For eight years, I developed my own writing program using this book. Each year, the student books got better and better. As the writing program grew in reputation more students wanted to write a book, to have a book by the end of the program to take home and keep. A book they could display on their own shelves, knowing they had created it from its very inception to its self-manufactured sewn and pasted product. (Many of them looked like professionally published books.)
Ron Knox for the Lawrence Journal World wrote an article “Student writings will be added to West library” about the pride some of my students took in their books. In order to have a book to take home and one book for the library these students had to make two. It took a semester of work to complete them.
I liked when Knox said, “After the students and their parents cleared the room, Burlingham spoke softly about her student's accomplishments.
"Patience," she said, "that helps bring them along."
The class, although part of the school's gifted program, was open to everyone. Some of the kids could flat-out write, she said. Some struggled to finish their projects.
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