JMS WRITING WORKSHOP RECEIVES STATEWIDE RECOGNITION

Students can print out their work at the end of the day or save it to disk. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

Ellen Lukens has graded Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests. The Jackson Middle School language arts teacher, therefore, knows what it takes for students to excel on the all-important test.

One thing she felt it took was an opportunity to do more hands-on writing.

She found the solution by successfully obtaining grants for a Dreamwriter word processor for each seventh grade student and later an overhead project to use with the system. The students use the Dreamwriters in a successful writing workshop to write essays, book reviews, short stories and poems and also do their own web site.

The innovative program has earned Lukens and JMS statewide recognition. The program was one of nine recognized by SuccessLink, a statewide education agency. Lukens was honored at an awards banquet at the Show-Me Professional Development Conference March 19-21 at the Lake of the Ozarks.

"I had done a lot of work for the state writing assessments for the new MAP test and knew it was making a big change in what the state expects," Lukens said. "I knew we needed much more writing and more interactive reading."

That was five years ago, as faculty and students moved into the new middle school. The equipment and materials for the writing workshop have been expanded nearly every year. Now each seventh grader has a hands-on tool to enhance his/her reading and writing skills to their maximum.

"The Dreamwriter is a word processor, not a full computer," Lukens said. "It doesn't have games they can get into. It's really a writing tool for them. They can print their work out or do anything a word processor can do."

Having one for each student gives her kids a level playing field, Lukens believes.

"A lot of kids have computers at home these days," she said, "but not everybody. This equalizes things. It gives each kid a technological tool.

"Anything we can add technologically really helps out. They're very much into figuring out how things work on the computer.

"I like the Dreamwriters," said seventh grader Erica Floyd. "You get to type out all your work. One program lets you find what time it is in other states. I think it's pretty cool."

"I like spell check," said David Horn.

"I think it's really good," said Trey Busch. "I like how we get to type on our own stories."

"I like how much you learn," Hannah Fowler added. "We learn a lot in here. Mrs. Lukens really pushes you hard. She's a very good teacher."

Each student has a favorite type of writing. For Busch it is short stories and poems. Fowler prefers personal narratives, Horn autobiographies and Floyd short stories. Having works appear on the student-maintained JMS web page. (Each of the three seventh grade language arts teachers, Lukens, Ronda Heaton and Sonja Davis, have individual class web sites at http://www.jackson.k12.mo.us/MiddleSchool/JMS%20Home%20Page.htm.)

"The kids are much more enthusiastic about the writing," Lukens said, "since they have a tool to use."

Goals of the workshop are to increase writing skills, while completing a variety of tasks designed by the teachers; to improve in the nine-point scoring guide used to assess writing; to score in the Advanced and Proficient range in the MAP Communication Arts assessment; and to publish at least one piece of writing on the JMS web page. Lukens pointed out that the seventh graders' MAP scores improved during the first two years, with 44 percent in the top two categories.

The SuccessLink honor was a big boost as well. It marked the writing workshop as one of the nine top projects -- at any grade level -- in Missouri.

"It was a real surprise," Lukens said. "It was unexpected and really was nice. They presented the award at the professional development conference.

It was rather nice, in front of all of our peers." A plaque and proclamation from the Missouri State Senate was also presented.

To qualify, a program must have been in operation for two years or longer, must help a school achieve goals of the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, be aligned with Missouri's Show-Me Standards and incorporate "active, participatory learning and performance-based assessment." A program must also be one that other districts can replicate.