The K-2 students at Warren School in Ashland have been finding out firsthand what a writer experiences when their writing goes from first draft to final copy. Given the opportunity to publish their essay, our young authors have experienced what responsibilities authors take when ready to share their writing with an audience.

Writing instruction takes place daily in every classroom at Warren School. Students write about what they know and care about and complete many instructional units in various writing genres, ranging from poetry to nonfiction report writing. The children are taught grade-appropriate writing rules, check their work to ensure it makes sense, and are inspired to write with an eye on detail and description.

This school year, a pilot volunteer program providing teacher support to students during “Writers’ Workshop” was introduced to encourage student publication. 

The program was organized by Donna Shaw, a retired Literacy Curriculum Specialist who has worked with teachers to provide publication conferences for their students. This experience taught students how to reread their work with a reading audience in mind, thinking about what more their readers would want to know and providing a real reason to check for capital letters, punctuation, and spelling. Students began to edit and revise their work and found benefits from collaborating and peer conferencing.

When students of any age feel their writing is ready for publication, they now have a heightened awareness of how people will read their work, so there is a sense of ownership and pride that goes into the writing process. Furthermore, they are building good writing habits and confidence in the writing process. Student publication was realized when a class anthology of student writing was printed, bound, and presented to students. 

As this program expands for the next school year, volunteers are needed to help with student conferencing and typing of student work. We are exploring other ways to publish student work. We give special thanks to our Ashland News Staff for sharing a sample of the Warren School student work. For more information, contact Warren School Principal Peter Regan ([email protected]).  

Doggy, Doggy, Woof, Woof

By Ethan

Grade 2.  Mrs. Clifford

It was a cold Christmas night. I wanted a dog. A newborn little guy dog. I could see his fur in the fade of my eye. 

My family and I put a tray of cookies out for Santa. 

I shut my eyes and thought,. “Santa Claus is coming,” 

I heard a ding from the living room. He is here! I tried to sleep, but all I could do was close my eyes.

On Christmas Day, I woke up everyone and went downstairs. Stomp, Stomp, Stomp!

I saw it! A present with no name on it. I opened it, and a picture frame popped out; I saw a cute and noble dog in the frame. A note said that I would have him in a few weeks.

“How does that work,” I thought. The Disney Cruise

By Avery

Grade One Ms. Elbaum

Ariel and Flounder are going on a Disney Cruise. The Disney Cruise was very bumpy because the waves were high.

Ariel fell off the ship. Then a sea monster grabbed her and brought her to a cave.

All of a sudden, Ariel noticed she had turned into a mermaid. The sea monster took away her voice. Then she gave her a very magical potion.

Next, Flounder found Ariel alone in the ocean. When Ariel saw her tail, she was very scared. He helped her get back onto the ship. She was saved, but she was still a mermaid.

After a while, the potion was gone, and Ariel was back to normal. 

A Warm Spring Day

By Wesley

Grade 2  Mrs. Clifford

The sun is shining,

The flowers are in bloom.

Fields of dandelions and

Grass being blown by the wind.

Pools will soon open,

Trees are getting their leaves.

Rainbows in the skies

Telling us it is getting warmer.

All About Poland

By Landon

Grade 2   Mrs. Clifford

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. The Food

3. The Capital

4. Language

5. Famous Places to Visit Conclusion

Introduction

Do you like Europe, hot summers, and white eagles? Then you would like Poland!

The people speak Polish. More than thirty-eight million people live in Poland.

The Food

People in Poland like to eat dumplings and beet soup. The dumplings are stuffed with meat and cheese. They are called pierogies (pi-roghee).  

The Capital

The Capital of Poland, is Warsaw. It is a colorful mix of old and new buildings. Almost two million people live there.

Famous Places to Visit

A cool place to visit is Malbark Castle. It was built in 1400. It is the highest castle in the world.

All About Argentina

By William

Grade 2     Ms. Farrell

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. The History of War

3. The Flag

4. The Food

5. Conclusion

Introduction

Argentina is a beautiful rocky land from the high Andes to the low Atlantic forest. In this book, you will learn all about Argentina. Have fun!

The History of War

Argentina had a lot of wars in the nineteenth century. Many people died in the war. Now Argentina is a beautiful quiet land. 

The Flag

Argintina’s flag has two blue lines and a white line in the middle with a picture of the sun. The flag is very important because it represents Argentina. Summer

By Elle

Grade 2   Mrs. Clifford

Summer is when

Flowers bloom in beautiful colors,

The sun is as bright as its ever been.

The air is as thick as the thick ocean in summer.

The birds are chirping,

Singing in happy conversation.

The tree’s leaves are like rainbows,

Dancing in the sky.

The sky is as blue as the bluest sky ever.

The grass is beautiful, swaying from left to right.

Oh, Nature, you are so beautiful.

An Adventure to the Aquarium

By Shanaaya

Grade One    Ms. Elbaum

One summer day, Kate, Bella, and Rose wanted to go to the Boston Aquarium. Kate is forty-nine, Rose is ten, and Bella is eight.

Kate drove to the aquarium. When they got there, they went inside. 

At the aquarium, they saw crabs. Kate and Rose went off to see the penguins. Kate stayed back to watch the crabs.

Bella looked back and noticed that Kate and Rose were not there. Bella cried. Kate saw her best friend and asked her if she saw Bella. 

“Yes,” she said. “She’s watching the crabs.”

Kate and Rose went over to the crabs. Bella was there. Kate and Rose were happy.

Spring

By Ethan

Splashing in the water.

Perfect day to play in the backyard,

Refreshing lemonade.

I like Spring.

Nice weather for a swim.

Green grass grows.

It’s Spring

By Logan

Grade 2   Mrs. Clifford

Beautiful butter dandelions,

Wet fluffy grass, 

Beautiful baby blue sky,

It’s Spring!

The rough tree bark looking like lily pads,

Beautiful birds chirping,

Hard sandy dirt beneath your feet.

It’s Spring!

Hot air burning your skin,

The beautiful hot, bright sun,

White fluffy clouds swishing in the wind.

It’s Spring!

Bob and Fred Went to Mars 

By Logan

Grade 2    Mrs. Clifford

Bob and Fred heard that there was a new planet that humans could live on. They wanted to go.

They went to NASA headquarters. They were told that the rental of the spaceship was thirty thousand dollars. Bob and Fred only had twenty thousand dollars. They went home and began to think so much!

They had an idea to make a lemonade stand. The lemonade was one dollar, soda was one dollar and twenty-five cents, and water was one dollar.

They also made a juice stand. Apple juice was a dollar, orange juice was a dollar, cranberry juice was one-dollar, grape juice was one dollar and twenty-five cents, and tomato juice was fifty cents.

It went on for one hundred days. They made so much money. They made ten thousand dollars.

Fred worked at the juice stand, and Bob worked at the lemonade stand.

Now they have enough to rent the rocket ship. They were off to Mars! They were so happy. They both got a house there. They went to the movies and got a Bugatti. They rented a hotel for one million dollars and made another lemonade stand. They now own Amazon.

At the Park

By Ada

Grade One      Ms. Elbaum

One day Lily and Bob went to the park to play fetch. Lily threw the ball too far. Bob looked sad.

Lilly said, “We will find the red ball.”

They found something red, but it was not Bob’s red ball. It was a red balloon. Bob looked sad again.

Lilly saw red apples and said, “Bob, look at the red apples.”

Bob rushed over to the apple tree.

“BOB! Wait!” said Lilly. “Where are you going?”

Bob stopped at the apple tree.

Lilly said, “Why did you do that?”

Bob sniffed and sniffed and sniffed.

“Do you smell anything, Bob?” said Lilly.

Bob barked and sniffed. Lilly looked around the apple tree. Then, Lilly saw a basket.

“Let’s have a snack,” Lilly said.

Lilly saw that Bob was about to eat his red ball. 

“STOP!” said Lilly.

Bob stopped and looked down. He saw his ball and was so happy!

Nature

By Max

Grade 2   Mrs. Clifford

Soft air,

Blooming flowers,

Beautiful bird feeders,

Hot weather, green grass

All around.

Rocks on the ground,

Broken sticks,

Dirty baseball fields,

Waiting to be cleared.

Birds chirping,

Kidds playing,

Thick blue skies,

Nature is amazing.

The Park

By Nico

Grade 2   Mrs. Clifford

Mike, Jill, and Casey are at the park playground. They heard a noise in the woods. They froze with fear. 

Mike went into the woods. He saw a wolf. He told his friends to run for their lives.

 Casey jumped on her bike. She went home because she was safe there. The others joined her. They hid in the basement.

The wolf was outside in their backyard looking for food. The wolf found a rabbit to eat.

They looked outside and saw the wolf eat the rabbit. They felt sad for the rabbit, and the wolf went back into the dark wood.

All About Isreal

By Laila Renee

Grade 2   Ms. Farrell

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. The People

3. The Flag

4. The Clothing

5. Conclusion

6. Speaking Hebrew

Introduction

So, you want to be a world traveler? Israel is the place to start. It is so much fun. Israel is a very young country, only founded in 1948.

Let’s see what we can learn about Isreal. I think you are going to like it. I hope you do.

The People

Isreal’s population is a complex blend of cultures. A famous face in Israel is Gal Gadoat. She’s famous because she was the winner of Miss Isreal in 2004 and an action star who played Wonder Woman in the DC Superhero movies.

The Flag

The flag of Isreal was adopted on October 28, 1948. The flag has a blue Star of David on a white background between two blue stripes. White and blue are the Jewish colors. 

The Clothing

Israeli’s clothing reflects the country’s blend of cultures. Orthodox Jews dress in black pants and buttoned-up shirts. Muslim women wear headscarves.

Conclusion

Jews in Isreal love to celebrate Jewish holidays. I hope you celebrate holidays in your culture. Like Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Don’t forget that holidays are about family, not presents.

All About Panama

By Meera

Grade 2   -   Ms. Farrell

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Animals

3. Food

4. People