Writing Jobs at the Worm Bin
1Room 12 has an unusual classroom pet: a plastic bin full of worms. The worms live in damp, shredded newspaper, and every few days the students feed them fruit and vegetable scraps from lunch. Slowly, the worms turn the scraps into dark, rich compost for the school's flower beds. Ms. Herrera's fifth graders take care of the bin, and almost every job they do includes some writing. Some of these writing jobs take only a few minutes, while others take weeks.
2The quickest job is the daily log. Each morning, two students lift the lid, check the bin, and write a log entry in the worm notebook. An entry takes about five minutes. It tells whether the bedding is damp or dry, how much food is left, and anything unusual the students notice. The only readers are the other members of the worm team, so short notes such as "Bedding dry, added water, food almost gone" are fine.
3Another short job came up during the first week. Someone had dropped cookie crumbs and cheese into the bin. The team had fifteen minutes to make a sign for the lid. Anyone in the school might read the sign, even kindergarten students. The team chose a few large, simple words: "Fruit and veggie scraps only, please!"
4Some jobs happen only once. When Mr. Abara, the owner of a nearby plant nursery, donated a second worm bin, the class wrote him a thank-you letter. Each student wrote one paragraph during a single class period. The letter was polite and formal, and it explained exactly how the class would use the new bin.
5The biggest job is the Worm Guide, a booklet that the fifth graders write each spring for the second-grade classes. Each student picks one question to answer, such as "How do worms move without legs?" The project takes three weeks. Students read books and websites, take notes, and write a first draft. Then they meet with a partner, revise their drafts, and add labeled diagrams. Because second graders will read the guide, the writers explain hard words and keep their sentences short.
6Every Friday, students also write a quick reflection in their journals. They have about ten minutes to tell what they noticed about the worms that week and what they wonder about next. Ms. Herrera says the short jobs keep everyone writing every day, and the long project teaches them to stick with a big piece of work.