Our elementary students have been focusing on improving their writing skills throughout the year and across the grades. Here are some exciting ways they have recently showcased their amazing writing abilities.
Student Treasures
Every other year we have our students participate in a K4-5th grade writing event to make a class book. We work with a publishing company called Student Treasures. The students go through the writing process and start with writing down their ideas for a story, drafting a first draft, illustrating their story, editing, and coming up with a final draft. There is even time for peers to read each other’s stories and do some peer editing and discussions. After the book is complete, we mail it back to the company with our parent book orders, and within 2 weeks we receive all the class books. This is a great class memory and writing experience. Each student has a page in the class book with their writing piece and artwork. Many teachers also include a dedication page and author page with student photos.
4th Grade Poetry Slam
This year Mrs. McInerney wanted the fourth graders to do something special for their parents. She knew Mrs. Arnold and Mrs. Paul were working on a poetry binder and since it was April, poetry month, she decided to host a Poetry Slam for parents. We had two fourth graders be the Master of Ceremonies: Richie D. and Daniel B. and we created “Oh, Snap!” T-shirts for everyone to wear. Everyone had the opportunity to read their bio poem or another original poem they wrote and share it with the audience. We had over 50 parents come visit and many elementary classes joined us in the chapel. It was a very special event. It was nice to see students shine and be in their element. Mrs. McInerney stated that, “It’s very important to me to raise godly, public speakers. I want my elementary students to be confident and bold in front of an audience. I try to give them many opportunities to shine!”
1st Grade Author’s Day
Mrs. Attia and Miss Rabideau had both first-grade classes present a story that they had written and read it to their parents on Friday, May 26th. All of the students and parents came to the chapel and the first graders each had a chance to read their book. It was wonderful hearing so many first graders read! The students dressed up and looked very fancy. Again, this was a project that took several weeks. It began with a graphic organizer, planning, and plotting their story and setting, key events, and main characters. Then they illustrated their story and practiced reading it out loud. The students did a marvelous job, and their parents and teachers were very proud!
