September 17, 2018

By Kelli Gile, WVUSD Office of Community Resources

Visiting the school library can be a magical time each week.

Young students peruse the shelves hoping to find familiar works like “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney and the "Percy Jackson" series by Rick Reirden, or perhaps discovering a hidden treasure.

Collegewood Elementary third and fourth graders already understand the correlation between reading and writing.

They have become immersed in specialized units of study that teach them how to write well about their reading.

Teacher Therapi Kaplan is passionate about the program she learned through the Teachers College Reading and Writing Institute at Columbia University.

“I’ve been emphasizing in Writers Workshop that their writing should have precise language,” Kaplan said.

“And reading is just the tool to help with this because it gives us a voice!”

The students will soon be celebrating each other’s latest personal narratives during a publishing party.

Kaplan is now is part of the team that is offering Writers Workshop training to Walnut Valley educators at all levels.