Champion Writers
Church Street's PTA sponsors a writing camp each July free to all Church Street students. The 2006 summer camp enrollment was so large that two sessions were offered to students. The multi-grade camp was a roaring success. The children ended with two published anthologies of their writing experiences.
As the teachers took the students through the writing process, they gave them “tools” to use whenever they were asked to write a piece. The first activity was a circle sharing process. Each student shared three memories about which they might want to write. Going around the circle helped with idea collection. Students could “piggy back” on another student’s story. Circle sharing just helped students remember stories they may choose to write about. Next, students made a jot list of their stories. From that list, they choose three to share with a partner. After listening to the stories, the partner helped choose which story was the best about which to write.
Students were asked to write their stories without trying to do anything special. At this point, the teachers wanted them to get the story down. Corrections and other special things came later. Teachers wanted students to have a beginning, a middle, and an end to their story.
After reading Quick as a Cricket to the children, the teachers discussed similes. They told the students these are also known as figurative language. The children looked back at their stories to see if they could find a place they might use a similie. Most of the time, it’s not that hard to do.
Sound words are always interesting to young children. Onomatopoeias give writing a zest that somehow transform pieces into enthusiastic stories. Even the little children like to hear the word onomatopoeia and they really like to use them. The teachers read literature books that have many of these words. This activity gives the students an opportunity to hear words they might like to use in their own writing. This helps the piece to have voice and is an easy tool for children to remember.
Another tool teachers talked to the students about was conversation. Just a line or two of conversation gave the stories such a boost. Lots of conversation can be a hindrance for children, but most of the students picked this tip up easily and improved their pieces of writing with just the right amount.
Good beginnings were another tool used to improve the student's writing pieces. They discussed beginning pieces with conversation, a sound word, an exclamation or just a very interesting sentence. The teachers gave them an example saying: houses that have beautiful or interesting foyers sometimes make people want to go on in. A good beginning makes others want to continue reading.
They also talked about using good endings. When the writer wraps up a story, readers know it is over. If students use all of the above tools to refine their writing, scores should be higher, stories better, and students more successful.
Mrs. Kay Collins, Ms. Amy McCain, and Mrs. Terry Leigh Clayton taught the week-long camp.