WPS WolfCub Writers' Club

ABOUT WRITERS' CLUB:

Writers' Group is an Enrichment activity designed for selected 2nd graders.  Students are nominated by their 1st and/or 2nd grade teachers for showing excellence in writing, creativity and imagination, and then screened by Mrs. Fletcher for a variety of factors.  Letters will come home by the beginning of September for eligible students. Invited students have the opportunity to stay after school on Thursdays from 2:50 (dismissal) until 4:00.  Students must be picked up promptly at 4:00 or risk being un-invited from the program. Snacks will be provided; however, if your child has food allergies, etc. you'll need to send an appropriate snack with them for Thursday afternoons. Parents should park in the parking lot beside the music room at 4 on Thursdays to pick up writing students.

WHAT WE DO DURING WRITERS' CLUB...

The Writers' Club focus will be to enter writing competitions or for publication during the year.  In the Fall, students will write for the NCRA Young Authors Project -- a statewide writing project.  Entries will be written to a theme, according to guidelines set out by NCRA, judged locally by CCNCRA (in November) with winning writings progressing to state judging in January.

Once we get YA project writings completed, it usually leaves us a week or two to do some holiday writings (We usually submit those to the News Reporter for their Christmas Memories publication.)

After the holiday, we focus our attention on the AR Ammons Poetry contest for a February submission date.  

We continue to focus on poetry for the remainder of our time together.  Mrs. Fletcher and parents of Writers' Club students will host a  Poet-tea Celebration to end our year of Writers' Club.  We will share snacks together and have poetry readings of the students' favorite poems written during our time together.

Each week, students will enjoy a quick snack and visit with their writing friends.  Then we will have a writing lesson.  Lessons will focus on various writing topics:

the writing process

figurative language

poetic devices

crafting a good paragraph

rhyme

types of poems (acrostic, haiku, diamante, list poem, couplet, quatrain)

revising/editing

giving feedback to other writers (the sandwich method)

Most weeks will follow this format:

Snack/Visit with writing friends (Beverages will NOT be provided for snack this year, so please send an extra bottle of water or a refillable cup [There's a water fountain just outside my room.])

Lesson

Individual writing time

Sharing/feedback

There will also be weeks that include small group sharing/feedback, individual conferences with me, etc.