ERIC EJ1074866: Making Their Voices Heard: A Partnership to Build Writing Skills through Empowerment, Imagination, and Scaffolded Supports

2015·0.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

Making Their Voices Heard: A Partnership to
Build Writing Skills through Empowerment,
Imagination, and Scaffolded Supports
Ashley Varady
In San Francisco, a partnership between a K–8 school and a nonprofit writing program
helps students who are achieving below grade level find their voices and blossom into
confident thinkers and writers.
The sky is made with secret ingredi- This is the opening of a myth to
ents. It had to be made so everyone explain why the sky is blue,
could breathe. After it was made, written by a third-grade
people threw blue glitter at it. Maybe student who participates in one of 826
it was a boy or a girl, or maybe a Valencia’s writing programs.1 This
grown-up who was throwing blue student is classified as “beginning,”
glitter. A crocodile was selling blue
glitter every night. He was selling 1 See http://826valencia.org/why-is-the-sky-
glitter so everyone could have it. He blue/. This story was also published in Hot
Sauce Planet and the 826 Quarterly Volume
wanted everyone to have some glitter
21, available online at http://826valencia.
to throw into the sky. The sky could be
org/store/department/books/. For more
turquoise or blue or sometimes even information about 826 Valencia, see
purple, when people threw glitter at it. http://826valencia.org/.
Ashley Varady is program manager of 826 Valencia’s after-school writing program at Buena Vista
Horace Mann K–8 Community School in San Francisco.
16 Annenberg Institute for School Reform
according to the California English about initially as a result of the
Language Development Test (CELDT), advocacy of parents in the school
a standardized state test that measures community who were seeking addi-
a student’s English language proficiency. tional writing support for their
In addition, she is currently reading students. This advocacy then developed
far below grade level. However, given into a partnership with school leaders
targeted, small-group support and from BVHM and staff at 826 Valencia,
intervention, she is making tremendous who co-designed a program to provide
growth towards achieving grade-level an intervention that supports the
proficiency. students’ acquisition of English reading
and writing skills. Through on-site pro-
826 Valencia is a non-profit
gramming, 826 Valencia was already
organization dedicated to supporting
supporting some BVHM students, and
under-resourced students ages six
it was a natural fit to further expand
to eighteen with their creative and
that support in the school community.
expository writing skills, and to
Now in its third year, the program
helping teachers inspire their students
continues to develop and evolve,
to write. Our work is based on the
growing from two grade levels to three,
understanding that great leaps in
and now potentially expanding to
learning can happen when trained
support an additional grade level
tutors work with small groups of
during the school day. Through regular
students to develop a strong founda-
evaluation, feedback, and reflection,
tion of writing skills. In our
the 826 Valencia program seeks to
increasingly connected world, commu-
continually evolve to meet the needs
nicating clearly is a fundamental skill,
of students and teachers in the school
and 826 Valencia seeks to help
community.
students develop writing skills to
articulate their ideas and make their As the program manager of 826
voices heard. Valencia’s program at BVHM, I
support trained volunteers as they
I was first drawn to 826 Valencia
tutor a targeted group of third-,
because of the way it helped students
fourth-, and fifth-grade students to
cultivate wonder, while at the same
improve their writing skills. These
time providing support and interven-
students are performing below grade
tion that would help students
level and were identified by their
communicate in the real world. As
teachers as being in need of additional
a former classroom teacher, I was
reading and writing intervention.
impressed with the way that students
The students participate for the entire
were engaging with the writing process
school year, which allows them to
in an authentic way and building skills
build relationships with tutors and
that would help them in the future.
to engage in writing more deeply.
In addition to supporting teachers and
The group consists of primarily English
students during the school day, 826
language learners with varying degrees
Valencia partners with neighborhood
of oral and written proficiency. The
schools to help students develop the
826 Valencia program is delivered in
skills to write well. One example of
English as a way to support the
these partnerships to support English
students’ acquisition of English reading
language learners (ELLs) is the 826
and writing skills. Although students
Valencia Annex at Buena Vista Horace
write in English, the 826 Valencia
Mann (BVHM), a K–8 bilingual school
program supports an asset-based view
in San Francisco’s Mission neighbor-
of language development, in which we
hood. This 826 Valencia program came
recognize that the students are coming
Ashley Varady VUE 2015, no. 41 17
to the table with knowledge and W hen I first started at 826 Valencia,
language skills in their primary I could barely write three sentences.
language. The writing projects are Now I can write more paragraphs
scaffolded to help support students as and full stories. Something that I
they become more independent and learned from writing at 826 Valencia
gain confidence in their English writing is that I can be more creative in what
skills. An example of this is the I think. It also helps me to write
students’ “Where I’m From” poems, more. When I entered this program
in which students explore their rich two years ago, I thought that I
cultural heritages and how their couldn’t do things. Now, when
knowledge of more than one language someone tells me we are going
is a critical part of their whole identity. to write, I think, “This is going to
be easy.”
Through 826 Valencia’s project-based
approach, students are supported in Students practice writing in a variety
their exploration of writing, and over of genres, taking each piece through
the course of the year, build confidence the writing process, from brainstorm-
in their growing academic skills. ing and drafting, all the way through
Because 826 Valencia is embedded into to revising, editing, and publishing.
the structure of curriculum and Twice a year, students select a piece of
planning at the school, the writing their writing to be published in a
projects done after school can be collection of stories. The latest publica-
designed to align with and support the tion was called The Hot Sauce Planet
literacy instruction during the school and included myths, stories about new
day. I regularly meet with teams of superheroes, and adventures in other
teachers and coaches during the school worlds.2 Because the book is profes-
day to evaluate student writing, sionally published, students take
identify skills gaps, and develop tremendous pride in their writing and
projects that align with the writing gain additional confidence in them-
being done during the school day. selves as writers who have original
perspectives to share with the world.
For example, during a persuasive
writing unit, the 826 Valencia students The writing projects students complete
wrote imaginative stories about a day in the 826 Valencia program are not
without any rules and then wrote a graded, nor will their writing be used
persuasive letter to their school to determine their grade-level profi-
principal, supported with clear reasons ciency. Because of this, students are
and strong examples, about a school relieved from the pressure that is
rule they wanted changed. They then usually associated with writing and are
delivered these letters to the principal, able to write about what interests
confident in their arguments, and them. From designing unique charac-
gratified that their voices would ters, such as the “dofi,” a half-dog,
be heard. half-fish who helps to save the world,
to writing stories about journeys into
This connection between creative
prompts and scaffolded support helps
2 The Hot Sauce Planet is available for sale
students to develop key academic
through 826 Valencia’s Pirate Supply Store
skills, as well as confidence in them- at http://826valencia.org/store/?p=3255.
selves as writers. As a result, the
students are able to engage in the 826
Valencia writing projects in a support-
ed, lower-stakes environment. As one
fifth-grade ELL student reflected,
18 Annenberg Institute for School Reform
other worlds, where bubble gum is gains that will help them to reach
used to fix rocket ships, students are grade-level proficiency in their reading
encouraged to think creatively and and writing. I feel fortunate to be able
write about something that hasn’t been to witness the journey of these students
written before.3 as they blossom into confident thinkers
and writers and develop positive
In addition, students are able to
connections to their own learning.
articulate their growth and their
newfound understanding of themselves After completing my first year in the
as published authors. As a fourth-grade program at 826 Valencia and working
student wrote at the end of her first with the staff, teachers, and school
year of the program, community at BVHM, I have seen how
much students flourish with structured
My favorite, most fabulous piece
support and intervention. With regular
was about a mermaid witch named
tutors to support them, both adults
Coral, who falls prey to a horrid
and students alike are invested in their
curse. I think I have made this piece
progress and are able to celebrate
more interesting in one hundred
student successes over the course of the
ways. I can tell it definitely shows
school year. Whether it is a student
the progress I’ve made. I wouldn’t
who can now confidently put his pencil
change anything. Having been in
to the page and take off into a journey
826 for one year, I know I have
of his own imagining, or an ELL
made progress. I used to only be
student who is able to practice spelling
able to write, like, three sentences,
patterns and apply them independently
and now I can write stories that are
to her writing, the students are hungry
four pages long! When I look back
for continued growth and achievement.
at the beginning of the year, it
826 Valencia seeks to cultivate wonder
makes me think, “Wow, I can’t
and help students develop positive
believe that I’ve made so much
associations with writing and their
progress!” It has made me proud.
own academic success. When students
In addition to reporting more positive can see evidence of their own imagina-
attitudes about their academic success, tion in print, they become invested in
students who participated in the 826 themselves and seek to write more.
Valencia program at BVHM experi-
enced accelerated reading level growth
(as measured by Fountas and Pinnell
reading assessments). In the program’s
first year, 74 percent of third- and
fourth-grade students improved more
than a year’s reading level, in just five
months. This accelerated reading
growth is especially important for
ELLs, who are often entering school
below their grade level in reading and
writing. With the targeted support and
intervention that students receive
through 826 Valencia programming,
these students can continue to make
3 For more examples of imaginative student
writing, see the Student Writing Gallery at
http://826valencia.org/category/writers-
gallery/.
Ashley Varady VUE 2015, no. 41 19