Students Develop Writing Skills at Summer Writing Camp
What’s a chore you do at home that you absolutely hate? What would you rather spend your time doing?This was one of the daily writing prompts that students in this summer’s Writing Camp pondered as they started their day.
About 15 students from across the SCSD gathered at PSLA at Fowler for a four-week Writing Camp, starting their day with a free write and then examining narrative poems, newspaper stories and more, all through hands-on lessons.
“I came because I wanted to get better at writing,” Corcoran incoming senior Hazel Tucker said. “It’s been a great experience – I’ve learned about the importance of using descriptive words. I think it’ll help me be a better writer this school year.”
Noting that most of her fellow students were incoming 8th graders, Hazel also shared that it was nice to help them see a bit of what high school will be like.
“The writing camp is important because it allows students to grow and perfect the skills that are taught during the school year,” Clary Middle School Disciplinary Literacy Coach Katelyn Hines shared. “Writing camp also gives students the chance to practice the writing process several times with different types of writing. A lot of times, students lose interest in writing because it’s tedious. During camp, we can provide them with differentiated direct instruction and support their writing with individual conferences that gives them the confidence to create great pieces of writing. It is our hope that they will gain a deeper understanding of how to add details into creative writing pieces such as short stories or poetry!”
Over the course of the camp, students each worked on a creative writing project, using what they learned to write a short fiction, song lyrics, poetry, or another piece of their choosing. At the end of the program, all of their final works were assembled into a book, which each student received a copy of on the last day of the program. We’re proud of these students for spending their summer developing their writing skills!
