Last summer when I was planning my curriculum I wanted to have a newsletter throughout the year where students would report about different components of our classroom. I envisioned it having Spanish and English sections but not necessarily direct translations. I also wanted to have pictures of the students and keep track so that all students would have their photo shown evenly throughout the year. I even had a fun name for the newsletter, Las colonias, to play off our classroom base groups.
However, with the first year (in a new position) rush once the school year started, I never introduced this piece I was so excited about a year ago. As I reflected on the school year the newsletter was something that I added to the top of my list of something that would be perfect for writer's workshop. I thought about how both 6th and 7th graders could participate, but that maybe some of the 7th graders could take the leadership role as editors. There will be so many teachable moments to tie in to the project. I have also considered how this could fit in to our classroom blog.
The last week of summer school one of my 7th grade girls was walking around with a notebook telling her classmates about her idea to have a school newspaper. She was getting the students to sign up for different sections in which they would like to contribute writing. I could not have been more excited. I let my student know that I had wanted to do something similar and that they could get classroom credit for their work. I am looking forward to the new school year to introduce the concept, especially now that I already have student buy in. Plus, my student that already started coordinating some aspects will have a sense of fulfillment with her role. It will be a great opportunity for the students to be writing for "real" reasons in our writing workshop.
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