Budding wordsmiths

Dierdre Newman

As a reporter, being able to write a complete sentence is definitely

an asset. And for this valuable skill, I am forever indebted to my

second-grade teacher, Mrs. Halford.

As a new generation learns the art of crafting sentences, Mary

Becker’s fourth-grade class at Whittier Elementary School offers a window

into the world of writing.

On Monday morning, Becker’s students of various abilities took part in

that writing process. The challenge for Becker is tailoring the lesson to

meet the needs of all her students.

“You have to look at each student’s level so the goals are reachable

and they can break down [the process] easier,” Becker said.

To accomplish this, Becker groups the kids by their different writing

levels. Some are working on completing just one sentence, others are

working on stringing a few sentences together, and still others are

advanced enough to write mini-books. All the students go through the same

process of drafting, editing and publishing their work.

Becker modeled the writing process for one group of students by

drawing four squares and labeling them “first,” “next,” “then” and

“last.” Then she drew pictures that told a story and wrote sentences to

describe the pictures. She encouraged the students to spell the words as

best they could and underline them so they could look them up in a

dictionary later.

Student Joanna Cornejo enthusiastically worked on her book about a

zookeeper who has to rein the animals back in after they unlock their

cages and have a party. Joanna said she enjoys writing and illustrating

her stories.

“I get ideas from places I go,” Joanna said, adding that she had been

to the zoo recently.

Carlos Fuentes chose to write about Disneyland, based on a recent trip

he took.

“I like writing because it’s fun and I can learn labeling,” Carlos

said.

Becker stressed the importance of writing as the last link to literacy

after reading and math. Second grade, she said, is where students realize

what a complete sentence is.

“In first grade, they develop a sense of what words are, what reading

is,” Becker said. “In second grade, they start to put it all together. It

all starts to make sense, like a little light bulb goes off and they say,

‘I understand.”’

At the end of the class, it’s time for “Author’s Chair” when Becker

calls on some students to read their stories or have them read as the

rest of the class listens. The students are excited to hear their

carefully constructed sentences come alive.

So don’t be surprised to see Becker’s students’ bylines in the Daily

Pilot in years to come.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

writer Deirdre Newman visits a campus within the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District and writes about her experience.