At the school where I teach 4th grade, writing is a big part of Language Arts. We spend 2 weeks out the year just on writing (one in January and one in February) and have "Writing Camp". We transform the 4th grade hallway into a complete camp setting. We cover the hallways with brown butcher paper from floor to ceiling and paint black lines on it to look like log cabins. Above each doorway is a green "roof" made out of paper. Each classroom becomes a cabin. Each class creates their camp name and we have t-shirts made with a design they came up with. They wear their shirts all week long. We create "Survivor" guides with a theme for each day based on Writing Strategies. These guides have all the curriculum in them with blank pages to write. The campers go to different rooms based on what they need the most (great leads, editing, exceptional endings, etc.). Every morning we meet in the cafeteria with all the 4th graders to have a mini-lesson together (led by our reading/writing specialist). This introduces what the campers will focus on that day. We give awards (dog tags with the award name stuck on with a label). The kids can bring pillows and flashlights to add to the camp theme. On the last day we served smores during one of the weeks and the other week we did a hot dog roast (the teachers pre-cooked all the hot dogs).

The learned so much this week and remember it always. The other grades envy the 4th graders and wish they could participate. The teachers keep the camp shirts and wash them at home. Then the kids wear their camp shirts during all state testing days. After the last one, they take them home.

Our PTA has been asked to help the school find a way to raise our scores on the curriculum tests in Language Arts. It's such a broad area that I don't know where to begin! What are some things that other schools are doing to raise achievement levels in this area?