Thanks to all for their support of the Language Arts Fair. The fifth annual Language Arts Fair was held Saturday April 18th at Wright State University to celebrate English teachers and their good work with students. Many students, teachers, parents, and friends were in attendance. Projects were stationed throughout first floor Millett. In addition to the middle and high school students, undergraduate English majors displayed literature response and multigenre research projects from their Integrated Language Arts classes.
It's truly inspiring to see the wonderful work the WSU graduates and current ILA majors. There were wonderful projects that student teachers brought from Northmont, Beavercreek, and Fairborn High Schools. One ILA major shared that the 8th graders in her field placement learned public speaking skills and presented to the school board (and a packed house!) an argument to save funding for the annual Washington, D.C. trip. Funding was retained. Alum Lindsay Williams from London, Ohio share amazing projects that her students created for novels relating to cancer, survival, and genocide.
An eight grader from Pathway performed an oral interpretation of a powerful poem that spoke to the emotional needs of teens. A group from Stivers shared their creation of Anne Frank's annex, and these students asked thoughtful questions of the author who was our guest speaker, wondering about her craft and process. A West Carrollton teacher and ILA grad, Rachelle Weis Arnette shared that she had been honored with a teaching excellence award. Her students brought a video game, costume designs, movie posters, and a diorama for their favorite novel. One ILA grad noted that the LA Fair helps to rejuvenate her every year. These are only a few examples from the day.
The day culminated with Julie Drew reading from one of her young adult novel and sharing her writing process. Many families attended to honor their students who all received certificates. This event was jointly sponsored by the English Department and the College of Education and Human Services. Wright State continues to have a strong presence with local teachers who are implementing innovative teaching strategies to empower their students' writing and reading skills.
