Jump Write In! Creative Writing Exercises for Diverse Communities, Grades 612

Classroom teachers often feel pressure to choose between using standards-based lessons and activities that engage their students' creativity and encourage personal expression. In Jump Write In!, however, the experienced writer-teachers from WritersCorps offer numerous exercises that do both: build key standards-based writing skills and give voice to youth.

Through poetry, fiction, personal narrative, and playwriting, students will improve their writing skills by being invited to put their truths on the page. Perfect for a moment of inspiration as well as for deeper exploration, these easy-to-use and field-tested activities engage students from a variety of ethnic, educational, and economic backgrounds and encourage the recognition that their voices matter. The book's eleven chapters include:

• Dozens of exercises accompanied by teacher notes and suggestions.
• Links to standards for each activity.
• Examples of student work.
• An overview of the writing process from icebreakers to editing.
• Suggestions for further reading.

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WritersCorps helps low-income children and teens improve their literacy and communication skills through creative expression. Founded in 1994 with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, WritersCorps operates programs in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and The Bronx, NY.
In San Francisco, WritersCorps is a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission (www.writerscorps.org).

Editor Judith Tannenbaum, who has written widely on community arts and cultural democracy, serves as WritersCorps's training coordinator.

Valerie Chow Bush has edited four WritersCorps publications of student writing.