A group of sixteen students (see photo below) just attended the Young
Author Conference held at Bethel University. These fifth through
seventh grade students spent the day in a variety of classes with noted
authors such as Geoff Herbach, William Durbin, T. Mychael Rambo, May
Lee-Yang and more. The entire day was dedicated to the writing process
and particularly to developing interesting and vibrant characters.
Highland Catholic students applied to go to the conference by submitting a paragraph about writing. Here are a few excerpts:
"....I think that seeing the process that professional writers use might help me finish one of my stories."
"...I am growing as a writer and a human being. One of my outlets for artistic expression is writing."
"..My dream for when I row up is to become an author."
"...I
also want to go because I want to be able to show emotion better on a
page. Another reason is because I always have an idea but never can
transform it into a story."
In the classroom, a group of second grade students have been reading
The Great Cheese Conspiracy.
While reading, each group member has a specific role to aid in
comprehension. These roles are based on the "Reciprocal Teaching
Strategies". Students are predictors, questioners, clarifiers, and
summarizers. Pictured below are the students with the props that prompt
them to use the comprehension strategies we are learning and
practicing. Each strategy has a hand motion that the students use when
they access the strategies in our discussions. It is quite amazing to
hear a second grade student start a discussion by saying, "I would like
to clarify something that we read."
