Students at three Woodland schools have chronicled the antics of raisins in a soft drink, kept a journal over the course of an art project and used the written word to grasp math concepts. They are part of Writing Across the Content Areas, a new program designed to better prepare the students for college and geared toward schools where fewer students go to college. It uses writing to improve students' thinking skills and to help them gain content knowledge in various subjects including math, science, social studies, art and even physical education. More than 700 students in grades one through nine at Freeman and Beamer Park elementary schools and Lee Junior High School participate in the program. Pamela Major, a lecturer in the English department at the University of California, Davis, and the director of the new writing program, says the program will play a key role in enhancing college preparation. "Being able to communicate effectively what one has learned is vital to success in any field, and writing is an essential tool for teaching any subject matter." At its core, the program pairs elementary and middle school teachers with 20 UC Davis students taking an advanced writing course for future K-12 teachers. These "writing ambassadors" -- from a variety of disciplines but all exploring teaching -- work in the classroom weekly to help integrate writing into the curriculum. Kristina Chang, a junior majoring in human development, spends two mornings a week in teacher Judy Strehle's fifth-grade class at Freeman Elementary School. She helps engage students in their writing by serving as their audience, responding thoughtfully and in great detail to what the students have to say. For her part, Chang says, "I've learned so much from Ms. Strehle, about how to manage a classroom, about what to expect from fifth-graders." Major says clearly defining the rhetorical situation like this brings the writing to life for students. "If students don't have an audience for what they write, they don't have an investment," she says. "If they just think they're writing for the teacher because she says so, it becomes less interesting or important than if they're writing for their parents, for instance, or for some other particular audience." The Writing Ambassadors learn from each other as well. Every other week, they meet together with Major to share their experiences and to discuss how best to integrate writing into their respective classrooms. The teachers at the three participating schools also meet regularly to attend workshops and to discuss how the program can best serve them and their students. Recent workshops, under the auspices of UC Davis' Reading and Writing in the Content Areas project, have explored the use of storytelling to develop writing in different disciplines and ways to use technology to teach writing. Peggy Watterson, co-director of the reading and writing project, identifies another benefit of these occasions for teachers to get together: "We see some really wonderful problem-solving going on when the teachers all meet. Teachers are almost never given enough time to talk and to share what works and what doesn't work. We help provide that time." Funded by a grant from UC Davis, the program involves the Woodland Joint Unified School District, the UC Davis Department of English, School/ University Partnerships at UC Davis, and the Reading and Writing in the Content Areas project of the UC Davis Division of Education.