IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS AT CALHOUN MIDDLE SCHOOL

(11/19/2008)

By Karen Kirby, Principal The 7th and 8th grade students at Calhoun Middle are experiencing a new concept this year. In the past, writing skills have been taught as part of the curriculum of the Reading Language Arts class. This year writing is being given emphasis and taught as a separate class. At the end of the first six weeks of school, the question is; "How are the students doing with the new writing class?" In an interview with students from Mrs. Carpenter's class the following comments were given by Jared Haught, Jeremiah Conley, Kayla Church, Autumn Jones, Jared Fitzwater and Kenadee Taylor: "Writing class is fun. We are given more freedom to choose a topic and format. It is easier to write about something I'm interested in than being given a topic. We can do poems, essays, short stories, brochures, onomatopoeias, bio-poems, and other formats. Mrs. Carpenter is great. I am not embarrassed to read my stories in class. Every Friday is author's chair and we can read our work to the class. I have a portfolio of my work and will show my parents how I am improving during Parent-Teacher conferences." These students are truly excited about the writing class and believe the new program is helping them become better writers. The students also enjoy concentrating on their reading and comprehension skills in their reading class and are making progress in both areas. The first step to learning is excited and involved students. Students and teachers have taken that first step and are having a great time learning.

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