Young writers get boost from future teachers

Sixth graders at Maryville Middle School switched off their computers Wednesday, picked up some old-fashioned pencils and notebooks and spent about an hour practicing the ancient craft of transforming their thoughts, insights and emotions into words on paper.

They'll break out the word processing software soon enough, but to get started with, the kids began casting first drafts by hand during an annual writing exercise that includes instruction and mentoring from junior-level education majors at Northwest Missouri State University.

Organized five years ago by veteran MMS language arts teacher Janet Smith, the writing session calls on students to bring a physical item to class that either is, or represents, their "most important thing."

Working with the object before them, the young people compose 400- to 500-word essays about what the item means to them and why it stands for something important in their lives.

The children compose at tables in groups of a half-dozen or so, and each group is assisted by a Northwest student. Smith said bringing in the upper-level undergrads creates more opportunities for individual instruction than a single teacher can usually provide.

In addition, the university students are often able to reinforce Smith's own lessons on writing and serve as role models for children who will be college bound themselves in a few years.

Of course the interaction flows both ways, said Terry Lovelace, associate professor of education at Northwest.

"We're training them to work in the real world," Lovelace said of the future teachers in her charge. "This is a chance for them to practice under the supervision of a master teacher."

As one might expect, the middle schoolers find inspiration in a wide range of objects. On Wednesday, the kids brought in everything from pictures of family members, to sports medals to an autographed photo of standout NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson.

During the course of the assignment, the kids work through various drafts of their essays and create clean, word-processed copies that are bound into a book titled "Our Most Important Things."

Now that the once-a-semester project is in its fifth year, Smith said a number of the children have gone back through earlier editions to read essays composed by older brothers and sisters.

Over time, Smith and Lovelace have witnessed a unique parade of inspirational artifacts carried into various sixth-grade classrooms. Lovelace said the most unusual was perhaps a set of "dried turkey feet," a treasured souvenir that led one youngster to write about a hunting trip with his grandfather.

Grandparents are recurring figures in the "Important Things" essay books, and 2012 is no exception. Here's an example from a draft composed Wednesday by Kylee Dougan:

"The most important thing to me that I can hold in my hands is a locket I got when my grandpa died," Kylee writes. "When I look at my locket I see all of the memories and times I spent with him and pictures of him.

"One of the times was when my little cousin was at his house and we hid a fake snake, and my cousin saw it and screamed at the top of her lungs. My grandpa, sister and I laughed, and my grandma yelled at us because we scared her. ..."

Perhaps because the students are writing about objects and memories that touch them deeply, much of the work is unusually vivid and descriptive, qualities that even professional scribblers often struggle to achieve.

"Most of the essays are very good," Smith said. "This is a great project, and we've really enjoyed it over the years."