April 24, 2025
One of my favorite ways to start the school year with my 7th Grade Language Arts students is with our class anthology. Of course, I don’t start by saying, “Hey, everyone! We’re putting together a class anthology!” There would be blank stares and wonderings about what they were in store for with this lady.
Instead, I begin by showing the books.
For the past six years, students have written narratives and imaginative stories, as well as submitted original artwork to the Timmons’ Class Anthology. This means two or three classes, depending on my schedule with also teaching Social Studies. That equals 60-90 stories each year to pass on to future students, not to mention the copies of books that go home each year that are hopefully looked back on with fondness and joy.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of work for our classes to take this thing to publication level, and the amount of work and time as editor-in-chief is staggering. But when the kids see their stories published and read their classmates' stories, it’s all worth it. The kids actually treat the book like a yearbook and sign their stories in others’ books. They are beyond proud of having tangible evidence that they helped to make something pretty cool.
When I show the previous years’ books to students, they can’t wait to see their friends’ stories, or older siblings’ stories. One year, I had a friend write a sequel to their buddy’s story. Another year, a younger sibling wrote about the same experience shared with the older one, but from their perspective. This book has gone beyond “Here’s an example of a narrative or a story” to a meaningful shared writing experience that promotes student voice and ownership, and shows what writing really is: a way to connect with each other.
This guest article was written by Kirsten Timmons while taking the online continuing education course Battling Boredom, Part 2: Even More Strategies to Spark Student Engagement by THI instructor Mary Ann Johnson.
Professional Development
Courses for Educators.
PO Box 1273
Freeland, WA 98249
360.341.3020
360.341.3070 (fax)
NEWSLETTER
Sign up
for new course announcements, specials and Heritage Institute News.
_600_455_s_c1.jpg)
_600_455_s_c1.png)