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Students "adopted" a columnist by choosing a newspaper columnist to read, clip, and save over time. For each column they read, they filled out a chart, checking off the "writer´s tools" that columnist used: types of organization, detail, figurative language, good word choices, and tone, or "voice". At the end of the activity, they answered follow-up questions: What tone did the writer use most often? What writer´s tools did he/she employ the most? What did they learn about good essay writing from the activity? We followed up with a class discussion. The project lasted about six weeks, during the final count down to the FCAT writing. The students enjoyed being able to choose their own reading assignments, since they only chose columnists they really enjoyed. I could see the success of the activity in their insights as readers: they became very attentive to the writer´s craft in the pieces they read. I could also see success in their writing. Many of my students progressed beyond writing standard "school essays" ("I´m going to write about...") and into the realm of "real" essay writing. They began to emulate the sound, feel, and voice, as well as the level of detail, used by professional writers. They got beyond the formulaic five-paragraph essay!

David Finkle & Nancy Kinsley
8th Grade Language Arts
Southwestern Middle School

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