- Teachers are asked to prescreen and preselect submissions. Submissions should be proof read and edited by April 30, 2010.
- Permission release forms for Student Artwork and Written Work may be on your school's file already. If not, please obtain this form from the student and keep on file at your school.
- Submit the following student information:
- First Name and Last Name
- Grade
- Teacher
- School
- Comments: ie. Is this student new to the country?
- Please send submissions to Jamie Gonzaga at jamie.gonzaga@epsb.ca.
PLEASE NOTE: This magazine is directed to a global audience with viewers of all ages. Please refrain from sending submissions with violent content
When the editorial committee reviews the submissions of writing, they
view many different modes of writing – everything from patterned poetry and prose and group efforts to
intensely personal pieces. They consider how successful the writing venture has been in the particular
mode chosen. Does it show originality? Is there a sense of style? When a piece of writing reveals a
personal sense of the student – a "sense of voice" we sometimes call it – we are inclined to choose the
latter.
In helping students to write creatively and with personal commitment in a way that reveals their “voice,”
you may encourage them to try some of these strategies:
- Tell how you felt about something (or how you think a character felt).
- Bring in details to make it clear and believable to your reader.
- Try to include some comparisons, especially ones that no one else has thought of.
- Include some quoted dialogue.
- Don’t get hung up on rhyming poetry. Explore some other poetic devices such as repetition and
imagery.
Teachers can use the TAG to introduce and teach many aspects of writing. Analyzing the work of
other students is one of the most valuable learning experiences that students can engage in. Try the
following;
To teach….
- CONTENT: Have students note and record the ideas that other students have come up with to
write about the current topic. Create a web to note these.
- ORGANIZATION: Note how the different writers have organized their work. Is it sequential? Is
the author comparing ideas? Does the author have an inviting lead, good transition words and a
strong conclusion?
- VOICE: Can students identify the voice in each piece? Was it written by a boy or girl? How do
they know? Is the voice strong, soft, harsh or authoritative? Can the point of view be identified?
- SENTENCE STRUCTURE: How has the author varied his/her sentences? How do they begin
and end?
- VOCABULARY: What are the descriptive words or the powerful verbs? Has the author used any phenomenal phrases”? Does the vocabulary fit the topic?
- GENRE: How do the authors illustrate the elements of e.g. fairy tales or poetry?
- ELEMENTS: Are there figures of speech, alliteration, onomatopoeia, dialogue or other effects?
Through the publication of their own writing or the analysis of other’s writing, students benefit
from being engaged in the writing process. Reading another’s work, analyzing it (What makes it
good? What could be improved?), and learning from it will enhance the writing skills of the
learner. The TAG Mag offers students the opportunity to discover the intricacies of writing as they
travel along the road to being an author.
