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Saturday, November 23, 2013

Spark Student Motivation-Publishing a Class Book

Happy Saturday! I can't believe it has been almost a week since I last posted. We had our first round of parent/teacher conferences this week. Putting in a 14 hour day just about kills me every year. I always feel bad for my last conference, I don't think I always speak in complete sentences. Monday we finish up our conferences (Thankfully this should only be a 13 hour day!)
http://headoverheelsforteaching.blogspot.com/
Today I'm excited to link up with the fabulous Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching. I apologize now for the lack of pictures...but I forgot my camera at school.

My students and I are currently working on a class book. "A Day in the Life of Bubble Gum." On Monday, we worked together to brainstorm things that could happen to a piece of gum.We then created an outline for our book, each student choosing one page of the book to write.
On Tuesday the students wrote their first draft of their page and then worked with the people the page before and after them to make sure their page flowed.

On Wednesday, I read the story to the class page by page, we "tweaked" the story as needed to have it all make sense. For the rest of the week the students and I worked to have them write their final copy.

This week I will send our final copy to Student Treasures. This company will publish one class book for free. Parents can order a copy of the book for themselves and if every parent signs a paper the company will send you a free copy of the book.

Interested in publishing a class book? Check out the company, and order your free kit. (Please note that I am not getting anything for telling you about this company, I just know how much my students are loving this project.)
Studentreasures Book Publishing

Working on a class book has really helped my students stay motivated during writing time this week...and considering how hard it is to concentrate before a break, I'd count it as a huge success.

What do you do to motivate your students to write? How do you help keep your students on task when vacation is on the horizon?

8 comments:

  1. I love your writing prompt. Thanks for the website info!!

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  2. I really like the idea of A Day in the LIfe of Bubble Gum, Bethany. I can only imagine that all of the students were definitely into this topic for a book. Knowing my students, they'd be all over it!
    Thanks for sharing! I'm going to try this out in my room for sure!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  3. I'm sure your kids are having loads of fun with that writing assignment! We are doing Student Treasures right now too, but I'm wishing I had been wiser like you and done the class book. We are doing the individual books, and it always takes longer than I want to spend. They are beautiful when they are done though, and the kids love them!

    Stephanie
    Forever in Fifth Grade

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  4. Love the gum idea!!!! I've got to try that.

    Thank you for visiting and commenting on my blog. :)

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  5. This is a great idea for a class book! If you ever need a good read aloud for a point of view activity like this, you can check out A Day in the Life of Murphy. The book tells a story about a day from a dog's point of view. Very fun read!

    Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

    Mary
    Fit to be fourth

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  6. What a creative prompt! I will have to use that one! I make class book, but not professionally like you! :) I laminate their writing and then bind them together. It's such a great keepsake for your class and definitely gives them motivation to write! I hope Monday goes better for your conferences friend!
    Thanks for sharing and linking up!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  7. I really like this writing prompt and the idea for a class book! I've not tried Student Treasures but have read several blog posts about them. I use Storybird, an online book creation website. I think I'm going to try a class book project here with my fifth grade class. Thanks for the idea!

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  8. I've never heard of this resource so thank you!

    We finished conferences this week too! Those late nights are killers, aren't they?

    Have a great Thanksgiving!

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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