THE BULLDOG MAGAZINE

By Roberta Mark Engel

It is now March. Do your child’s thoughts turn to love and spring? Have you ever thought of expressing your thoughts on paper? Would you and your child like to compose together? You both could convey your innermost thoughts. This is an opportunity for an innovative focus on education. Read on. I’ll show you how to write!

How about an example of the importance and enjoyment of writing for “The Bulldog Magazine?” I taught middle school and published this magazine for students. In March, my editorial board judged the student manuscripts which followed a standardized rubric. This was an arduous task, therefore only publishing those pieces with the top scores. Did you know the magazine also had an editorial committee as for our artists and followed the same procedure?

You can be a published writer also. Now, here are the basics. The Writing Process begins with a storyboard which is a precursor to the actual script. When I taught, my students composed a sentence and drew a picture for his or her proposed writing exercises. Then, I asked them to think of a title for this poetry or prose. We shared this title with the entire classroom and this creation belonged exclusively to each individual child.

The students even invited their parents to join our writing class. They chose to draft companion “pieces.” Research has shown that the family that shared a common interest (i.e. writing) had far fewer adjustment problems.

Revision of work was actually the most enjoyable part of writing and strengthened everyone’s craft. Students and their parents shared their work with each other in the class. They repaired final highlighted requests chosen by their members. These associates listened to what their partners said about their pieces and the criteria for the assignment.

After they were happy with the content of their text, they edited, reread, edited, and reread while using “Spell Check” and a “Language, Thesaurus”. The last stage was the publication of their artistry.

We printed our magazine in-house-a vanity press operation. I am sure that you can imagine that our students enjoyed seeing themselves in print. These magazines were available for purchase and also for viewing in the library. In addition, they were cumulative over several years and consisting of over one hundred pages. These stages of writing process produced several drafts until the final “perfect” rendition was ready. How exciting!!

Can you imagine the excitement your child would have to be published at such a young age? Did you check to see if your child had a school-wide magazine? Maybe your child could write about Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. The writing choices are limitless. These interests are worthwhile and give your children validation?

Aren’t you more interested in the excitement of writing? There are writing classes advertised in your city’s brochure. Also, check the YMCA prices, and your local two or four year institution. The Learning Tree University also offers writing classes, but for an increased monetary amount. There are also on-line classes. You both will learn writing skills which would be your craft that you can share with your child.

And remember that this is the time that young girls’ and boys’ thoughts turn to love. Why not make their interests worthwhile and give them validation? Their choices are unbounded and so are yours!