California Writing Program Challenges Migrant Youngsters

Publication: The Modesto Bee
Date: July 6, 2010

Summary: Writing in English didn't come easily, and they didn't have to go. Still, 40 middle-graders gave up three weeks of summer vacation to learn about poetry, expository paragraphs, and persuasive writing at the Migrant Writing Academy, a program created by the Great Valley Writing Project.

Excerpt from Article

These are just average sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, but they're doing high school work. They know. We showed them the standards," said lead teacher Brandy De Alba, who spends the school year teaching writing to eighth-graders in Stockton. "We don't just want to meet the standards. We beat them."

The writing academy is a professional breath of fresh air for her after 10 years of teaching traditional summer school, she said.

"I'm not forced to a pacing guide or a limited curriculum or a test. We are treated as professionals and allowed to meet the needs of our students," De Alba said.

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