Completed:Making Writing Workshops Meaningful for Students in Grade 5!
"I work with inner city children of Baltimore City. I teach 5th Grade Language Arts to about 45 children daily. I left another state to move to Baltimore City to make a difference in children's lives and to help bridge the gap of our student achievement. One area where I focus my efforts is improvi...
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"I work with inner city children of Baltimore City. I teach 5th Grade Language Arts to about 45 children daily. I left another state to move to Baltimore City to make a difference in children's lives and to help bridge the gap of our student achievement. One area where I focus my efforts is improving my students' writing.
My students are faced with several challenges in writing: firstly, they tend to write as little as possible and often do not explain their ideas fully; secondly, they do not understand the writing process, especially the value of revision. If this weren't enough, students are under so much pressure to "comprehend" what they read for our state tests that writing has been placed on the "back burner." The problem is that comprehension will have little value if students can not intelligently explain what it is they comprehend!
I have assessed my students' journals and it has come to my attention that my students are in need of more writing instruction. To solve this problem, I am in the process of rebuilding our writing center. When I asked my students for feedback on what would make writing more interesting for them, they gave a treasure-trove of responses: fun writing paper, teaching them about writing, making our Word Wall more interesting, and several others. Both I and my students would like the writing segment of our daily Language Arts schedule to be more enjoyable and educational.
To improve our writing center, I need several types of fun stationary for students to use when writing; toner and ink for our classroom printer in order to allow students to type at the computer, and activity books that challenge my students to use writing in different ways. Having these tools in our writing center would benefit my students and allow them more meaningful opportunities for creative thinking, brainstorming, writing, editing, revising, and publishing.
In conclusion, writing is an important element in Language Arts. It has been proven that the more children write, the better writers they become. Students must learn to interpret what they read, but they must also know how to communicate what they interpret. Though it is not a highly assessed skill, writing is extremely important in our students' lives. Thank you for helping me to give them the skills to be successful, both now and in the future!
My students need writing center materials to utilize and allow creative thinking, writing process, mini-lessons, and usage of an elaborate word wall.
The cost of this proposal is $571, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment ."
Mrs. C. sent this note after the project was fully funded:
Dec 26, 2007
Dear Elisabeth, Fund for Educational Excellence, Ms. McLarin, Sharon and Judy Aldock,
Thank you so much for generously sponsoring our task at hand (Making Writing Meaningful). We will definitely use the items above to help with grammar, spelling, and writing skills. We would all like to become famous authors one day. Thank you again for keeping us in your mind and hearts.
Mrs. C and students at William Paca
On Jun 20, 2008, Mrs. C. followed this note with student letters sent via mail to the donor who completed this project, and to donors who gave $100 or more.
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Melanie D. (staff member)
on Nov 5, 2007
