Creative Writing workshops amid a tense political climate

The resilience of Migrant students is a moving thing to behold! This summer it was my honor to provide three weeks of creative writing workshops for TK-8th Migrant students. The children—some U.S. born, others from Mexico, Central or even South America—put in real work describing their emotional lives. Amid the tense political climate, I discovered some useful teaching techniques that I’m happy to share below.

Climate: The classes took place in California’s Central Valley amid the usual scorching summer heat of farm country. Meanwhile, news of immigrants being swept up in Los Angeles had just started to ripple across the state. Migrant parents—and many older students—faced heightened fear of sudden and permanent separation from their families. Growers too had their concerns; if parents opted not to leave their apartments, ripening crops in the fields would be lost. For Migrant families sending their children to class, each morning began with an act of faith. They believed the Summer Academy would provide a refuge and a safe haven where their children could grow.  

Techniques: Over the weeks, on different campuses, I provided one workshop per grade level. I’d begin each workshop by sharing one of my books, inviting students to dramatically and enthusiastically repeat phrases in English—active language practice! I recapped key points of the stories in Spanish to ensure comprehension. To encourage EMPATHY, I also stopped at different junctures to ask them what they thought the characters in the stories were FEELING.

Jotting down their responses on the whiteboard, I drew word menus of generally good and bad feelings, emphasizing English / Spanish cognates (look alike words) to broaden the student’s English vocabulary: nervous / nervioso, frustrated / frustrado …. Sure, preocupado means “worried”—but we can also easily learn the cognate “preoccupied.” Sure, for tranquilo we usually say “calm,” but we can also use the look alike “tranquil.” (For a long list of some of my favorite English / Spanish cognates, click here.)

Rhythmic chants and tennis ball review: Once we filled the whiteboard with words to describe FEELINGS, we chanted them in rhythm in English and Spanish. Loudly. Softly. Dramatically. In whispers. (See video.) Then I’d hold up a tennis ball and choose volunteers, secretly giving preference to kids that appeared restless—and athletic. I got four volunteers at a time to stand before the class. Whoever held the tennis ball chose a FEELING-related word or phrase from the whiteboard and called it out before gently tossing the ball to another volunteer. “Excited!” (toss, catch). ”Anxious!” (toss, catch)….

We also practiced asking questions to show kindness and concern: “Do you need help?” (toss, catch). “Are you lonely?” (toss, catch). Dropped balls only added to the fun and good spirits.

The next step—writing—took some creativity too. It definitely helped to set out art supplies beforehand: construction paper, crayons, colored pencils, scissors and glue! Again, making use of the word menus on the whiteboard, I had the students complete structured sentences (green) with new adjectives and phrases I’d written on the whiteboard (red).

I remember a time when I was feeling ________.
*nervous    *worried
*upset   *preoccupied  
*frightened   *angry

My thoughts raced from______
*the present to the past.
*the valleys to the mountains
*the Earth to distant planets.

Finally, my _______ noticed my situation.

*friend   *teacher   *mom *dad  *grandma  *grandpa

*friend   *teacher   *mom *cousin  *coach *pet alien *aunt *uncle

I felt _______ and wondered how I might repay the kindness.

*supported    *cared for    *noticed    *content

Students with the ability were encouraged to elaborate further by adding sentences of their own creation. We also discussed balancing artwork and text and the flow of the 4-5 pages that formed their books. Some teachers, like Ms. Aguilera, took it a step further by letting students add a book cover after they returned to class. The book covers featured more artwork, the book title and credits, e.g.  “The Day I Felt NERVOUS,”  Written and Illustrated by (student name).”

Reality check: While the writer in me would have preferred to let students compose sentences on their own (rather than provide them with structured sentences), prior experience had taught me that might be too heavy a lift. Migrant children vary greatly in their levels of language fluency. While a few would happily write a story based on the prompt, many would stare blankly wondering where to begin, how to spell the first words, where to place punctuation, even how to grip a pencil or write individual letters. I caught onto what classroom teachers understand–that structured sentences (and other “scaffolding”) have their place, that gradual steps toward original writing beat no steps at all!

As a guy fortunate enough to grow up in a house full of books, with two college educated parents, I sometimes had to take a deep breath. Don’t despair the gaps in students’ academic skills, I thought. Instead, celebrate the amazing things they can do!