Writing for Change

The last month within our writers workshop, we have been studying and experiencing the power of change through writing.   We took a tour of our school, clipboards in hand and took notes about what could be changed.  As a class, one of the biggest concerns was the lack of sleds available to the kids during recess.  The kids felt that many of the arguments on the playground, were stemming from problems sharing the small number of sleds available.   We decided to write a class letter to Mrs. Yates.  We were careful to use the correct letter format for writing a friendly letter.  We then remembered to state our concern, and carefully lay out our ideas for how we thought the change could happen.  We  were so excited to get this letter in return from Mrs. Yates:

Dear Mrs. Dahlin’s Class,

I have been thinking a lot about your requests for the playground.   Did you know that Mrs. Bormann’s class wrote to me with similar concerns about the sleds?

I agree that it would be good to get more sleds on our playground.  Although we will never have enough for everyone, 20 sleds is not very many for 180 kids.

The Carnival Committee would like to donate $250 for 2^nd graders to use to purchase new sleds and other items for the playground.  Also, in the mail today, I received a check for $100 dollars for taking a health survey about our school.  I would like to donate that money to this project as well.  You will need to do the math and split the total amount in half with Mrs. Dahlin’s class.   

Once you figure out how much your class has to spend, you can make a plan to do some shopping in Perham with the money.  Of course the shopping you do will be for ALL of the students at our school, not just your classroom.  However, you will get to make the decisions and do the shopping, since you were the ones to bring the concerns to my attention.

·         I checked at Pamida and they have blue sleds, similar to the ones we already have.  They cost $17.99 each, normally, but Pamida will give us 30% off, which is $5.39 off.  Can you figure out how much one sled will cost after the discount?  How much would 10 sleds cost?

·         Also, at Pamida, they have the roll up sleds, and they cost $4.99 each.  They are easy to carry and last a long time.  You might want to consider some of these as well.

When I meet with the paras on Tuesday morning, I will ask them more about the rules for digging tunnels.  I want everyone to have fun, but one thing I know for sure is that I don’t want anyone to get trapped inside a tunnel.  After I talk to them, I will get back to you with answers to those questions.

Somehow, before going shopping, you will need to COLLABORATE with Mrs. Bormann’s class and consider the decisions they have made about how to spend their money. 

Also, when we add the new equipment,  we will need some kind of a new plan for how to share fairly between 1^st and 2^nd grade students.  Please work with Mrs. Bormann’s class to come up with a plan for this, and then you can meet with Staci Schmitz and me.  If we think it is a good plan, we will do a trial run at recess and see how it goes.

Good luck!  This is an exciting but important project!

Mrs. Yates

After collaborating with Mrs. Bormann's class, we came up with a specific plan on how to spend the money.  And on a cold Tuesday afternoon, we walked to Pamida and purchased our new sleds!  We decided to share the sleds AND digging tools by rotating them every other day  with the first graders.  What a great way to experience the true power of letter writing! 

There is so much awesome writing taking place within our school, to see what is happening in other classrooms, check out Mrs. Yates blog, http://openingourdoors.blogspot.com/