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The Fountains Class Daily

June 9, 2021 | Heather Palmer Welesko

We are closing out the year with a fun and challenging writing project: the creation of a class magazine. There will be magazine created by the Mountains Class and the Fountains Class, and the Fountains Class magazine will be called….The Fountains Daily. We got inspired by reading Time for Kids, and from there, we created a magazine.

Students decided on an article to write and chose an optional add-on like poetry, a comic, an illustration, or another article. You can see their have-to and choose-to sheets in the pictures below. Students also need to edit each other’s work using the editing sheet–also available below.

Any decent magazine needs chief editors, and we have ours. Isabelle is the editor in charge of grammatical errors and layout, and she will have to consult with Maxfield about the final copy. Ellie and Kai are Creative Directors. Ellie will format all illustrations and Kai will format humor and poetry. Zoe will do the front pages, including cover art and the table of contents.

We had A LOT of work to do. We started on Tuesday, June 8, and deadline is next Tuesday. Thursday the 17th is the publish date. Come get your copy while it’s hot. Caroline will be writing about class personalities and Penny is doing a feature on Zoe. Isabelle writes on what it means to be a Mustard Seed student, featuring interviews from teachers (and maybe Mr. Postema)! Cabot and Matias are covering sports such as hide-and-seek tag and dodge ball. Jerry is doing a feature on sharks. Kai writes a social justice piece, and that’s not all! You’ll have to grab your copy to read more…before it’s gone.

It has been a long year, but neither the difficulty nor their barriers to learning from this year have inhibited these students abilities. This project is a culmination of so much that they learned. Please congratulate your student on completing such large projects as Notable American biographies, poetry publishing, a class magazine, class interviews (way back in January), learning how to summarize and answer questions using citations, and mastering (yes, I do mean mastering), their spelling and grammar rules this year.

These students are ready for fourth grade.

Heather Palmer Welesko

Literacy and Assistant Teacher, Grades 4 & 5

Heather Welesko has taught at Mustard Seed School for nearly a decade as a literacy and assistant teacher. She has taught literature and writing at Kean University and Harold Washington College of Chicago. Heather holds an MFA in writing and poetry from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MA in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Evangelical Seminary.

Ms. Welesko is enthusiastic about professional development, and has advanced training in the Handwriting Without Tears program; the Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Program, and the Responsive Classroom/ Development Designs Program through Origin. She continues professional develop through The Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. She’s passionate about literature, creativity, comprehensive education, and believes strongly in teaching identity and diversity awareness and inclusion.

Ms. Welesko is a poet, artist, and yogi, and is still, always learning.

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