Classroom teachers often feel pressure to choose between using standards-based lessons and activities that engage their students' creativity and encourage personal expression. In Jump Write In!, however, the experienced writer-teachers from WritersCorps offer numerous exercises that do both: build key standards-based writing skills and give voice to youth. Through poetry, fiction, personal narrative, and playwriting, students will improve their writing skills by being invited to put their truths on the page.Perfect for a moment of inspiration as well as for deeper exploration, these easy-to-use and field-tested activities engage students from a variety of ethnic, educational, and economic backgrounds and encourage the recognition that their voices matter. The book's eleven chapters include: dozens of exercises accompanied by teacher notes and suggestions; links to standards for each activity; examples of student work; an overview of the writing process from icebreakers to editing; and, suggestions for further reading.