UCSC Review Summer 1997

In their own words

When children find their own voices, their writing becomes vibrant. The following examples were created by fifth and sixth graders taught by CCWP-trained teachers:

Her horse was a mare And grandma had spiky, bright pink hair.

My cerebrum is the biggest part of my brain, and it helps me to figure out things such as math, puzzles, and spelling. And the cerebrum helps me make decisions like last night I had a choice of steak or spaghetti.

And when I went to the Fair, I decided to go the haunted house instead of the high slide.

Mi Mariposa My Butterfly

Mi mariposa My butterfly es hermosa is beautiful y generosa and generous

Tiene alas, She has wings alas grandes large wings como el arcoiris like a rainbow.

Buela, buela que Fly, fly, fly buela, por el bosque. for the forest.

Se para en los Stop in the trees arboles, come. and eat.

Mi mariposa tiene My butterfly has children, hijos, buela con ellos she flies with them y buelan a mi casa. and they fly to my house.

I plan to write my new story 'Anna's Tutor' to be as long as it possibly can, even if it means I'll have to write during the summer.

Children's writing excerpted, with permission, from Mindful of Others: Teaching Children to Teach, by Suzanne Brady and Suzie Jacobs (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994) and from student anthologies compiled by Jeff Arnett.