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!)

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.)

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?