Writing Buddies

Since September, the students of 2A and 2B have been working with their writing buddies, college students from Emily Bliss's class at George Washington University, on creative writing.We have written jokes, riddles and zombie stories. We have invented superheroes and fantastic settings. We have written letters from the point of view of villains and stories from the point of view of our Halloween costumes.

It has been a fantastic experience. I have seen my students make big gains in their excitement about writing and their ability to write. It has been amazing to see young adults and young children working together with such joy and sense of purpose.

Thank you to 826DC for all they do to promote a love of writing in children. I especially want to thank Joe Callahan for connecting my class with Professor Bliss's and Jimmy and Izzy for leading the workshops. Thank you to Professor Bliss for dreaming up this idea and taking the risk to make it happen. And thank you to the wonderful GW students who have inspired my students and inspired me.

Mike Benson
Second Grade Teacher
Oyster-Adams Bilingual School