About LASF: Contra Costa Sun Articles

Program helps students master art of writing

By Barbara Millman Cole
CORRESPONDENT

More than 800 sixth- and seventh-graders at Stanley Middle School are learning the importance of good writing this year with Writing for Mastery, a one-on-one tutoring program offered by the Lafayette Arts and Science Foundation.

Since the current program began more than five years ago, more than 2,500 students have taken part in the two-session tutoring program, some signing on two or three times a year.

Tutors meet with teachers at the beginning of the school year to discuss areas where students need instruction – paragraph structure, topic sentences, complex vocabulary and other aspects of a well-written and constructed essay or narrative.

“Over the years, teachers have requested us to use many different programs and texts, such as ‘Writer’s Craft,’ “‘The Six Traits of Writing,’ and “‘The Jane Schaffer Writing Program’”’” said Myrna Kimmelman, LASF’s program manager.

“Our tutors – most of whom have professional writing or teaching experience – take opportunities to learn more about current writing programs and skill development.”

As part of the tutoring program, each student meets twice in one week with his tutor. The initial session focuses on improving a first draft.

After a rewrite based on the feedback from that session, tutors and students meet again for a second session to consider additional refinements. Students then prepare their final draft, which is the one they submit in class for a grade.

“The goal of the Writing for Mastery program is to get kids excited about writing. We provide positive feedback, no matter what the level of writing skill,” said Sheila Maher, who coordinates the program at Stanley Middle School.

“I like having someone help me with my writing,” said Katie Waal, a sixth-grader. “I like writing, but I feel I need someone to help me with it, and the tutors help me write better.”

Chris Payne, another sixth-grader, said having a tutor is helpful, and also fun. “Having a tutor is a lot more fun than trying to help yourself,” he said.

The most positive aspect of the program for tutors is “When I see the light bulb go on,” Maher said. “Sometimes we struggle to find a word that perfectly describes a character or a setting, but the result is the perfect sentence! It’s so rewarding.”

Another goal is to show students that writing isn’t a one-time, sit-down-and-write-a-perfect-paragraph affair.

Tutors explain how they may revise their own work a dozen times or more. Students are able to see that writing is a process and that no one achieves a final product on the first try.

They also learn that improved skills can be applied to all of their writing, not just in English.

“Because we work closely with the teachers to reach their goals,” Maher said, “we support their lessons on structure, language and grammar while giving students a fresh way of looking at their writing.

“We hope it will stick with them. At the very least, it certainly can’t hurt!”

05/13/05 Reprinted with permission. Visit the Contra Costa Times on the web at www.contracostatimes.com.

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