As part of the district’s K-5 Writing Initiative using Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study instructional method, Idle Hour Elementary School third-grade students in Kathy Bankoff’s class recently added dialogue to the stories they had written after drawing inspiration from the popular children’s book ‘Jabari Jumps’ by Gaia Cornwall. The students used green ink pens in order to make revisions to their stories, as they added dialogue and enhanced the overall depth of their written work.

Additionally, students within Stephanie Zelinski’s third-grade class crafted true, non-fiction stories by brainstorming five of their favorite memories and places in order to formulate one robust story. Some of the students’ favorite places included their grandmother’s house, their favorite retail store and even their own backyard.