Grace Rubenstein, for The Bay Citizen

Third graders in Joe Imwalle's class have a newfound enthusiasm for writing

Besides finishing their assignments and playing nicely with others, the third graders in Joe Imwalle’s classroom have another important job: They are front-line editors of their teacher’s book.

Imwalle is writing his first children’s book, “Un-conquering Uncle Troy.” Each time he finishes a chapter, he takes it to his 22 critics, who gather on the checkered carpet in Room 45 at Learning Without Limits, a public elementary school in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. They listen with curiosity as he reads aloud. Then he asks them: “Is anything boring here? What do you like? What are your ideas?”

It's time Imwalle could spend on grammar drills. Yet he has found that this small investment of time — and artistic vulnerability — has generated a powerful change in his classroom.

For these 15 minutes every week or two, the children have a chance to soak up Imwalle’s passion for writing. They see that creative writing requires hard work, revision and risk — a risk that their own teacher is willing to take. And they discover that contrary to the usual order of things, they have something to teach him.

“It really has gotten them excited about writing,” said Imwalle, 32, who lives in Oakland. “Seeing their teacher try to do it brings writing closer to home. It bridges the gap between published novels they see in the library and the idea that they come from a person and a process.”

Plus, their responses have helped shape his writing style, and some of their ideas have made their way into his novel’s plot.

“We think it’s good for him because he’s doing something he likes to do,” said Rosmeri, 10. “And by doing something he likes to do, he’s teaching us to do it, too.”

On a recent Friday afternoon, the children plopped on the carpet to hear Chapter 21. They had already come to know Imwalle’s narrator, a fourth grader named Alex whose parents have nicknamed him Alex the Great.

“I used to hate being called Alex the Great because it didn’t feel true,” Alex explains in Chapter 1. “I thought I was just a kid.”

But Alex isn’t one to accept average anonymity. “I don’t mind that much anymore because I’ve got a secret plan for greatness,” he confides to the reader.

Unlike his namesake, the historical conqueror, Alex aims to achieve fame by un-conquering people, a concept of his own invention that means helping others become the rulers of their own lives.

That afternoon, the children erupted into giggles as Alex staged a dramatic rescue of his classmate Martin’s remote-control truck, confiscated by the cranky manager of a frozen-yogurt store.

In the language of third-grade writing criticism, Imwalle said, rapt attention and giggles are good signs, while squirrelly behavior indicates that Alex is getting too wordy.

The students knew that immediately after the reading from “Un-conquering Uncle Troy,” they would get time for their own creative writing. Maya and Beyda were working together on a two-part story about a ghost named Logen. Jacob had the beginnings of a tale called “The Teased Boy,” written in rhyme.

“For a third grader, writing is often one of the least-favorite subjects,” Imwalle said. “There’s so many ways in which you can make errors, with spelling mistakes and grammar.”