Migrant Writing Academies
Writing Projects co-sponsor summer writing academies for migrant students with schools, districts, and Migrant Education. The Writing Projects provide highly motivating writing instruction, California Mini-Corps often provides classroom tutors, Reading is Fundamental provides resources and books, California Writes provides family literacy support, and the students, as they improve their writing, bring the excitement.
Academy pre/post writing assessments have demonstrated that students’ growth in their writing is the equivalent of a full grade level. Students improved their writing in the dimensions of development of ideas, structuring and organizing, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and correctness.
To see highlights of past summer’s academies in Waterford and Gustine, link here:
Testimonials
The Great Valley Writing Project (GVWP) is an excellent partner for migrant students in Stanislaus County. Our community has a significant number of low-income, migrant, and seasonal farm worker families and many of the students are at risk because they lack the opportunities to be engaged in academic writing. The Migrant Education Program, in collaboration with the Great Valley Writing Project, serves approximately 300 students in 6 to 8 academies during the summer. The Writing Academies provide a needed opportunity for students to enrich their vocabulary, improve their writing and leatn to enjoy the writing process. The GVWP has worked with Migrant Education in expanding opportunities to the most at-risk students. We are committed to collaborating through this project to ensure student success.
Maria E. Alvarez, Ed.D, Migrant Education Region III
This [Migrant Education Writing Academy] is a wonderful program. I have talked to three other school principals to expand the program for next year to offer four elementary/middle school programs and a high school summer program that helps students with academic writing. We have to make this happen. It is so important, and our parents agree with me.”
Ruben Patron, Director of Migrant Education, Merced County Office of Education
I left my students with this quote: “When two people meet there is both an opportunity to teach and to learn and it is never quite clear who the teacher with be.” The Migrant Education Writing Academy was a fantastic experience for me. The students taught me a lot about my own teaching practices and reinforced the human purpose for writing; the connection among all of us.
Diana Jimenez, UC Merced Writing Project Teacher Consultant; Writing Academy teacher
I learned what sensory details were. I learned how to include vivid language and ‘paint a picture.’ I learned how to include a dialogue and revise an essay.”
Carolina G./4th grade student
Writing is important to me because I am learning to express my ideas. I feel happy to write because I used to say that it was boring to write words. Now that I come to the Young Writers Academy, I feel that it is fun to write my feelings. What I write is like letting all my thoughts and ideas that I have inside my head. My teachers tell us to let all the ideas come out and just
write them and to not care if they make sense or not. You can always go back and cross things out or add more details. I feel happy to come here to the Young Writers Academy because you can write all your ideas.
Dian Q., Hughson Academy
To view the results of student writing improvement from Great Valley Writing Project’s Summer 2008 Young Writers Academies click here.
