Try describing a kaleidoscope-in writing
Make sure to capture the elegant way an array of relationships can come together to create a pleasing result.
This could be one of the exercises for Writing Across the Content Areas, a new academic outreach program coordinated by Pamela Major, a UC Davis English lecturer.
Funded by a grant from UC Davis' School/University Partnerships, the program blends the efforts of personnel from the Woodland Joint Unified School District, the UC Davis Department of English and the Reading and Writing in the Content Areas project. The program is offered by the UC Davis Division of Education's Center for Cooperative Research and Extension Services for Schools.
Writing Across the Content Areas uses writing to improve thinking skills and to help students gain content knowledge in math, science, social studies, art-even physical education, Major said. The program has received great support from Elizabeth Langland, dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, she added.
The program is in its first year at two Woodland elementary schools and one middle school, where students historically have not gone on to college in high numbers.
Exercises include having students chronicle the life cycle of the Chinook salmon, keep a journal over the course of an art project and use the written word to grasp math concepts. Such writing enhances the students' ability to acquire and process rich bodies of knowledge-making them better writers, which makes them better learners. That process, in turn, improves their writing even more, Major said.
Being able to communicate effectively what one has learned is vital to success, she said. "We see our program as being central to enhancing college preparation."
Major works closely on the project with Peggy Watterson, a seventh-grade science teacher and co-director of the writing program. They pair elementary and middle-school teachers with students enrolled in UC Davis' advanced writing course for future teachers. These "writing ambassadors" work in the classroom weekly to help integrate writing into the curriculum.
One such student is Kristina Chang, a junior human development major. She visits Judy Strehle's fifth-grade class at Freeman Elementary School Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chang engages students in their writing by serving as an audience.
"If students don't have an audience for what they write, they don't have an investment," Major said. "If they just think they're writing for the teacher because she says so, it becomes less interesting or important."
The enthusiasm that students have for their writing dramatically improves it and allows them better to capitalize on its value as a learning tool.
For one journal assignment, a young girl told Chang the academic and social tribulations that weigh on a fifth-grader's mind. The student signed off "Your friend."
At the same time Chang and her 18 fellow writing ambassadors are serving as teachers of writing, they are also gaining valuable experience. "I've learned so much from Ms. Strehle, about how to manage a classroom, about what to expect from fifth-graders," she said.
Writing ambassadors learn from each other as well. They meet semi-weekly with Major to share their experiences and to discuss how to better integrate writing into their classrooms.
Practicing what she preaches, Major also has the ambassadors keep a journal and e-mail her weekly. At the end of the quarter they will write a three-to-four-page paper.
The teachers at the participating schools are involved in the program in a multi-dimensional way as well. Under the guidance of Watterson and with support from the schools' principals, the teachers also meet regularly.
Major plans to add yet more facets to the writing program. She hopes to expand into Woodland High School and involve a wider range of UC Davis students over longer periods of time.
Larry Greer is the communications intern for School/University Partnerships.