I like to do this project in January, right after the new year. I find it's a nice transition back to school after a long vacation, and the kids get to write about something where they have a strong passion. My students got very into this project, and came up with some wonderful responses.
As of 7/24/15, I've done a complete overhaul of this project. I revamped it so it supports the 5th grade common core standards for writing and language, but could be applicable to grades 4th-8th based on c