A great writing assignment idea

When I was teaching English I was always looking for ideas for writing assignments for my students. Students who were excited about a topic wrote so much better. I think this idea would have produced some great writing especially when they learned what an impact it had in getting adoptions. AUTHOR Julia Diddy "By putting pencil (and crayon) to paper, an elementary school class honed their creative writing and drawing skills while also helping some overlooked shelter pets find adoptive homes. Second-grade teacher Kensey Jones was mulling over new writing assignment ideas for her students at St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Richmond, Virginia. Jones had become a volunteer at Richmond Animal Care and Control a few years earlier and so decided to combine her passion for animal welfare with her next school project: She had the kids write letters on behalf of the animals at the shelter. Her students were thrilled by this chance to “actually make an impact on the world,” Jones told The Washington Post, and they took the assignment to heart. Some of the shelter’s most difficult-to-adopt residents (23 dogs and one cat), who had been in the shelter much longer than average soon found themselves with exuberant bios and colorful hand-drawn portraits attached to their kennels. The impact of the students’ efforts was undeniable: 21 of the 24 animals were paired with new owners within weeks."