the organizational aspects of writing, while Language deals with choosing words that allow your writing
to take flight. Whether a teacher is faced with a class of fluent writers or some that need a great deal of instruction
and support, this book will be helpful and useful to both the teacher and the student.
I found this book to be particularly encouraging to me as a teacher. It seems to be very user-friendly with
well defined objectives, suggestions for resource materials and scripted instructions for the classroom. I liked that
the lessons were consistent and I can see that they will flow naturally once I become used to using the book. I have
noticed that the book builds upon the skills needed for writing, often focusing on the middle part of the process
noted previously; revision and self-editing. It scaffolds as it moves from the K-2 level to 3-4 and then 5-8 levels. I
am looking forward to using Craft Lesson, Teaching Writing K-8, Second Edition in my classroom when the new
school year begins.

Book Review: Adolescent Literacy, Turning promise into practice

By Whitney Oakwood
This book lives up to its title of putting promise into practice. Many books give general statements about what
needs to be done in the classroom but this book gives practical activities to use in the classroom, complete with
forms, and templates in the back of the book.
The most alluring aspect of this book is that each chapter is written by a different person. Some are current
classroom teachers, others researchers, but the diversity lends a great deal of credibility to this text. Some
chapters focus on specific activities told anecdotally, whereas others focus more on classroom philosophies and
reminders to remember where your students are coming from. If you happen to not care for a particular chapter
(this is highly unlikely) you can just skip it.
Chapters by Chris Crutcher and another by Carol Jago remind readers the importance of knowing your students
and where they come from in order to be an effective educator. Crutcher writes
When a middle or high school teacher gazes out over her classroom, she is looking at one in
three girls who have been sexually mistreated and one in six or seven boysone in ten is gay;
more are struggling with sexual identity. Thats not to mention those engaged in family power
struggles resulting in eating disorders, crippling anxiety or depression, and/or self-mutilation.
Truth is, every teacher is involved with as many troubled students as not. As if adolescence itself
werent trouble enough. (p.16)
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Jim Burke writes a chapter on the role of language arts in a changing world. He addresses the new literacy
competencies that students will need in an unpredictable world. He speaks of how kids used to read and write but
now they Blog. Compose. Podcast. Jam. Share. Photocast. Chat. Switch. Play. Create. p150 Burke quotes Tom
Friedman in identifying eight roles that are imperative for students. He writes that students need to be
collaborators and orchestrators, synthesizers, explainers, leveragers, adapters, green people, personalizers *and+
localizers. (p.152) Burke then addresses each of these roles with practical classroom applications like asking
students to come up with multiple solutions to the same problem; like multiple interpretations of one text, or
multiple ways to do a presentation. He also suggests reworking your seating chart every few weeks so that
students are forced to learn how to work with new people. These are just examples of how to make students
better collaborators and orchestrators.
This book starts at the beginning of the teaching basics and follows through to the end with vocabulary and
reading comprehension strategies, all the way through to technological and ever changing-literacies.
Reference
Adolescent literacy; Turning promise into practice.
(2007) Beers, Kylene., Probst, Robert E., and Rief, Linda. (Eds.) Portsmouth,
Book Review: Inside the Writers-Readers Notebook: A Workshop Essential. (2007)
by Linda Rief. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Review by Caren Pearson: National Writing Project. Florida Gulf Coast University. (2010).

Teachers! As you go mining this summer for treasures to help you in your classroom, be sure to look for this gem.
This wonderful book is a guide for teachers to the Writers-Readers Notebook, an innovative and effective tool to
promote student writing that is both personal and authentic. Linda Rief introduces us to the Writers-Readers
Notebook (W-RN), a form of journal, designed to help students learn to write in ways that are personal, individual
and real (p. 36). She explains how the notebook is organized, how it has evolved over time and how it is used by
students to think and grow as writers. Linda Rief invites us into her classroom, where she has created an inviting
world she calls a Writers-Readers Workshop, a place where, very specific kinds of learning could happen (p. 6).
Through authentic inquiry and multiple language experience approaches, students learn to express themselves
through an ongoing written conversation with their teacher. She focuses on observation, sketching, drawing, and

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writing as ways to get students to think, question and learn. (p. 26) She develops a dynamic interrelation between
the verbal and visual means of communications that appeals to both left- and right-brain thinkers.
The first section of the book describes the W-RN and how it developed over time, by trial and error, through
stages, to become a space in which students can construct their own learning. It is currently a spiral-bound book,
sturdy enough to withstand students wear and tear. The cover is blank so students can decorate and personalize
it. The unlined pages are made of card stock that support both writing and drawing/painting on both sides. It is
divided into five parts: Front Matter (including Introduction and Expectations, Books I am Currently Reading, Books
I want to Read and Ideas for Writing) Response, Notes, Vocabulary and Spelling Matters.
Rief clearly explains each section, sharing ideas for ways to use it with students. Because of its versatility, the
W-RN can be incorporated into any content area, from science and math to history and art, by recording data,
collecting facts, making predictions, sketching observations researching for an inquiry project, working out cause
and effect, gathering evidence the possibilities are endless (p. 26). The W-RN can also be easily adapted and
individualized to meet a teachers or students needs.
Students are given time to write and choices about what they write and read. They are given the freedom to
explore, write and reflect on their inquiry and thinking as they grow. The W-RN is a personal, expressive medium,
so naturally the way it is assessed has to be flexible and balanced. Rief describes her approach to assessment of
the W-RN. She reads each students notebook every other week, quantifying the numbers of pages in books read,
and the numbers of pages written, but also giving a grade for quality, subjectively assessing what the student has
created. The most important part of her assessment is the notes and comments she makes in the students
notebooks. To encourage self-assessment, she asks them to star their best thinkingtheir self-selected strongest
writing or reasoning (p. 30) She responds to what they wrote, supports their learning and encourages them to
push their learning forward (p. 31). This ongoing written conversation between her and her students, gives them
opportunities to think and revise their writing.
The second section of the book contains many student notebook samples that illustrate ways that students can
use the W-RN to deepen their thinking through their observations artwork and writing. This section also shows
how Rief used symbols, like checkmarks and squiggles, as well as written notes, to give students feedback. This
helps teachers provide formative feedback as well as see improvement of student work over time.
Inside the Writers-Readers Notebook is a valuable addition to your professional library, and a constructive
instrument to enhance your educational repertoire. The W-RN is an excellent teaching tool. It provides a structure
for student learning that is well organized, flexible and firmly grounded. It is adaptable enough to be modified to
meet almost any student needs, from ESOL, ESE or gifted students. It is solid enough to be tailored to any content

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area or age level. It is strong enough to support the scaffolding of learning in a variety of extensions. Rief has
developed a jewel of a teaching tool that can shine in any teachers classroom.

Lincy Reynolds
rd

3 Grade Teacher- San Carlos Park Elementary

Book Review: Sloan, M. (2008). Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate: Mini-Lessons and Strategies That Help
Students Find Topics and Learn to Tell More. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
Purpose:
Teaching Young Writers to Elaborate is designed to give teachers at both the primary and intermediate level ideas
about incorporating the use of elaboration in your students writing. The premise is based on the experiences of
Megan S. Sloan, an elementary teacher, whose goal is to demonstrate, to us the reader, effective lessons shes
used to foster good writing in her classroom.
Format:
I was drawn to the book, first and foremost, due to its user-friendly appeal. Each technique Sloan delineates is
based upon those practices shes already effectively incorporated. The chapters are then broken into sections of
text explaining her approach, a student/teacher visual, and a concluding summary of what was covered. There are
also literature model suggestions teachers can use to give more depth to a particular writing method or skill along
with mini-lessons too. Within the chapter it includes easy to navigate sub-titles allowing the reader to pinpoint
specific topics. This was especially helpful when referencing certain strategies I wanted to try with my future
students. Each visual or figure, includes a reference number and a brief caption. I appreciated how student-driven
her instruction is. She is a big advocator of writing with your students and believes in the power of a studentteacher connection to enhance her students own writing. At first glance the non-overwhelming appeal suggests a
book that is easy to steer without becoming intimidated.
Philosophy:
I immediately noticed how Sloan creates an atmosphere of honesty through her detailed descriptions and dialogue
with students. She leads you through her own trials and tribulations as a writer and then infuses strategies that
serve a purpose for both teachers and students alike. For instance in the opening chapters she highlights the
importance of (creating a community of learners). She recognizes that in order for emergent writers to write they
need to express themselves on their own timetable. If a student is not ready to explore a new topic we need not
push them because they will eventually rise to the challenge. Sloan reports to us about one third grader who
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misses his father but having read a story about fox kits whose mother was killed he was then able to relate and
write with stronger convictions. Woven throughout the text are numerous examples of how she uses her own
writing as a springboard for helping her students. She asks students for their opinion on her writing. Examples of
this include; did I stay on topic, could I have added more, do you think this is a good topic for me to write about
etc. I also agree that writers need to feel safe in order to write. Writing makes us vulnerable therefore as
educators we need to make sure our students are reassured time and again that we respect everyone and are
open to their ideas and are eager to listen.
Ideas for Use:
For those who are reading the book for the first time I would advise you to read it in chronological order.
Beginning with chapter 1 and continuing to chapter 8. Make sure to highlight ideas that resonate with you and
your classroom of learners. I would also keep a running list of books that Sloan uses in her own classroom outside
of the literature model pages as well. This way you can tailor which books youd like to use and gather as
resources ahead of time. Once youve read the book in its entirety you can then refer to chapters 4-6. In order to
give you tools for direct instruction that includes several different ways to help your students grasp the concept of
elaboration.

For instance Sloan details how using questions, anecdotes, and facts can be used to create

elaboration. In chapters 7 and 8 she writes about the importance of conferencing and how to assess elaboration. I
especially liked her conferencing technique because she breaks it into 9 individual conferences each of which allow
the teacher to stick to a singular objective when working one-on-one with a student. This way the conference is
spread over a series of visitations with the teacher that scaffold off one another thus leading to a complete piece
of writing.
Recommendation:
I would highly recommend this book to any elementary educator because not only is it comprehensive but it
provides you with real-life examples of how students have benefited from these techniques. Sloan speaks from
the heart and allows her students to use writing to promote greater self-esteem and a better sense of self. She
sees writing as a window into her students lives and emotions and creates a wonderful teaching model for you to
use. Simply stated this is not a book that will become buried on shelf somewhere as a vessel for collecting dust or
hoisted against a door as a means to prop it open. This book is designed to be used over and over with accessible
information that is easy to recall.

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Writing to Prompts in the Trait-Based Classroom

Literature Response
By Ruth Culham & Amanda Wheeler
Submitted by Irene Stevens
What are R.A.F.T.S. prompts?
R.A.F.T.S. is a classroom-tested technique for creating focused writing prompts for students. Each prompt
provides students this basic information role, audience, format, topic, and a strong verb that suggests the
purpose for the writing. R.A.F.T.S. prompts are created by teachers to provide structure for students to write while
allowing them freedom to be creative. All of the components of the R.A.F.T.S. are completed first and then the
prompt can be written in paragraph form. The key components are then underlined in the paragraph and the
prompt is ready for presentation to students.
The author lists the benefits of R.A.F.T.S. as helping students understand and apply writing traits, helping
students become proficient in writing modes, and connects students to high quality literature (Culham Wheeler p
7). By giving students these clues before writing they have the components to start immediately to produce a
complete product. Giving students the role lets them know the voice in which to write. The audience gives them
the who that they are writing to and helps them with word choice. Format gives students organization, topic
gives them the subject on which to write, and the strong verb tells students their purpose for writing. The rest of
this book provides teachers with ready-made R.A.F.T.S. prompts and suggestions for creating your own prompts.
This technique to help students produce quality writing will be easily adapted to my third graders writing
curriculum. Our school already uses the Writing Traits Program. The focus of this program is on teaching students
how to develop the individual components of ideas, organization, word choice, fluency, voice, and conventions in
writing. Examples of each component are provided in quality literature included with the program. This method of
teaching individual aspects of writing and then bringing the whole picture together works well with my ELL, English
Language Learning, students. Once these students understand what we want them to write and how we need
them to write, they can develop quality pieces of writing.
Adapting this technique for my first grade writers will also be useful. I believe that teaching the Writing
Traits components and then using the R.A.F.T.S. prompts based on familiar literature will encourage more
complete products from my younger writers. For example, the first grade reads a version of the fable Jack and the
Bean Stalk. The R.A.F.T.S. for this story

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could be: Role:

Jack

Audience: the giant and his wife

Format:

letter

Topic:

the giant should share his gold/wealth with Jack and his mother

Strong verb: persuade

The students prompt would then be: Write a letter, as Jack, to the giant and his wife. You want to persuade them
to share their riches with you and your mother. Talking about this scenario and/or acting it out with the students
before writing would help both my ESE and ELL students to think about and develop the needed vocabulary to
write this letter. Providing a word bank will also help. Assuring success with a writing assignment is very important
to my young writers. If they can produce a quality product and enjoy the process of writing they will hopefully
want to write more often.

Book Review:
Response Journals Revisted: Maximizing learning through reading, writing, viewing, discussing and thinking.
2001.

By Les Parsons

Review Written by Rachel Stokes

Author Les Parsons describes how effective using journal response can be for all students. This book is a tool used
by teachers to help their students find different approaches to reflecting and exploring what they are reading,
viewing or discussing. Many teachers are burned out on using journals because due to not being shown successful
ways of implementation.
Parsons gives an extensive look at using response journals by encouraging educators to implement his approaches
which he provides. He offers very detailed questions to cue personal response, on everything from books and
readalouds to television, movies and media. Sample responses are provided. Helpful guidelines and rubrics help
teachers save time in the classroom. Ready to use checklists and evaluations forms are provided for both teachers
and students. Tips on organizing student/ teacher conferences are insightful as well.
Parsons answers frequently asked questions from teachers so that other teachers can relate. He supports
techniques for journal response that is research driven. The journal response methods reach across the curriculum.
The goal of this book is to educate other educators through journal response which will create independent learns
and deepen what they read, write and view.
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Book Review: The Art of Science Writing

By Dale Worsley & Bernadette Mayer Review by Kurt Thoreson

Science is a subject which always seems to be taken too seriously and is approached with anxiety by many
students. Creativity is seldom encouraged and the curriculum is black and white. Science is a left-brained
individuals feast and shelter. Truth, nonfiction, analysis, and theories are the science students calling card.
Science does not seem to be much accommodating to the right brain students. However, authors Dale Warsley
and Bernadette Mayer have written a book titled, The Art of Science Writing that contains a step-by-step process
of implementing tried and true writing processes in the science classroom.
The Art of Science Writing features five sections: 1) Essay development workshop, 2) Writing
experiments, 3) Questions and answers, 4) Samples, and 5) Annotated bibliography. Each section is filled with
submissions from fellow teachers, writers, and other educational professionals. This book also features a special
appendix on math writing because math and science are intertwined. As you may hope, the five sections
transition gracefully and fluently from one to the next. Each section provides examples, strategies, criticisms, and
evaluations.
Embedded deep within the literature is a brief, page-long explanation of how to write themed found
poems. The example provided is about cyanobacteria. Such amazing practices of writing are found throughout
the book. Each chapter reflects on the beginning of the writing process, as far back as the time of Greek
establishment and philosophers. I personally enjoy the writing in poetry. Poetry involves subject knowledge and,
the impassioned expression which is the continence of all science.
This book is centered on the secondary science student. The book wisely begins with the writing process
and how to accommodate ELL students. There are submissions from the lights of Charles Darwin (founder of
evolution) and Barbara McClintock (co-founder of genetics) two established and well renowned scientific minds
throughout the book. Their submissions are intended to transform antiquated scientific jargon into relevant and
inspiring pieces of writing and literature. The authors of the book analyze the submissions and teach the reader
how to disseminate and implement creative writing strategies to the topic. Not only is the writing in science
lessons beneficial to the writer, but it also provides tactics for non-science audiences to understand. Within the
section writing experiments, activities are discussed which may come across as unorthodox to an educator. For
example, to encourage the teacher and students to write about anything and everything except the subject at
hand. Such exercises are intended to be fun and reduce any anxieties about writing and assessments.
Science teachers often find excuses for not including enough writing in his/her classes, whether it be
the claims for not having enough time to administer or assess. Some teachers lack the knowledge or skill of writing
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styles. The book The Art of Science Writing, writing in science serves as a wonderful source for developing a
foundation for writing and the resources providing one to excel in the craft. For science teachers looking to kick
things up a notch and provide students with the writing prowess necessary for individual (and original) thought
and to have old fashioned fun-learning in the same breath, this book is very much recommended, for the teacher
and the learner

Book Review:
Real Reading, Real Writing: Content-Area Strategies (2002)
By Donna Topping and Roberta McManus
Review written by Karen Torres (2010)
Topping and McManus approach teaching as coaches would approach their
practices. They believe that students need to be involved in the process of the
game, what the game requires should be modeled, and strategies for playing the
game should be presented.
Through this approach to teaching, our authors recommend several strategies for
successfully integrating reading and writing into the content areas, They believe
that our job is to make sure our students develop a repertoire of strategies for
reading, listening to, and reviewing all kinds of information that is presented to
them; for composing through writing and speaking; and for knowing how to learn
for a lifetime (Topping & McManus, p. 17). The educational questions we need to
ask ourselves are whether we are guiding students to know how to read, listen to,
and view information, guiding them to write and speak properly for the task at
hand, and guiding them how to learn for a lifetime. We need to teach our students
how to have control over their own learning.
One of the strategies our authors describe is how to actively engage students.
When reading, listening, and viewing, good readers actively construct meaning.
They access prior knowledge, monitor their comprehension, and use strategies to
fix up the break in meaning. We need to actively engage our less successful readers
by providing them with the skills and strategies they need to be successful learners.
Topping and McManus offer a framework to teachers to help them ensure that their
lessons engage students with text. They call this framework BDA. This stands for
before reading, during reading, and after reading. They offer an overview of
activities for each phase. In the B or before reading phase teachers need to provide
opportunities for students to link their experiences to the text. They need a vehicle
for accessing relevant prior knowledge. Another activity is to help students get to
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know the organization of the text before reading it. The D or during reading
activities should help students to read constructively, help them use a range of
transactions appropriate to the task, and capture their initial personal response to it.
A or after reading activities built into our lessons should develop and deepen the
students initial responses to text, consolidate facts and ides, connect with other
texts, or extend responses. Utilizing these activities creates conditions and
structures for reading/listening/viewing that engages all students actively in
making meaning from our lessons.
This book offers very concrete examples of implementation of the strategies the
authors offer. The examples described are in their own classrooms with their
students. They are practiced in content-area classes. This allows for easy adaption
of the examples into other content areas.
Teaching the process, modeling how to do it, and varying strategies will help you
meet the real needs of all of your students no matter where you teach or who your
students are.

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