Wow!  This is awesome!

Cory

 

Cory Sevin

IHI National  Director

(303) 776-0045

Cell (303) 564-6065

Fax (303) 776-0045

csevin at ihi.org

 

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of
arthur at writingwithfamilies.com
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 9:26 PM
To: familyliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 521] Family Writing Project

 

Family Literacy Colleagures,

 

For the past six years, we have been developing a project here in Las
Vegas we call the Family Writing Project.  Most of our projects are
based out of schools, though we have had several projects housed at
other sites such as churches and homeless shelters.  

 

The main component of the Family Writing Project is what we call the
Family Scribe Group.  Family Scribe Groups are groups of students,
family members and trained facilitators who gather regularly to discuss
and creatively explore their lives.  Scribe Group facilitators are
almost always teachers in the schools where our Family Scribe Groups
meet.   In Scribe Groups, the role of facilitators is to design
activities that lead to writing, activities that guide families to mine
their experiences and represent their lives through art and writing.
Facilitators write alongside family members, participating as peers
rather than instructors.  This role entirely changes the dynamics
families are accustomed to at school, just as it reshapes how
facilitators know their students and their families.

 

Our Family Scribe Groups always focus on identity, community, and on how
writing gives us openings to be heard in the community at large.  In Las
Vegas, most of our projects are located at urban schools with high
transient rates and broad ethnic and linguistic diversity.  Often, our
Scribes come from families who feel marginalized, not only by the city
and their place in it, but by the schools their children attend.
Writing about their lives and sharing their writings in anthologies and
on our website is a powerful way for them to grow as community members.

 

We extend our efforts beyond writing to working on community service
projects, such as gardens, murals and clothing drives.   We use these as
topics for our writing, but we also undertake them to empower ourselves.
Our gardens and murals give families ownership over their neighborhoods
and schools, and really make them proud, active citizens of the city.
This community aspect, as much as any other, speaks to the project's
success.  We have been honored by the City of Las Vegas at council
meetings year after year, and have been recognized for our neighborhood
impact by Clark County.

 

One of the strongest aspects of the Family Writing Project is that our
families come to school regularly, not to attend discipline meetings, be
teacher assistants or pick up their kids, but to learn, share and
express themselves.  Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and
family friends all show up to support one another and grow as writers.
We are proud that our project model, which has worked so well in urban
Las Vegas, has been picked up very successfully in suburban and rural
sites as far away as Connecticut and Kansas.   

 

I would like to invite all members of the Family Literacy list serve to
visit our main website at www.familywritingprojects.com
<http://www.familywritingprojects.com/> .   At the site you will get to
glimpse various Family Scribe Groups in Las Vegas and around the
country.  We also offer free audio downloads of Family Scribes and post
plenty of writings.  Our second website, www.writingwithfamilies.com
<http://www.writingwithfamilies.com/>  also has free downloads and
information about our how-to format book for teachers titled Writing
With Families.

 

If you have questions or comments you want to send my way, you can reach
me at Arthur at WritingWithFamilies.com.   Our project hopes to find a
niche in the family literacy scene nationwide, and in the process to
learn more about how we can use literacy as a means of community
involvement while strengthening home/school connections.

 

Thanks,

Art Kelly, Family Writing Project, Las Vegas 

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