Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/5535
tage. Her essay “Embracing Who I Am” reflects this dilemma: “I have felt like an outsider, realizing I am being judged and categorized. … They see a white fe- male. Because of my skin color, that’s all they’ll ever see. When someone looks at me, they don’t see the Mexican woman I am.” The essay was published last year in Matters of Race, a UCLA anthology of student writings. Several of Carter’s stu- dents have had their work appear in UCLA publications. Before the bell rings, Carter assigns homework: Students must eat lunch with students of a different ethnic group on campus and then write about it. The teens look terrified. “I’m not comfortable doing that,” one girl protests. “What if I don’t have much to say, Miss Carter?” a boy worries aloud. “What if I can’t fill a page?” “It’s all part of primary research, and I think you’ll find a lot to say,” says the teacher. “It will be a new experience. I want details. Tell me who you sit with. Tell me about the dialogue. Describe people’s body language. Tell me how you felt about it. And if you can fit all of that into one page, it’ll be a miracle.” Just their imagination Joe Schaaf sits in a classroom at Ko- rematsu Elementary School, but he’s also immersed in another world. The fourth-grader is writing a story about a Pacific tree frog whose habitat is threatened with destruction. Helping the protagonist fight for his life are two birds named Flip and Flut ter. Schaaf, you might say, is “in the zone” where words are flowing freely onto his computer screen. Other students are equally hard at work. Spencer Ault is writing about an arachnid that shoots venom from its legs and fights crime. And Kacey Hsu is writ ing about a mean girl named Priscilla who enjoys getting other girls TOP: United Teachers Los Angeles member Marlene Carter teaches her English class at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles. BELOW: Student Nancy Berumen involved in a writing exercise. in trouble. The students are only fourth- and fifth-graders, but soon they’ll be pub- lished authors, inspired by Cheri Olm- stead, who teaches writing for gifted students and also holds writing work- shops for students after school. “Their stories are wonderful,” says Olmstead, a Davis Teachers Association member and teacher for 35 years. “They are interesting, funny and exciting. My students know about setting, character description, rising action, climax and resolution. They have to incorporate all those literary devices into what they’re doing. And by the time they finish, they’ll be able to punctuate dialogue and know how to use commas.” She is a National Writing Project teacher consultant at UC Davis and has mentored other writing teachers. She was praised by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell last year. Through writing, she gives stu- dents a voice. Her students write and publish hard- bound books with the help of online publishing companies such as Lulu.com and Creationsbyyou.com. They must cre- ate a “story map” before writing. Fourth- graders are told to write about a Califor- 20 California Educator | december 2009 • january 2010