Publishing Party!

The Culmination of our Efforts…

They had worked hard for over two months. They had grown their seed ideas from just a speck of a thought to entire essays and booklets. They had learned many a nuances of great writing along the way. After an entire quarter of writers workshop sessions, the third and fourth graders of ISG Dammam were very proud of their effort as they displayed and shared their published writing with their peers. Students of grades 3 and 4 exchanged classes and shared their masterpieces with each other.

The third graders had written informative booklets, on topics of their choice. Animal lovers seemed to rule the roost, as most of the topics centered around dogs and cats, though there were a few dolphin and shark booklets as well. These little writers had painstakingly, over the quarter, researched and drafted their own books, and then revised and published them in hand written form, adding a wide array of illustrations. Their books won the hearts of the audience (fourth graders) and the teachers alike. And their pride, as well the honing and refining from their teachers were evident in the way they displayed and read out from their books!

Grade 4 students, on the other hand, had authored opinion and persuasive essays. These budding essayists sure had the conviction to persuade the world with their new found writing skills! Their topics ranged from banning homework to handing out more homework, to guitars, to working moms, to racism and bullying. They even published their essays on Google docs… Complete with accompanying pictures et al… Very grown-up and impressive stuff indeed!

The Lucy Calkins model of writers workshop that the school has adopted has been a resounding success, and motivated our youngsters like never before. Gone are the days when children would detest writing long essays; they now look forward to every writing class! These young writers now can’t wait to dig into their next new unit of writing!

 –Shaista Ashraf

(Language Arts, Grade 4)