Students & students collaborating: Published classroom books
Last year I saw a Ted talk video entitled Once Upon a School in which a publishing company got involved in tutoring students in the community. In addition to providing wonderful tutoring, the group also taught students how to write, edit, illustrate, and publish real books. Honestly, I really didn't have any idea of where a person could get a real book published, out side of staples, construction paper, and glue.
Then this summer I was on the fed ex website checking out some cost of a few printing projects for my husband, on the site was a link to a do-it-yourself book publishing website. (www.blurb.com) With a joyful excitement I dove right in, and within a few hours I had already turned one of my cheaply made paper book projects into real hardback professionally bounded work of art. As any great teacher, I instantly saw potental for this in my own classroom: storybooks, portfolios, cookbooks, poetry books, photo year books, etc. To date, I have used this site to publish three books... and have many great plans to publish more in the future.
What makes book publishing such an awesome project for children? When I ask my students "who is an author?", they reply that they are, because they wrote a book. When I ask my students "who is an illustrator?", they reply they are, because they drew the pictures in a book. The students I work with have a new found love of books after learning how books are made... and together we read other authors and view many illustrators work to learn how to be better authors and illustrators our selves.
Mrs. Jessie Fishel
First book published:
The first book began as a graduate project for a special education course in which a teacher works with a parent to encourage literacy or math in the home. I chose my cousin and with her family we went to a local zoo to take pictures to create a homemade book for her children to read with their own pictures, borrowing the rhyme from the popular book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?". It was an incredible blessing to have our book published for their family to read and enjoy for years to come.
Book 2: A Kindergarten Shared Writing Story
Our first book that we wrote and illustrated together as a class this year.
Book 3: A Kindergarten shared writing
Second book written and published as a class
Book 4: Idioms
A shared book project between Kindergarten - fifth grade students. Published 2012-2013
Book 5: Panther Student Collection of Writing
A collaborative writing project of 3rd -5th grade students. Published 2012-2013
Become the next great author!
Interested in publishing your own books? Want more information? Check out this video that gives a quick overview of what blurb books are and the types of books you can make. www.blurb.com
Program goals
Goal #3: Graduates of this program should be able to assume responsibility for the development, implementation, evaluation, and revision of curricula or programs of study in particular disciplines and/or for particular populations
Reflection
It was always my childhood dream to be an author, and by the time I was in high school I had pretty much thought that to be a dream that wouldn’t happen (Who would publish my books?). Then this summer I found this website called www.blurb.com that allows individuals to create their own books. This year, I have already published three books, and by the end of may I will have helped my class to publish six more books. Each of my students are currently writing and illustrating their own children’s ABC book in which they will be exclusively named as the author and the title on the books cover. This book will also include samples of the rest of their written work throughout the year and pictures themselves and their classmates (like a mini year book). My students have gone from writing single words to writing and illustrating a 35+ page book. I hope that this project will inspire my kindergarten students to be lifelong readers and writers.