[MOSAIC] Voice

[mdesmond at jd.cnyric.org]

Help! My students are currently working on writing magazine articles about
the topic of their choice.  They are really into this because they are
responsible for writing the article and formatting it as well.  I am
noticing that while the student’s work is very organized with good topic
sentences and supporting details, as a whole, their articles are very bland
making it almost painful to read at times.  Does anyone have any
suggestions or mini-lessons focusing on the author’s voice?  I have tried
to give them various models of the purpose and importance of voice in
writing, but many of them are not taking any risks in their writing.  Any
ideas?