Mrs. Elwell’s 2nd Grade Writing Workshop Anthology
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The following pieces of writing represent a portion of the small-group and
whole-class work from the middle of January to the middle of May. We met
once a week, and worked remotely until April, then finally we worked in
person for the last four sessions.
Mrs. Elwell and her students were inspiring to work with. Every single child
wanted to do their best! I appreciate all their efforts.
Vivian Vail, teaching artist
Writing from Ms. Marbury’s 5th Grade Class
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A small group of Ms. Marbury’s fifth graders worked with
Lake Erie Ink from the end of January to the middle of
March. Despite the challenges of remote learning and an
interrupted schedule, the students worked well together
and produced quality work. I’d like to thank Ms. Marbury
and her wonderful students for their efforts.
Vivian Vail, Lake Erie Ink Teaching Artist
We are Everything Good: 3rd, 4th and 5th Graders from Mary Bethune
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INTRODUCING…
THE THIRD GRADE WRITERS AND THEIR WORK
The creative writing in this chapter of the Bethune anthology was written by two small groups of
third graders at Mary Bethune School. The students were selected by their teachers, Ms.
Vinson and Ms. Benjamin, for additional enrichment using a breakout room in their zoom ELA
classroom. We met together six times for half an hour each time.
The academic goal of the enrichment was simply to increase the third graders’ writing stamina,
confidence and fluency and for them to move beyond one or two sentence responses to writing
prompts. The social emotional learning goals were to give students an opportunity to connect
with each other and express themselves creatively in a smaller virtual setting.
We had a lot of fun collaborating, with inventive animal stories, frog stories (an important third
grade topic), and learning a new tool–the google jamboard.
Hold on, Let go, Reach: Hand Poems and Selected Stop the Hate Essays By Mary Bethune Middle School Students
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Empowered Writers Enriching Community: From the Class of 2021, Collinwood High School
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During the winter and spring of 2021, two small classes of twelfth graders at Collinwood High
School worked with Lake Erie Ink teaching artist Michelle R. Smith on creative writing. The
students selected, from among the impressive array of essays, poems, and vignettes they
wrote, the special pieces presented here in this anthology. They worked very hard to channel
their creativity while enduring the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and attending class
online, and for that and the quality of their work, they deserve so much credit.
We want to thank their teacher, Violet Taylor, for her unstinting belief in the value of letting
students develop and raise their voices through creative writing and her heartfelt support of her
students, to whose success she was deeply devoted.
We also want to congratulate the student writers that contributed to this anthology for going
outside of their comfort zones and doing a new thing. We hope that you take those rich
imaginations and novel ideas you have about the world and use them to not only produce more
great writing, but to make the world better through your creativity and hard work.
Stepping Out of the Shade – East Tech High School, Ms. German & Ms. Clement
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Most of the work in this anthology was written during weekly workshops from February
through May in six sections of English at East Tech High school.
Inspired by the poetry of Amanda Gorman, students explored poetry and poetic devices
both independently and as a creative collaboration.
They explored point of view through ekphrastic writing (writing in response to or inspired
by other artistic forms) and through speculative second person flash fictions.
They wrote descriptively about the people and places in their lives.
They also wrote individual and collaborative dramatic dialogues, which led us to our
final project, the choose your own adventure stories at the back of this anthology.
Students were encouraged to choose their favorite pieces to submit for the anthology,
which meant that they could also choose poems and personal essays written during our
fall residency, which was supported by the Maltz Museum, and in which they wrote and
shared powerful poems and stories about hate, discrimination, bias, and standing up.
We hope you enjoy and are inspired by the way they have stepped out of the shade by
using their voices and their imaginations this year.
The Painted Turtle Writers – A 2021 Digital Anthology Written by Mr. Cohen’s 4th & 5th Graders Fairfax Elementary School
Special thanks to the authors for their contributions, as well as Mr. Cohen,
the leader of the fearless painted turtles.
It was a joy! Thank you for letting my goofy self join your class.
Ms. Randee, Lake Erie Ink Teaching Artist
Writing from Mrs. Manolio’s 3rd Graders, Gearity Elementary School
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Mrs. Manolio’s third graders were always ready to write.
Our small group met once a week from February through
mid-March. The students helped one another with
technology and were positive about each others’ writing.
It was wonderful to see their storytelling develop. In
addition, Mrs. Manolio was unfalteringly patient and
supportive during our remote learning. I learned so much
from these students and their teacher.
Vivian Vail, Lake Erie Ink Teaching Artist
Lake Erie Ink’s Multi-Volume Anthology of Creative Work
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In this volume, work by:
Noble Elementary School 2nd Grade, CHUH
Fairfax Elementary 4th & 5th Grade, CHUH
Oxford Elementary 5th Grade, CHUH
Mary Bethune 3rd-5th Graders,CMSD
One Summer Day…Anthology
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One Summer Day, amidst the heat and confusion of 2020, artists, writers and dreamers came together to help create one of Lake Erie Inks’ most unique and successful community programs. As we navigated social distance and looked for ways to stay connected, we came up with a creative activity to inspire the community with a common theme: One Summer Day…
Click here to see our full One Summer Day Anthology!