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Few people would argue that being able to write well is a critically important part of being successful in the world today. The ability to clearly communicate in written form is more important than ever in today’s digital age, so it is no surprise that our students are continuously sharpening their writing skills.

Across the district, student authors are writing a wide array of pieces, from fairy tales and short stories to nonfiction and marketing materials, and they are loving it. Topics range from imaginative recreations of best loved-fairy tales to non-fiction works about police, the environment, and animals to fictional works incorporating the students’ own experiences with events, family, and friends.

Mrs. Stacey Poehler, classroom teacher at Byrd, commented her students “look forward to it as their favorite part of the day, and ask if they can keep working on their stories through recess. Through recess!” she says with delight.

The writing process is much more inclusive than just refining writing skills. The students also research and choose relevant information for sources, find or draw appropriate pictures for their stories, collaborate with their peers to review and improve content, and share each other’s final projects.

Students are excited by the choices they have in creating their written works. One second grader in Mrs. Gonzalez’s bilingual class at Robert Frost, who chose to write about Italy as a location she wants to visit, explained as her reasoning: “I just like the shape of the country, it looks like a boot! And their coffee looks so pretty, someday I will go there and be able to drink one at a café.” Another second grader who chose to write about Mexico said, “I’ve seen it on TV and it’s a beautiful country, so I just wanted to know all about it.”

Teaching the readers of their books something new is also something the students enjoy. A second grade student in Mrs. Poehler’s classroom at Byrd said, “I rewrote Cinderella where she was mean and her stepsisters were nice, because I really wanted to make it a different story.”

Across the district, works created by students are catalogued into their school libraries, to be checked out, read, and enjoyed by other students and staff members. The stories are selected by teachers for their “wow” factor combined with the goals of the writing assignment.  Books are eventually cycled out of circulation and returned to the students.

Teachers have the opportunity to select two student-authored books for the school library each month. Each book will be unique to their readers, including different genres of writing, varied topics, and can even be written in different languages.

Students love to share their creations with each other, and the student-authored works are often checked out. Featuring these books in the library was a natural way to both share great writing models among students and also create pride in their accomplishments and hard work.

When asked what the students would like to do with their final works once they get them back at the end of the school year, the second grade students responded enthusiastically:

• “I am going to keep them and treasure them forever!”
• “I am going to make copies and sell them like a business!”
• “I am going to make a whole library of my books at home!”
• “I am going to make copies and give them to families who can’t afford books!”

One student commented, “You just get better and better at writing things. Now that I’m used to it, it’s pretty easy. Easy as pie!” he said with a grin.

“You mean, it’s a piece of cake,” another student responded, laughing.

It just doesn’t get any easier than that.