Writing Lab
The 2010-2011 school year promises to be an exciting year of operation for the Jefferson Middle School Writing Lab. Our teachers, our administration, and our students will work very hard to make our across-the-curriculum writing-to-learn program valuable and practical.
The Writing Lab has a Writing Clinician, who is an English teacher, Mrs. Melissa Kelly. She is available to help the students become familiar with the writing process and the strategies which will help them in their writing. In addition, the Writing Clinician will help the students utilize the available software to improve his writing and learning. However, the student will remain the author of his own documents.
Each student who uses the Lab makes individual progress. Writing-to-learn opportunities are provided across the curriculum, and every child has the opportunity to grow and to experience success as a writer. Please exercise understanding as most teachers request that papers be processed in the Writing Lab rather than at home. This request maximizes the child's opportunity to take advantage of the writing strategies and the content expertise offered by the child’s teacher and the Writing Clinician. Processing, revising, and editing in the Lab demonstrate the child's understanding of the writing process. You may wish to help your child by conferencing with him at home. For most writing assignments, a conferencing sheet, which has been coordinated to the teacher's assignment and evaluation, is available.
Please remember that the Writing Lab is located in Room 102 and is available to all students and teachers. Full classes are scheduled to word process, revise, edit, and print writing projects. Any student may use the Lab for across-the-curriculum and personal writing. The Lab serves all students of all ability levels and is open during the day Monday-Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and Fridays from 7:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
All students are encouraged to use the many writing resources in the Lab. For their convenience, a Writing Tip Book filled with word banks, revision strategies, works cited forms, editing rules, and formatting and computing guidelines is available at each computer. Each sixth grader will receive his own Writing Tip Book to take home and to keep. Students are encouraged to follow the directions for writing activities, not only to facilitate student Lab use but also to lead to better writing, the goal of the Jefferson Middle School Writing Lab.
Volunteer Program
While the computers make writing easier for many students, the heart of the Lab is conferencing: student-with-student and student-with-adult. Mrs. Cahassey Augenstein and the Writing Clinician, Mrs. Melissa Kelly, coordinate a program involving volunteers (parents, grandparents, and community friends) who conference with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders during the school day. However, the final content and mechanics (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation) of a paper are always the student's own responsibility. Volunteering in the Writing Lab offers a flexible schedule and a priceless chance to help a child with his writing! Contact Mrs. Augenstein via email at jmiddleschool@yahoo.comnbsp;or by phone (412.341.2019) if you are interested in helping with this wonderful program.
The first training session for both new and veteran volunteers will be held on Thursday, September 16, from 9:00—11:30 a.m. in the JMS Library. We will review and discuss the basic strategies used to conference with our students, and we will explain the operational aspects of our program. Please RSVP to jmiddleschool@yahoo.com if you will attend.
That’s a Good Question!
Parents sometimes ask, “What is the rationale behind middle level students completing their writing process activities in school?” Usually, students are permitted to take copies of their work home, and they are often encouraged to have revision and editing conferences with an adult as well as with a peer. However, most writing process assignments are word processed in school for several reasons.
- More important than focusing on the product, students are focusing on practicing the writing process. As a result, teachers want to observe the process and offer strategies along the way.
- A child learns from being physically involved with word processing text. More revision takes place if a child can word process, conference, revise, conference again, and edit as a circular, on-going process, a possibility if he is word processing in school and saving on the network.
- If a child works at home, he may possess an “I-am-finished” attitude that undercuts a desire for deep revision, one of the most important goals. If the child does not work at school, moreover, the student is unable to participate in the strategies and resources offered for revision and editing.
- Practicing the process in school offers students the opportunity to learn to be a part of a writing community, to collaborate, to conference, to suggest—qualities employed in real world writing.
- Writing assignments are specifically targeted to teach particular skills which are outlined on a rubric and reinforced by the teacher and the writing clinician during the class and lab time.
- Completing projects in school teaches valuable time management skills to middle level students.
- Offering the children time to complete the writing in school avoids conflicts with the family computer and crises with the “untimely death” of the toner cartridge.
Our Piece of Mind, Jefferson’s Literary Magazine
Please encourage your student to be a part of Our Piece of Mind, Jefferson’s award-winning literary magazine. Students can submit their original writing to be considered for publication, illustrate accepted pieces, type / edit accepted selections, or be a member of the magazine’s selection staff. Poems, essays, stories, articles, etc. are all welcome. The selection staff meets weekly on Tuesdays to read, discuss, and determine which anonymous pieces will be accepted for publication. Student artists and typists then work to design the literary magazine which will be published in May. Submission forms for writing are available in the Writing Lab or from the English and literature teachers.
An informational meeting will be held after school on Tuesday, September 7, in the Writing Lab. Students interested in signing up to be a typist, artist, or member of the selection staff should attend.
Writing Lab Assistants
Mrs. Kelly is looking for students who are interested in being lab assistants this year. Lab assistants give up their team time one day each week to help in the Writing Lab. Helpers take care of whatever is needed. That means watering the plants, straightening the room, replenishing supplies, distributing and organizing materials, designing signs, etc.—whatever Mrs. Kelly needs that day.
Students interested in helping as lab assistants this year, should stop by Room 102, the Writing Lab by Friday, September 10, to sign up with Mrs. Kelly. Committed, responsible helpers are needed!
Enrichment
A bulletin board advertising all current writing enrichment opportunities can be found in the Writing Lab, Room 102. Opportunities range from contests to publications and from essays to poetry. Please encourage your talented young writer to take a risk and to explore writing enrichment. Mrs. Kelly will gladly conference with any student concerning his enrichment submissions.
Ø Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest—300-400 word essay on the topic, “Does Patriotism Still Matter?” deadline—November 1st.
Ø READ Magazine’s Take Five Essay Contest—500 words or less, tell “about the spot where you most like to be in the world”—deadline, December 31, 2010, www.weeklyreader.com/read.
Ø READ Magazine’s Ann Arlys Bowler Poetry Contest—up to two original poems eligible per person, length may not exceed one poem per page, deadline, December 31, 2010, www.weeklyreader.com/read..
Ø The Almanac, students in grades 7 and 8 interested in writing for the paper's Youth Life page (news, features, and commentaries of interest to teenagers)—contact Patricia Van Horn, 724.941.7725 or pvhorn@thealmanac.net
Ø The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, young writers 13 years and older who are interested in expressing their views on pop culture and more in the feature “My Generation” can send a 300-word sample review (CD, movie, book, or concert) or an essay of the same length on an issue of concern to mygen@post-gazette.com.
Ø Stone Soup—publishes writing and art by young people through age 13, more information available in Writing Lab and at www.stonesoup.com.
Congratulations
Several Start team students from last year will have their poems published through Creative Communication. All students took advantage of the writing enrichment opportunity advertised through the Writing Lab and their English teachers and met with success! Special thanks to Ms. Carris and Mr. Young for encouraging them. Their names and the titles of the poems which will be published follow. We look forward to seeing their creations in print. Way to go!
Jessie Arnone, “What Is Freedom?”
Joey Capan, “How To Annoy Someone with Percussion”
Savannah Cazin, “Everything Just Happens for a Reason”
Ryan Christ, “This Is Just to Say”
Brittany Cole, “10 Ways to Avoid Studying”
Gabby Dutka, “This Is Just to Say”
Steele Eckenrode, “I Believe in. . .”
Georgie Farrell, “How to Make Your Parents Mad”
Nate Good-Twigg, “Game-Winning Shot”
Lyvia Hurst, “This Is Just to Say”
Anna Hutchinson, “From Across the Room I See”
Roosha Mandal, “I Just Wanted You to Know”
Wesley McElhaney, “What Not to Say in a Car”
Abigail Natelson, “Unfortunate Short People”
Michael Oxenreiter, “How to Avoid Writing a Poem for English Class”
Mairead Roddy, “Memories”
Mira Shenouda, “I Believe”
Alyssa Smith, “When Not to Chew Gum”
Maisie Stevenson, “Relentless”
Amanda Vosburgh, “Proofreading Checklist”
Noah Wanielista, “It’s Just Me”
Alaina Werkmeister, “This Is Just to Say”
