Power of the pen

Marisa O’Neil

Budding writers are flexing their literary muscles through a new

program at Harbor View Elementary School.

Step Up to Writing, which the school launched this year, helps

students organize their thoughts and write more effectively. In

Vanessa Hogan’s second-grade class, students used the program’s

methods to work on the first draft of an essay last week.

“Maybe we can title this: ‘Two People I Admire,’” Hogan told her

class.

To start the essay, the students folded their paper into four

sections and placed a color-coded sticker in each one. A green dot,

representing the main idea, went at the top.

“Does anyone have a topic sentence?” Hogan asked.

“I know two people I admire,” 7-year-old Mara Beard said.

Other students gave similarly broad examples. Hogan suggested they

name names -- or relations -- in their first sentence.

“The two people I admire are my sister and my dad,” 7-year-old

Sabrina Sanchez said.

Next, Hogan passed out yellow dots to stick on the second section

of the papers. There, the students had to transition into more

specifics.

“The two people I admire most are my mom and dad,” Alex Namba

wrote. Two red dots, each representing a reason they admire their

choices, came next.

As Hogan distributed the stickers, the classroom phone rang. Mara,

the designated phone-answerer, sprang into action, dashing over and

picking it up.

“Miss Hogan’s room, may I help you?” she said in a professional

voice. “One moment, please.”

Mara returned to her seat and set to work on her assignment.

Matt Kulp, meanwhile, seemed beset with a scribe’s worst enemy --

writer’s block.

“I admire my sister because she is a nice person to me,” his paper

read, then stopped short in the middle of the next sentence. “The

second reason I admire this person -- “

Matt dropped his pencil on the desk and settled back in his chair

as he struggled to think of another reason to admire his sister.

The muse had also left Mara.

“What should I write?” she wondered aloud.

As the assignment came to its close, Sabrina wanted to make sure

she didn’t leave anyone out.

“There are more people that I admire, but those are the ones that

I picked best,” she wrote.

Irish Burns, 7, practically guaranteed herself a good grade.

“I admire my teacher because when I don’t understand something,

she helps me understand it,” she wrote.