European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Ant 1 an a e it a 6 the Ion 1 Sman a jeers a a Quot v-jr1 -7-v i with National football league dolphins. Gina read., Bink Yand Bonky s adventures she tale of two bears. A who went Blueberry picking got lost and were chased by a Tiger. Gina Shook included illustrations and a a map of Bink Yand Bonky a route. A a a just Down the Hall from Weismann a classroom in what was once the assistant principals office a fifth grader clutching her. Manuscript appeared at the a door and announced Quot i have 3 12 20 appointment a with the publisher. Once a child a manuscript is Complete a Paw a prints Volunteer interviews the child and helps a a Complete an editing Sheet. They then read the Book together the writer decides the layout size and shape of the Book colors for pages cover and binding. The books include an Quot about the quote author Quot Section a some even with photos. Dedications and family information a there is no limit to the number of pages a Quot younger grades might have three or four pages but some fifth graders have done 17-Page novelette Quot said to Watts one of the Volunteer publishers Quot sometimes there a one sentence on the Page and sometimes there a a whole Page of words with an illustration on the the author leaves the publisher with paper to do his illustrations and when returned the publisher sets the Type at the child s direction. V Quot the thing that was Foremost in our minds when we set up the procedure was to make sure the children own their work Quot said Volunteer publisher Barbara Yow. Quot we Call ourselves editors but we Don change their children s finished work is something. produced of its ,1.then that a the level the child is on and that a what we accept finished products Are delivered to the child s classroom with a certificate from the principal and a Star they can Wear that reads Quot i m a Star i published a Book Quot another Star hangs in their classroom Watts said. There also is a Star for the publishing office s Wall the company s theme is Quot be a Star write a Book Light up the Quot i Hope by the end of the year this room will be covered with stars Quot Watts said books have been dedicated to parents friends soldiers in saudi Arabia even entertainers such As Bette Midler. The books All carry the Paw prints school ran a contest to come up with the name Paw profs which coincidentally fits the school Mascot a a lion cub. A some of the students became very creative with. Shapes for their books. Jessica peppers first Book the runaway kiss is in the shape of a huge Hershey a Candy kiss the cover wrapped in laminated tinfoil and the pages the color of chocolate 1 publishers say they also have done books in the a shape of a dog and a if they choose the writers can have their books placed in the school Library on a special Paw prints publishing shelf. Children cannot Check out the but oks but May read them in the Library. Only one a copy of each Book is printed there is a Library card packet in the Back of the Book where readers write their names. A a _ to the company s goal is to publish a work by every a wild who wants to write a Book by the end of the school year Watts said. The school has about 370, first through fifth graders. Nearly 100 books have a been published so far. The nine volunteers think they can manage the Igor a Quot its tee for me As a Parent to come in and work in school Watts said. It makes my child Happy. That a 3ig part of Why i do things like but others like Kristi Phillips a teacher simply want to work in a. tie program is to Quot promote literacy Quot is a ought buy Yow s time. Other volunteers Are bar too Teresa Graves Lisa Sutton Gayle Sayers tac a Huff and Ann peppers. Weisman said such a Center takes a huge Load off classroom teacher who alone binds 60 books a school year a a Tod Back in the Cia room the writing process. Continues. You can see that these Are. Children excited about writing a Weisman said. That s a necessity if America i50 Quot build a generation of writers who Are confident in their own ability to write have a desire to write and know that first is not always Best Quot. A a m \ teacher Barbara Weisman works with 8-year-old will vow on character development. Teaching writing Matt Barnes 8, puts the finishing touches on his Story Quot Oscar otters giant slide a american children can to write. That s the opinion of Many experts in the Field of education writing experts contend that while some Progress in writing in american schools has been made Over the past decade greater improvement is needed. In the paper Quot a nation of writers Quot Ronald Cramer professor of education at Oakland University in Michigan wrote that Quot writing in american schools is in a crisis condition the overwhelming majority of our nations children cannot write adequately much less Well a Quot experts disagree with those who consider this he age o Oral communication and that writing is the wave of the past instead those in the Field insist writing must have a prominent position m the curriculum Thal writing is crucial to literacy quo while a writing revolution would be Nice betting the family Fortune on its imminent arrival is no Wise Cramer advised. Meanwhile steady Progress can be Mode by implementing a new modest improve meals he wrote. Teaching the writing process is one of the Fri for tools to improvement wrote Cramer who has published numerous articles on Reading creative writing and spelling in major professional journals new language arts textbooks in the department of defense dependents schools next school year will be Quot tuned to the writing process Quot said Betty. Nicholas Germany Region language arts Quot coordinator the program places emphasis a _ on teaching language through the writing process and Oral language she said. Dodds Germany has conducted workshops for teachers with consultants from two different University projects both Qiu which focused on teaching writing As a process. Barbara Weisman who teaches the writing process to third graders at Mark Twain elementary school in Heidelberg said she was introduced to the process which she called a Quot More student owned program Quot a couple of years ago. Quot it s a big component of the language arts program Quot she said adding Quot that a where we re headed in language arts even to include spoiling starting next school year Dodds will delete from the curriculum spelling textbooks now used in grades. One through eight the new spelling program will concentrate on helping students accurately spell the words they use when they write.,Weisman already uses that process. Words Are. A a derived from Quot their writing their curriculum wards that they use Quot she said. Quot every six weeks we have a Quot spelling test from the words that they have misspelled 1 a and since Many children inner class Are getting their books published there s no doubt they re Quot Quot getting plenty of writing practice a j j. A monday May 13,1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15
