The 2008 summer Creative Writing Camp for middle school students is underway this week. The camp theme/title is "DIVERSITY UNIVERSITY" and students are writing about a variety of cultures, including African American, Native American, Jewish and Asian.

Camp is being directed by Mary Hawkins, Karen Dillon, and Diana Clay. They are getting lots of teacher support from Deb Holly, Debra Secrist, Judy Southard, Cynthia Ooten, Angie Loggins, Rebecca Johnson, and Sharon Blevins. There is great support staff from students Autumn Grove and Whitney Loggins, with "passport photography" provided by Taylor Daughtery.

During Summer Institute 2008, our Fellows created digital stories of their experience. See all the stories by clicking on the links below:
Andrea Santos
Diana Clay
Deb Holly and Karen Dillon
Carrie and Jason Browning
Brian Lauck and Hazel Mollett

The renovations on the state museum at the Cultural Center are well documented. They started about nine years ago, ran out of money, went through a couple directors, etc. Well, they’re back on track. The money is there, the plan is in place, and the staff is on board. The newly renovated museum is set to open in about a year and wait till you see what’s coming.

Most of you will probably remember some version of the old state museum. It’s actually a lot older than I realized. The original museum started in 1894 and was the brainchild of John P. Hale, Virgil Lewis, and former governor William MacCorkle. At first, it was a private enterprise housed in a public building, but in 1905, funding was set aside for a WV State Museum. It was housed first in a building off of the capitol complex, then moved to the basement of the capitol building itself. The current building was built in 1976. Everybody who has visited the museum has something about it that made an impression on them and some of that is being incorporated in the new concept. Do you remember the fleas? They’re right up front. Do you remember the cabin? They’ve got a real one this time (from Logan County nonetheless). Do you remember the general store? This time it’s a company store.

Weblogs

Digital Stories

2008 Annotated Bibliography

The online Anthology will be added later this fall.

Welcome to your local National Writing Project website. I hope you become a regular here: reading, posting, commenting, etc.

Let's get started. Please complete the following tasks, in any order you choose, today.

1. Right click NWP and select open in new tab. Login. Click "Go to the 2008 E-Anthology". NWPi is where we connect with Writing Project Fellows and Facilitators across the nation. It will become one of your favorite places to hang out, but don't start reading just yet! Sign the Guestbook. (Don't forget to make notes on your Electronic Houses worksheet.)

By: Sara Elizabeth Fortune, (daughter of TC Missy Fortune) as told to Tracy Baisden

Grade: Kindergarten

June 5, 2008
On Tuesday sissy, mommy and me were going to the Park Pool for a swimming party for school. It was in the morning. The sky was white with clouds and it was warm. We were going to the car to get mommy's bathing suit and there was a rat in the garage. The rat was black and fluffy. It had a little nose and big tail. The rat ran. It tried to chase me, so we went in the yard and got a toy and threw at it. It went running. I yelled "Tiny!" And from somewhere my dog Tiny came running. When he got there he chased after the rat. Then he killed it. He bit the rat. He shook that rat. He threw it and slammed it on the ground. Then he caught it in his mouth again and killed it. Then Tiny brought it in the yard and dropped it at mommy's feet. That was the day Tiny killed the rat

Thursday Readers Book Club, a book club discussion group will continue meetings this summer and fall. Book club meetings are held at 6:00 p.m., at Chirico's Restaurant in Logan, and the public is invited to attend.

Each meeting features a discussion of the monthly book. The discussions are not academic, but reflect the reader's enjoyment and questions around each novel. The only requirement for attending is that participants have read enough of the book to be able to talk about it with the group.

Each year the advisory council for book club attempts to choose a wide range of books for the discussion group. According to facilitator Diana Clay "We want to stretch our reading comfort level by reading books that we might not have considered before book club." Each group of book selections usually includes a book by a West Virginia author, a book from the "classic" list, and books that have been recently popular.

In order for students to write more fluently, they need multiple opportunities during the school day and a t home to practice. This can be accomplished in many ways. For example: journaling before reading a passage, freewriting, creating timelines, brochures or advertisements, writing descriptions, emails or reports, generating surveys, diagrams, charts, or graphs can be utilized in various educational settings. Each targets a different skill and allows students to enjoy the writing process.
Students need opportunities to play with words and use words in various modes.

Recently, my students wrote a Blotz poem using alliteration and created a person book that would match the poem. To write the poems, students used the first letter of their name as the basis of their poems. They brainstormed lists of foods, places, activities and action verbs that began with the chosen letter. Once a list of words was formulated, the first task was to create an imaginary name for the Blotz creature. With an activity such as this, students have an opportunity to play with words and use their imagination to create something nonsensical too.

Recently my students completed an in-depth study of the Holocaust. I tried a concept new to me; I incorporated literature circles and used fiction and non-fiction young adult literature. Students read one of the following books: Room in the Heart by Sonia Levitin, Daniel's Story by Carol Matas, Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serrailler, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust by Elly Gross, and Shadow Life: A Portrait of Anne Frank and Her Family by Barry Denenberg.