Northwest ISD Navigator Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 14

Northwest ISD’s Writers of the Month pose for a photo after being recognized at a recent school board meeting. District honors top elementary writers NEW RECOGNITION PROGRAM WILL CONTINUE IN 2018-19 Staff Report A good writing ability serves as a prerequisite for many careers, and writing is also essential in most careers in other ways – such as coworker communication, emailing clients and more. That importance is stressed early in Northwest ISD, with the district’s curriculum department making writing a focal point and place to voice their ideas. Through writing, students not only record information but also compare and contrast information with their ideas. Northwest ISD students are given the opportunity to write about what interests them, write the kinds of texts they see in the world and write for an audience of readers. To help further promote and celebrate writers, the curriculum department’s English Language Arts team began a new program in 2017-18 to honor outstanding writing 14 achievement each month. Teachers, curriculum leaders and campus administration chose a student from each elementary school who exhibits exceptional or notably improved writing ability, with two to four elementary schools having a student honored each month. This recognized the students for their accomplishments while also allowing them to select recent favorite works of writing to share with the district. Dr. Sunni Johnson, elementary ELA curriculum coordinator, said the new program fosters a positive spirit and encourages good writing. “The students have such pride in being chosen for Writer of the Month,” she said. “It is exciting to see students choose their favorite piece of writing.”