By Melissa McMullan “Can we start a club called Special for Special and do special things for people?” “That National Geographic article we read about the Paleolithic puppy got us thinking about doing our own story about the Paleolithic Era.” “We would like to design a DIY (Do It Yourself) project for the class where…
By Jehan Roberson A region wrapped in mythology and mystique, writing that has emerged and continues to emerge from the Caribbean is informed by the region’s long history as a site of colonial interest and greed, of numerous nations’ successful battles for liberation, and as a region of constant migratory flow. The writers listed here…
By Sheryl Lain I’d always jotted observations about my high school classroom and the students, but I didn’t consider these entries real writing, and I certainly wouldn’t want anyone else’s eyes but my own racing across the lines of words. Natalie Goldberg’s story in her book Writing Down the Bones changed all that. She told…
By M.L. Thompson Dr. Joshua Bennett – @sirjoshbennett M.L. Thompson – @dreamyuncle LaQuann Dawson Jr. – @laquanndawson If the way things are will be the way things will continue, then we must address time—the boundless landscape of happening. Even before that, though, we must face the students, or at least have an idea of what…
by Matthew Sharpe Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, I wanted to do something with my two Columbia University creative writing classes that addressed the disaster we had all just experienced. Each of the lessons I planned for my first class went awry. I began by asking my students to free write for five…
By Matthew Burgess “The best way to help children write freely is by encouragement, by examples, and by various other inspiring means.” — Kenneth Koch, Wishes, Lies, and Dreams “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” — Pablo Picasso If you walk into a room full…