Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/5535
nia critter on the endangered species list and how it is saved from extinction. Fifth-graders have more leeway and may create fiction based on any theme. Sometimes, to get their creative juices flowing, she’ll have her students work with clay and bring their main character to life via sculpture first. “You can do anything you want — fantasy or real life,” says Chase Rowe, a fifth-grader who wrote a book about fishing. “I like being able to create an- other world.” Olmstead looks at the work in prog- ress and offers some advice to the class. “Show, don’t tell, to reveal character traits,” she says. “If someone is boring, show how boring they are, don’t just say it. Make them so boring the reader BELOW: Davis Teachers Association member Cheri Olmstead works with fourth-grader Kathy Hu on a writing assignment at Korematsu Elementary School. wants to fall asleep.” Students, says Olmstead, don’t know they are wonderful writers until they are given the chance. “Sometimes they are completely changed,” she says. “They come back and tel l me they wrote wonderful stories over the sum- mer. That keeps me coming back for another year.” Freedom writers “I feel like Hansel and Gretel lost in a forest with no end,” an 11th-grader writes. “My mother was never much of a mother to me. She was like the witch in the story. She would lift my hopes with lies and false promises, telling me I would live with her as soon as she got on her feet and that I would have my family back together. She was pretty, tal l and ful l of a partying spirit. I crawled out of the cage and pushed her out of my heart, as far out as I could. I found hope in the arms of my father who truly loves me. Like Hansel and Gretel, I found my way home.” Writing personal diary entries is part of being a “freedom writer” in Gio- vanni Torres’ AVID class at Bell Gar- dens High School, where his students research a fairy tale and connect it with their own lives. The exercise allows them to share poignant memories, get in touch with their inner feelings, and give Torres some insight about what makes them tick — even though entries are e-mailed to him anonymously. But “You can do anything you want, fantasy or real life. I like being able to create another world.” Chase Rowe, fifth-grader december 2009 • january 2010 | www.cta.org 21