There's no one who counts more in society than a
good teacher. And you are one of those. The Drummer Boy's Walking Guide
is plain wonderful -- illustrations, text, everything. And what a great
idea! My guess is, your students will remember the project and their part
in it the rest of their lives...What a good time they must have with you
as their teacher!
David McCullough
Author
This is a splendid, new idea that will have immediate appeal to the
classroom teacher and her students. It is filled with creativity in purpose
and expression. My students have delighted in assessing this new, fresh
approach to biography and to making this genre come alive in the classroom…
You are a splendid writer and you do know children. I think you are remarkably
creative and that your book will appeal to many.
Joan Smutney
Author, consultant, Director for Center of Gifted, Evanston, IL
I am delighted with The Writer's Club. I think it will be highly
effective for middle grade readers. The follow up of a personal letter
from the author after their "tour" is wonderful, reinforcing all the information
in a fresh format. I also love the follow up ideas. This is winner and
I am delighted to be a part of its production even in the small role of
one of the consultant readers.
Jan Turnquist
Historian, resident "Louisa", Orchard House, Concord, MA
This is a wonderful idea. Use my name when you submit it to be published.
I will keep it in our University resource file. Present the book at IRA
and NCTE conferences.
Kenneth Goodman
Professor, author, University of Arizona, Tucson
To have Chaucer at the fourth grade is lovely. I like it!
Ted Sizer
Educator, author, former Dean, Harvard Graduate School of Education
This creative program is designed to help middle grade students become
confident, skillful authors who have an appreciation of the great writers
of the world.
Jocelyn Hayes
Teacher, Fiske School, Lexington, MA
...Mrs. Carlson has had a deep and lasting impression on our daughter,
especially on her love and appreciation for reading and writing. She made
the class fun, exciting, and challenging…part of our daughter's academic
success stems from Mrs. Carlson's imbibing a love of reading - and knowledge
- that go beyond work in class. Our daughter hardly ever reads a book
without thinking about the social, economic, and cultural milieu in which
the author existed...
Parent of a 4th grade student
Thank you for your enthusiasm about teaching kids to write. We very
much appreciated your work. We especially thank you for reminding us about
on-going events and work needed to prepare…We just learned so many new
ways that kids can enjoy writing. He is now looking for many opportunities
in the magazines that he can write a response and I, as a parent, also
look for many magazines for kids…I am glad that someone finally leads
him to a good way of enjoying writing.
Parent of a 5th grade student
It has been our family's great discovery last year of being introduced
to Mrs. Carlson. Her methods of teaching and introducing writing concepts
to our daughter have been worthwhile and have inspired her to become a
better writer... From our very first meeting she has been always positive,
energetic, interested, influential and a professional role model...
Parent of a 4th grade student
I liked the books and I learned that you should really check your work.
I liked that you could really write what you want and you don't have to
be told what to do.
Student, 6th grade
I liked pretending that the authors came to visit our class and meeting
Henry Longfellow. I learned to think of my own ideas and write a legend.
I miss Writer's Club!
Student, 5th grade
Everyone loves it. It was fun when we watched slides and I especially
loved Shakespeare. Writing is fun!
Student, 5th grade
ARTICLES -- Use links to navigate quickly to a specific article.
Learning - Fiske writer's club honored
for newspapers
Fiske School hosts author
Students research, illustrate, and write book about Lexington
Students spend afternoon with the editor
Just-For-Kids - Writing and Art Contest
| Thursday, June 8, 2000 * Lexington Minuteman Fiske writer's club honored for newspapers |
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| On Sunday, April 30 Fiske's Nellie Bly's Newspaper Club was honored at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Twelve students were invited along with families and friends for their student exhibit on display throughout May. Sue Peligian, coordinator of the Harvard University Teachers' Network and her staff gave a reception honoring these 12 students. Each student was presented a certificate of achievement. Marian Carlson formed The Writers' Club in January 1992, "to help students find powerful connections to literature through author studies." In February 2000, The Writers' Club started a new after school adventure. "I was looking for additional strategies to promote literature and writing since many of the students had completed In Search of the Great Writers. The notion of fourth and fifth graders writing their own newspapers struck me," explained Carlson. Carlson and her students read about Nellie Bly, an outspoken journalist and adventurer who became an investigative reporter. Nellie was born Elizabeth Cochrane in 1864. Journalism was not considered a proper career for women only making Nellie that much more adventurous. Changing her name to Nellie Bly enabled her to hide her identity. Carlson, having been a syndicated newspaper columnist herself for six years, was able to offer wonderful insight to her students. |
The format for the Union News, a 176 year old regional newspaper based in Springfield, provided the basic two page layout as part of the Newspaper in Education program. The 12 newspapers varied in content from Priyanka's informative article about the Battle of Lexington 225 years ago to Ben's report on the importance of Census 2000. Basketball stories by Noah gave the feeling of being at a game. Katie wrote a wonderful human interest story about a New York cab driver who opened a school for girls in India. Katie reported "Teen Boy Defends himself in Court!" Sophia wrote about the Ice Cubes winning the gold at the U.S. Nationals while Melanie reported on The Haydenettes first place win in France. Local Fiske news included the fifth grade play as reported by Sarah. Annie wrote about Ms. Lewis' Spanish plays with headlines in Spanish and English. Brendan reported on the public schools project. Nicole wrote a timely article about spring soccer. Sonia wrote, "In the newspaper there is an interview with someone, a top news story, and a movie, book or television program review. There is also a comic strip." A book the students read about Charles Schulz's life was their inspiration for their comic strip. The students' illustrations and comic strips show that we have lots of talented artists in their group. The students also drew portraits of those individuals they interviewed for their "Very Important Person" feature. |
| Fiske School hosts author By Alex, 4th grade SPECIAL TO THE MINUTEMAN |
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| Hi, I'm Alex and I'd like to tell you about what we do in the Writers' Club. We meet every Wednesday for an hour and 15 minutes to learn about becoming writers and what writers have to do. One of the first things we did this year was to learn about Nellie Bly, who was a famous reporter. We learned some of her tips to become a good writer, like how to grab a reader with the opening sentence and how to look for news. We have submitted drawings, opinions, letters and stories to a lot of different magazines, like Sports Illustrated for Kids, Cobblestone, and National Geographic World. |
We also wrote creative stories and sent them
to Curious George Goes to Wordsworth, which is a bookstore in Harvard
Square.
A few weeks ago, we went to the Concord Museum. Around this time of year, they have trees that are decorated to represent different books. Some of the trees were Stuart Little, Stone Soup, and my favorite, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Writers' Club is a good way to teach kids about writing. It has been a fun way to learn about editing, grammar, punctuation, and writing without it feeling like schoolwork. |
Students research, illustrate, and write book about Lexington
M. Carlson
By Susan Bushey
STAFF WRITER
| After noticing a contest in "Cobblestone" magazine, the members of the Mark Twain and Nellie Bly Writers' Club decided to learn more about the historic events that took place in their own backyards. According to the instructor of the club, Marian Carlson, the club was named for Twain, who was known for his humor and honesty as an author, and Bly, who was known for her perseverance as an investigative reporter. "Cobblestone," a children's history magazine is focusing its October 2002 issue on Lexington's colonial history and the 10 children involved wanted to contribute. Carlson said it was amazing how much they could learn about their own town simply by walking the Battle Green and exploring the historic houses. Also, she said, "when you live someplace, you don't necessarily know a lot about it." Carlson said she also realized with Patriots Day approaching, this would be a great time to learn. "I was thrilled because it brought together prose and patriotism," she said in a recent interview. The group decided they would write a book, "The Drummer Boy's Walking Guide and Coloring Book to the Lexington Battle Green," and each pick a part of the Green to research and write about. In preparation, they took a tour of Buckman Tavern and shared a tea with the Lexington Minute Men. After reading about their chosen sites, the students wrote a draft, which was proofread by the Minute Men to ensure accuracy. "Skip [Hayward] was wonderful to work with," she said. After three edits, Carlson asked if they wanted to illustrate the book with photos or drawings. They chose to draw their own sites. She gave the children a quick lesson in drawing, including teaching them how important it is to pay attention to detail and then sent them on their way to create more history. |
When
the book was finally bound, it included an "about this book" by Carlson,
an introduction by student Michelle Tarkulich of Lexington, a map
of the Green by Arlington resident Mark Duffy, descriptions of the
Minute Man statue by Christine Lyoo, Buckman Tavern by Danny Kliger,
also of Lexington, the Parker Boulder by Paul Coste of Lexington,
the Harrington House by Rupa Shankar of Lexington, the obelisk by
Lexington residents Tim Lyoo and Michael Lin, the American flag on
the Green by Lexington resident Kira Jorgensen, and a summary of other
sites around town by Waltham resident Olivia Zubrowski.
Also included at the end of the book was an activities section including Lexington trivia, a bibliography, including Web sites, and a "final note" describing the tea the group shared with the Minute Men, written by Shankar. With a copy of the book in hand, Carlson said she visited the Munroe Tavern. After speaking with the buyer for the gift shop, she said "she bought every copy I had." Carlson also had success with Buckman Tavern and the Hancock-Clarke House. She said she enjoyed working on this publication with the group of children. "They developed their creativity while experiencing an authentic writing/publishing process. It's always a thrill to see something done with your work." "The Drummer Boy's Walking Guide and Coloring Book to the Lexington Battle Green," is on sale at Munroe Tavern, Buckman Tavern, the Hancock-Clarke House. |
Students spend afternoon with the editor
| By Rupa Shankar Lexington Minuteman Susan Bushey, left, spoke one afternoon with Rupa Shankar, center and Christina Wright, of the Nellie Bly Newspaper Club. "Everything no one else will write, except for sports section and advertisements, I have to write," said Susan Bushey, editor of the Lexington Minuteman while being interviewed by Christina Wright and Rupa Shankar. Wright and Shankar are two reporters from The Nellie Bly Newspaper Club at the Munroe Center for the Arts. They were inside the Lexington Minuteman office recently to learn first hand what a newspaper editor does. Susan Bushey has a difficult job. She has to edit other journalist's work as well as her own, and aside from that, she sometimes must write news articles herself. "The hardest articles to write and edit are the stories about meetings and the Planning Board ... The easiest stories to write and edit are feature stories," Bushey commented. She enjoyed writing the article that was in the Lexington Minuteman a couple of weeks ago, about a boy with a medical disability who just received a specially trained dog to help him. She had fun talking to the boy and his mother and meeting the dog. |
Bushey started writing when she was 9 years old. She was a journalist for a writer's club. At first she thought she wanted to cover sports because her father watched sports every night. Her father was an intense sports fan and shared his interest with her. Then she decided that she liked writing about politics. She received a degree in political science and journalism at Mount Holyoke College. She began her career at the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham where she wrote obituaries. For awhile, she worked on Channel 5, calling police for stories, but in the end, she decided that television news was too fast-paced and not detailed enough for her. She came to the Lexington Minuteman instead and became the editor. Each article in the paper has to be a certain length for the articles to fit. The font used for normal news stories is Times New Roman 10.5. For titles of the articles, Times New Roman 50 is used. The enjoyable interview flew by and Bushey got back to work. The reporters returned to The Writer's Club with valuable inside information about newspapers. |
