Robert K Finn Ryan Road School
498 Ryan Road
Florence, MA 01062
413-587-1550
January 15, 2008
To Whom It May Concern:
Lynn Bowmaster completed ten week writing workshops with both of our fourth grade classes this past fall from September to December. Lynn came to the classes once a week for an hour each to work with our students. The teachers and I both felt the workshops were very beneficial for our students - especially in developing their fluency and enjoyment of writing and in helping them learn to conference effectively with each other.
Lynn’s writing workshops followed a format of reading aloud some inspirational children’s literature - either poetry or prose - and then offering the students several prompts from which to choose. They wrote for 10-15 minutes and then shared in the group while she facilitated.
I had the pleasure of sitting in on several of the workshops, and I was so pleased to note all of the students participating with clear enjoyment both in the writing and in the sharing and conferencing. Lynn’s facilitation of the sharing was masterful in that she modeled constantly her sincere enjoyment of the students’ work while gently encouraging them to consider strengths and areas to work on. The students were especially responsive to this approach, and their
growth was evident.
These writing workshops were excellent opportunities for our students to learn with pleasure, but also for our teachers to participate and learn how to
cultivate a love of writing in their students.
I highly recommend these writing workshops to other teachers. Please feel free to call me if you wish to talk further about this experience.
Margaret Riddle
Principal
498 Ryan Road
Florence, MA 01062
413-587-1550
January 15, 2008
To Whom It May Concern:
Lynn Bowmaster completed ten week writing workshops with both of our fourth grade classes this past fall from September to December. Lynn came to the classes once a week for an hour each to work with our students. The teachers and I both felt the workshops were very beneficial for our students - especially in developing their fluency and enjoyment of writing and in helping them learn to conference effectively with each other.
Lynn’s writing workshops followed a format of reading aloud some inspirational children’s literature - either poetry or prose - and then offering the students several prompts from which to choose. They wrote for 10-15 minutes and then shared in the group while she facilitated.
I had the pleasure of sitting in on several of the workshops, and I was so pleased to note all of the students participating with clear enjoyment both in the writing and in the sharing and conferencing. Lynn’s facilitation of the sharing was masterful in that she modeled constantly her sincere enjoyment of the students’ work while gently encouraging them to consider strengths and areas to work on. The students were especially responsive to this approach, and their
growth was evident.
These writing workshops were excellent opportunities for our students to learn with pleasure, but also for our teachers to participate and learn how to
cultivate a love of writing in their students.
I highly recommend these writing workshops to other teachers. Please feel free to call me if you wish to talk further about this experience.
Margaret Riddle
Principal
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