The Year Without A Book Report

Parents at Saint Denis School were skeptical last September when third grade teacher Janne Darata said there would be no book reports in her class this year.  Children cheered, thinking their struggles to put a few painful sentences on paper every other week were over.   

Third grade is a transitional year, a time when students are required to challenge themselves to move beyond sentences to paragraphs, and beyond paragraphs to short essays.  To best make this leap, the children were asked to put aside the “work” of writing – constructing sentences, checking their spelling and grammar and punctuation, keeping penmanship legible – and instead to focus on the pure joy of writing – just getting thoughts out on paper, finding their own voice, exploring ideas.  “There will be time for them to go back and edit their work afterward,” said Mrs. Darata.  The point is to eliminate the disconnect that comes from jumping back and forth between right-brain creativity (writing) and left-brain analytical thinking (editing). 

One of the best ways for the children to temporarily “forget” the rules is by simply writing about the things that are important to them.  Enter the pen pal program:  a way for young writers to practice their skills in a non-traditional setting.  A group of local volunteers were recruited, and each agreed to be paired with a student and exchange one letter a month.

The children wrote to their pen pals about their families, the sports they play, the activities they get involved in after school.  Each time a new subject was introduced in school, someone would invariably say, “hey, this would be a great thing to tell our pen pals about!”  In addition to learning how to write (and later, to how to go back and edit their work), the children also learned a few other things along the way.  They learned about what life was like when their pen pals were growing up.  They learned how to be patient in this age of instant gratification, waiting for a letter to arrive in the mail, stamp and all.  They learned how to be happy for their classmates, when one would receive a letter but another’s hadn’t arrived yet.  And they learned the art of creating a friendship, the give and take of getting to know someone bit by bit.  

A few days ago, I had the privilege of attending the special end-of-the-year event when the two groups were finally meeting each other in person.  To say the Saint Denis cafeteria was abuzz that morning is an understatement;  the anticipation was nearly palpable.  One girl told me she was so excited to finally meet her pen pal in person that she couldn’t fall sleep the night before.

The children performed a few songs, then chatted with their pen pals over bagels and fruit.  They even brought out a few of their favorite class assignments and art projects, anxious to share their best work with their new friends.

The volunteers enjoyed the program as well.  Asked whether they’d be willing to come back and do the program with next year’s class, there was a resounding “Yes!”  “It was a wonderful experience!  I couldn’t wait for the next letter to arrive,” said one woman.  “I looked forward each month to my letter, and my husband always wanted to know about my pen pal too,” said another.  “It was like talking to one of my grandchildren,” added one of the men. 

As I left the school, there were many hugs and smiles being exchanged.

So, did the experiment work?  Can children really learn the basics of writing during a year without book reports?  Oh yes, most definitely.  Their skills and their new-found enthusiasm for writing speak for themselves.  Thanks to one teacher willing to think creatively and make learning fun, these kids not only mastered the art of writing, but in the process they learned so much more.

Until next time… Colleen