Read It Here First: Bret Harte After School Expo

December 16, 2015

This semester we have been treated to some powerful writing by our students at Bret Harte in Oakland. The student pieces have been thought provoking and well written.

Below are four pieces that were presented at the Bret Harte After School Expo. They just might convince you that we should let the children rule the world, at least for a little while.

**Opinion Writing: "Am I free or not?" by Ethan**

**Free Write: "Restriction and Liberation" by Calvin**

**Opinion Writing: "Are humans a virus on Earth?" by Steven**

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Inclusive Schools Week 2015: Sharing our Gifts

December 10, 2015

This week is Inclusive Schools Week and across the nation educators, students and parents are using the opportunity to celebrate how far we have come and explore what more we can do to include and educate all students, regardless of disability, race, gender, socio-economic status, language, cultural heritage or other factors.

On Monday, December 7th, San Francisco public schools held a kick off event on the steps of City Hall where dignitaries, educators, parents and students spoke about the importance of inclusion in their lives. "Take My Word For It!" was proud to have one of our students read a poem at this event. This year's ISW theme is "sharing our gifts" and we hope many students can use the gift of poetry to get them through the hard times in life.

Patrick reading a poem at City Hall that he wrote during a "Take My Word For It!" in-school poetry residency at his elementary school.

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Take My Word For It in the Media! Storybird Writer's Workshop

December 2, 2015

For Why Not Write Wednesday we are sharing a Storybird blog post written by TMWFI!'s very own Sondra Hall.

Storybird Writers Workshop #9

"Writers capture their readers' imaginations by using descriptive detail and tapping into all five senses when they do it. When you leave out the detail, your writing can be ordinary and boring. But with a little help, even something as basic as the weather can bring readers to the edge of their seats!"

Be sure to scroll down to the end of the Storybird blog post to read some of the creative responses this post received from Storybird members.

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Mill Creek Elementary's Secret Writing Society!

November 19, 2015

This fall, young writers in 3rd and 4th grade at Mill Creek Elementary in Geneva, Illinois became part of a secret writing society and entered the world of all things untold! We had a wonderful time exploring and writing about all kinds of secrets - secret codes, secret identities, secret recipes and more. Here are some of their writing projects - click on each picture to see the work in his/her own writing!

During "Secret Recipes", students came up with their own recipe of themselves by thinking of themselves as an ingredient list. They shared what makes them special in terms of ingredients like personality, talents, likes, etc.!

Recipe of Me by Olivia

We talked about characters that have secret identities (like Clark Kent/Superman), and how these characters change from their "ordinary" selves to their super-human selves. The students created their own character with a secret identity, then created imaginative stories about those characters!

Pickles and Boo by Aggie

Darth Starkiller A.K.A Master Ark! by Nikita

"He is the Padwan of Darth Ren. He has a blue and red light saber. He would have an oxygen mask on. And he has a gray face and has no hair, beard or mustache. Also, he has a giant scar on the right side of his face. Darth Starkiller turns off his red light saber and takes off his oxygen mask and turns it off. Also, he turns of a special computer on his chest so he would be able to breathe. Also, he is hunting a Jedi named Ajjaie Ventress. Later he finds Darth Ren choking Ajjaie Ventress and he gets his light saber and fights Darth Ren but at the last second his robot arm was chopped off and his computer was damaged and he couldn't breathe and was thrown off the 1,000 story building!!!!!!!!"

-Nikita

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Mistah F.A.B. drops in at Oakland Charter Academy

November 18, 2015

Our students at Oakland Charter Academy (OCA) started class last week with this worksheet:

What they didn't expect was that the rap artist on their worksheet was going to walk into the classroom!

We arranged for Oakland Hip-Hop legend, Mistah F.A.B to make a surprise visit to our students at Oakland Charter Academy. F.A.B. began writing poetry at a young age to grapple with the difficult circumstances of his childhood. In high school, he turned his poetry into rap lyrics, and eventually into a successful career as a rap artist.

F.A.B. talked to the kids about the power of writing, about the importance of believing in themselves and of going for their dreams. He said, "Anything I want to do in this life, pen and paper is gonna get it for me."

Some students shared their writing out loud and experienced the impact that their words had on their peers and on F.A.B. We were all moved by their honesty and willingness to be heard.

F.A.B. invited the students to give him a list of words that he then incorporated into a freestyle rap (using the words in exactly the order the kids wrote them)!

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Fletcher Maynard Authors - Read It Here First!

November 17, 2015

Our 2nd-5th grade writers at Fletcher Maynard Academy in Cambridge, MA have been having a great time writing about treasure and found objects with "TMWFI!" teacher Kate.

Students wrote about what a found object is, where they might find one and/or what the object is used for in a short story.

THE LOST DOLLY
There was a dolly with a lot of makeup and a cute tutu. One day she got lost in the dryer. When we went to the dryer there was nothing in there! I thought a monster ate the dolly because all we saw was a little foot. After that happened, I went to my room and jumped into bed and cried for an hour. I opened my eyes and the dolly was sitting under my pillow. I thought it had all been a bad dream…”It wasn’t a dream,” whispered the dolly.

-Soniya

MY GOOD LUCK MARBLE
The marble had a blue line and it was clear. I called it “my little booger.” I lost it in an ocean themed room. It was covered in blue and indigo tiles, wallpaper and paint. All I know is my marble fell on the ground and rolled away. I lost track of it and it went in to another dimension!

-Somaya

After listening to a story about long lost twins (a "treasure" is not always an object!), students wrote their own stories about long lost twins.

THE GOLD CLOCK
Once upon a time there were long lost twins sisters named Daicha and Tasha. Tasha loved to travel a lot and Daicha loved to stay in one place. Tasha loved to find things and bury them. Daicha loved to play with very fun toys. One time, Daicha went to the beach with her family. She was going to jump in the ocean when she tripped on something. It was a very old gold clock!

-Daicha

THE LOST FRIENDS
Once there were three girls and they went to school together. They were best friends. The girl’s names were Emma, Marcia and Celine. They decided because they were best friends for such a long time that they wanted to go on a trip. So they went to California all together. They had a nice home in California and a nice time swimming. It was a really pretty straw house and it was close to a big ocean. One day, Marcia went to go swimming and she didn’t return. Celine and Emma wondered where she was!

Students explored the idea of "treasure" - what makes something valuable?

HAPPILY EVER AFTER
“Roza we need to talk so come to my room, “ Roza’s mom shouted. Roza ran to her mom’s room. Roza’s mom sighed and said, “There’s something important I need to tell you.” “Yes,” Roza said in a worried voice. “We need you to go to the island called the Lost Island.” “Why?” Rosa asked. “Because we need someone your age to go so we chose you.”

-Felicity

HAPPILY EVER AFTER
“When are we leaving?” Rosa asked. “No you are going alone,” her mom told her. ”I’m going alone?” Roza said. “Yes, I’m afraid so,” her mother said in a sad voice. “You need to go pack because the plane will be leaving in two hours.” “Ok I’ll go pack.”

While Roza was packing her stuff she came across a necklace of her family. While she was looking at it a tear came down her eye so she put it in her pocket and started packing some more.

-Rawa

HAPPILY EVER AFTER
She packed clothes, stuff for her hair, sunglasses, a notebook to write about her trip and some other things. When she was done it was time to go. So her mom drove her to the airport. When they got to the airport Roza walked to the plane she was getting on. When she was on the plane it started to take off. Once it took off she started to write in her notebook about the plane ride.

-Molly