Last time I blogged about our non-fiction we left off with turning their notes into paragraphs! Since then, we have worked SO hard in completing the official, "published" book! Here's how we feel and where we are now!....:))) Haha!
After the original paragraph writing, we edited and then re-wrote the four paragraphs (What does it look like, What does it eat, Where does it live, and interesting facts) on "fancy publishing paper," aka...college ruled notebook paper! The students thought this was SO exciting.
From there, each child write an About the Author Page!We looked at a few different examples in books and charted what we noticed. Then I taught them how to not use I or me they turned out SO cute! Don't have a picture...:(((
Finally, after all of the re-writing with changes, each student wrote a letter to the Publisher. My teammate Ms. Breslin had the genius idea to come up with a fake publishing company/address to write to! Brilliant. We also taught them how to write an official letter that answers three important questions: Who are you? So what? Who cares? Abrasive sounding...maybe. Did it help the students explain their books? Yes!
Based on the chart, here is what they came up with!
Okay. Now here's where the fun begins.
With the letter and all four chapters plus their about the about the author page, the students stuffed a large envelope. We taught them how to address envelope and all of the different parts. Their "drafts" were then officially sent off to the publisher for approval!
While the books were at the "publishing company," we worked on writing our introductions! Basically, we wanted each student to hook their reader and explain what the reader would read/learn in their book.
Friday came and so did the return envelopes from the publisher! I had a few students who were SO funny! They talked about it all morning..."Mrs. Hunter, what if the publisher says no?" I told them of course not to worry!
We all met at the carpet for Writers Workshop and I passed out each envelope. The students waited for each other and we opened them at the SAME TIME! :)
When they opened the envelopes, there were three important documents.
First, a letter of approval from the Legacy Book Publishing. :)
Second, a hard covered book! :) Props to Crookshank for purchasing these for the ENTIRE school!
Third, a printed copy of each chapter of their book. We didn't want the students to see changes in our handwriting! They found this very official.
Needless to say it was difficult calming them down after each student was approved, but it was one of those moments that savored and enjoyed the moment!
We are now in the middle of writing our official hard copy! I will have to do a whole separate post for that soon with pictures of our Non-Fiction Night next week! Ahh. So much to do, yet so much fun to have!
--Mrs. Hunter
