Celebrate Student Writing

Today I had the pleasure of celebrating student writing. Mitch Willaman’s fifth grade class presented their Wax Museum. Have you ever been to a Wax Museum? It is filled with look-a-likes. The difference between Madame Tussaud’s and Mr. Willaman’s class is the students today came alive. Each student created a button and when it was pushed they came alive and told their personal histories.

The museum was filled with students, teachers, parents, administrators, and community members. It was fun to see Harry Carry, Clara Barton, Annie Oakley, and Neil Armstrong (to name a few). History came alive and it was inspiring. (My daughter added many people to her list of biographies to read after she watched the videos from today!)

The Wax Museum is a true cross-curricular experience. Not only do students research, read, write, and speak, but they also make connections to history, as well as create a portrait of their person from history. The art teacher helps them sketch the head shot during art. Students complete the portrait by shading and matting it.

A formal celebration like the Wax Museum isn’t the only way to celebrate student writing. As I was walking through the halls to get to the Wax Museum, I passed feature articles displayed in the hall. They drew me in and I had to stop to read. I admired the tri-fold publications with covers that invited me to read. I also was struck by the way Web 2.0 tools were used to draw attention to the articles.

Kim Jones and Kris Ummel encouraged their fourth graders to publish feature articles in a way to draw readers’ attention. During publication, students were able to focus on other structural features to help teach readers more about their topics. Students added sidebars, pictures with captions, and headlines to their articles. I admire the way publication went beyond simply making a “pretty copy” of the writing and instead lifted the level of students’ understanding of feature articles.

What are your plans for an end-of-the-year celebration?