Unprompted Writing Lessons - Eva Varga

September 2, 20106

Early in August, the neighborhood girls came up with a creative idea they called the Pickwick Club.  Their intent was to create a weekly newspaper in which they would each submit different articles (comics, jokes, news reports, etc.).  My daughter came home enthusiastic about their venture, informing me that she was to write the food column.  I was both intrigued and surprised.

As the coordinator for our Roots & Shoots Club … I produce a quarterly newsletter in which I provide our members with information about our upcoming endeavors, outings, and topics of interest.  Frequently, MeiLi has sat with me … helping to assure my prose is easy to understand.  It was thereby no surprise that she wanted to create her portion of the Pickwick Club Newsletter in Pages (Mac’s word processing software).

She logged in immediately, opened Pages and selected Newsletter.  She began to format her first edition with little help from me – asking occasionally how to spell particular words and how to format an image mask.  She found her images online and summarized her text completely on her own.  It is becoming quite apparent that a lesson on documenting sources and the concerns of plagiarism will be needed sooner than originally anticipated.

Take a peak at her first issue.  Thus far, she has been consistent and hasn’t missed a deadline.  She even canvassed the neighborhood for subscribers.


6 comments

  • Blossom

    September 2, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    Nice! My kids had a “Weekly Barden” newsletter that they did for a few months that was meant primarily for family. I thought it was a great idea and activity.
    That is a great looking newsletter- Great job!

  • Kylie

    September 2, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    Well done, it looks great. 🙂

  • Amy in Peru

    September 3, 2010 at 4:28 am

    um… can I just say WOW. how old is she? that is AWESOME. and I think it is HILARIOUS how behind the times I am because here I am about to comment on your blog to tell you how cool you are and I find that you have me on your blog list… hahahahaha! well.
    Next time in OR, we will have to have some little bloggy reunion if possible because I’ve found several cool friends from OR. very cool! I’m excited to have found you! 😉

    amy in peru

  • Phyllis

    September 3, 2010 at 5:20 pm

    Just beautiful. You must be so proud.

  • Firefly Mom

    September 13, 2010 at 3:04 am

    Wow – that’s amazing! She did a great job. 🙂

  • Keri

    September 14, 2010 at 3:23 am

    That is quite impressive!
    She has just taught me some raspberry facts!

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