When school started in August two grade 5 students, Maggie and Millie, came forward with the idea of starting an Elementary School newspaper. Through their own initiative, they invited their classmates to participate, organized and ran weekly meetings during lunch recess, and led their peers in writing and producing the first edition of the Elementary School Newspaper (ESN). A hard copy has been distributed to every classroom, apart from the Electronic version that is available here.
In the meantime, the newspaper team is already enthusiastically engaged in writing the second edition to be published in December.
The Leaders of the Elementary School Newspaper: Maggie and Millie
Millie: “It is very fun to see that the Newspaper I lead myself gets published. In the beginning, it took as long but now it is super quick, because we already know what we need to do and, how to work together.”
Maggie: “I like the fact that I get to teach other students of the same age as me. We have been running it for around two months. We gather together once a week to work as a team.”
The team members of the ESN
The Grade 5 team of reporters is also learning through the process. They are honing their writing skills, writing with an authentic audience in mind, demonstrating a commitment to publishing well-crafted pieces, and learning how to collaborate and negotiate in the decision-making processes involved in producing a newspaper.
Miriam, team member of the ESN: “ I write book reviews for the ESN Newspaper. I really like being able to choose which books I want to recommend and then tell everyone in 5th Grade. When I see someone reading that book, and that makes me happy.”
All the students involved are examples of ISP Changemakers!
Dr. Cindy Gause-Vega, Elementary Principal.
