Excerpt:
'Our two goals were that students see writing as an enjoyable activity and that their writing improve,' Collet said. 'During Young Writers Camp, the Chinese students raced around a field on a scavenger hunt, looking for clues that would help them write a story.'
Students played guessing games to focus on using descriptive language, participated in collaborative writing activities, and filled their writing notebooks with poems, stories and expository writing.
'We told students that they need to exercise their writing muscles every day,' Collet explained. 'Just like kids attending sports camps, writing takes practice and stamina. We gave the Chinese children lots of opportunities for both as they participated in individual, small-group, and whole-group writing experiences.'