ABCs of Writing

You'd think I'd learn.  I've been teaching since 1979!  I ordered hardbound, blank books for all of the sixth graders, and assigned them a project of writing an alphabet book about their life or sixth grade.  That would be 95 students times 26 pages of poetry, journals, essays, and creative stories, plus the cover, title page, dedication, table of contents, and a page about the author, that I would read and grade at the end of the year.  Many of them created beautiful, fun, keepsakes.  I know they had to think and it gave them practice writing.  Although I was grading as they went along to give them feedback and lessen the load later, there were way too many of them and the last two weeks I was beyond crazy busy.  Next year, same project, except we'll start 1st quarter.