StudentPublishing

Welcome back to the Student Publishing Pen! We know it’s been a long break, and we’re sorry to have kept you waiting. We’ve been talking with some amazing teachers and collecting tips to share with all of you. Keep your eyes peeled each month in 2012 for more great projects. If you have a project to share with fellow teachers, please email us at specialist@studentpublishing.com.

This February, we caught the love bug with Mrs. Josaphat’s 1st grade class’ book, Our Valentines…

Linda Josaphat
Hammock Pointe Elementary School
Boca Raton, FL

While we love to see students’ creativity blossom when they publish their very own book, sometimes the most powerful words come in the form of a Classbook. For a Classbook, each student contributes one or two pages and the class receives one free hardback copy of their book. The free Classbook programs have the same requirements as the free Storybook program (10 or more kids in 8th grade or below to qualify), but free Classbooks may be created all online, by uploading a PDF, or by printing out pages and handwriting/illustrating them.

Oh yes, the only other requirement for the free Classbook program is that you give parents the option to purchase their own copies of your book. Let’s be honest, with a title like Our Valentines, what parent WOULDN’T want a copy of this adorable book? The students’ Valentines ranged from parents, to siblings, to cousins and friends. With a little coaching from Mrs. Josaphat, this is one Classbook that those valentines – and our staff at StudentPublishing.com – won’t soon forget. But enough from me, let’s hear how Mrs. Josaphat created and executed this awesome project.

StudentPublishing Pen: Where did you hear about StudentPublishing.com and what attracted you to the program?
Linda Josaphat: I started with Student Publishing four years ago. I received an advertisement postcard in my mailbox. I went on the website and was really impressed with the variety of options to create and submit class books, so I decided to try it out and I’ve been having fun creating books with my 1st grade classes ever since.

SPP: Where did you get the idea to make a Valentine’s Day book? LJ: The idea to create a Valentine’s Day book came about during a writing lesson about Martin L. King Jr. During the lesson we discussed and wrote about treating each other fairly and loving others unconditionally. The next day, the students wrote about someone that loves them and treats them fairly.

SPP: Is that why you decided to dedicate the book to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
LJ: I asked the students who they wanted to dedicate the book to and they didn’t really understand. So I pulled several books with dedication pages and showed them examples from other authors. Then we went back to brainstorming. One little boy said, “How about Dr. King. He loved everyone and wanted everyone to love each other.”(My heart melted!) The other students agreed – so Dr. King it was.

SPP: What was the reaction of your 1st graders when you told them they were going to make a book?
LJ: The students were in awe. I told them we were going to create a book and it was going to be published like a real book. That excited them even more.

SPP: What was the process and timeframe for creating the book?
LJ: It was a fun way to teach the writing process. The students started working on the project in January. It took about three to four weeks to put the book together. I submitted it online and received the final product in February, right before Valentine’s Day.

SPP: How did your students decide who their Valentines were going to be?
LJ: Each student chose a person they love and wrote why and how that person makes them feel. The students chose mom, dad, siblings, or aunts.

SPP: What was the reaction of the parents and/or other Valentines to the finished book? Did you do anything special to present it to the parents?
LJ: The parents were impressed with the book. They loved seeing their child’s accomplishment. The book went home as a Valentine’s Day present.

SPP: What area(s) of your curriculum did the project incorporate?
LJ: Writing and Social Studies

SPP: What do you think students learned or what skills did they gain through creating their own books?
LJ: The students learned the writing process, how to add descriptive words to their writing, and how to express themselves in writing. Most importantly, they learned “I can” and how to take great pride in their writing.

SPP: You created this book online, but you have also completed a Mail-in Classbook project in the past. Which do you prefer and why?
LJ: I prefer the Mail-in because the students’ pages are handwritten and illustrated by the students. It shows how hard they worked. At Parent Night this yea, I showed the parents the Classbooks from previous years and they were amazed with the handwritten/illustrated books. The quality and quantity of writing was beyond what they thought their child could produce in first grade.

SPP: Any plans to create a book with your class this year?
LJ: Yes, my class will create a book this year. After the holiday break, we started brainstorming ideas for our story. The students voted on a great topic. I can’t wait!

SPP: Any other thoughts or advice for our teachers about running a publishing project in their own school?
LJ: I definitely recommend that teachers complete a Classbook each year. I started making Classbooks with construction paper, laminating the pages and using spiral rings to bind the book. I still do this as a practice and then mid-year we do the published hardback book. The final product is always beautiful. It’s a joy to see the children smiling faces. It’s so rewarding to see six-year-olds excited about learning.

Another big THANK YOU to Mrs. Josaphat for taking the time to share this amazing project. We hope to see more teachers build a library of Classbooks for kids to come back and read year after year. If you have any questions about Classbooks or want help signing up, feel free to set an appointment with one of our Publishing Specialists. By learning more about the specifics of your class, we can help you find the right project and make your students published authors!

Resting our pen until next time,

Student Publishing Pen

Just like spring brings new life all around us, our March Tips from Teachers will bring new life to your school’s writing curriculum! With more and more schools putting a focus on writing across the curriculum, Diane’s school-wide publishing contest has been in development for 4 years and  may be just the project you were looking for…

Diane Martindale

Marshall Green Middle School

Birch Run, MI

Since we started “Tips from Teachers”, we’ve put the word out to all the customer service representatives to note any unique or amazing projects they might come across. Now, of course, all the projects that come through our door are both unique AND amazing, so the request was sarcastically agreed to without much expectation for any one particular project standing out as extra special in the already exceptional writers paradise that is StudentPublishing.com. That is why you can imagine my surprise when Jackie (who many of you have talked to) came gushing through the door with an excited “I’ve got your next ‘Tips from Teachers’!!”. She proceeded to explain a phone call she just had with an amazing teacher who has been running a school-wide publishing contest at her school for 4 years now and it has grown to include a local cinema, a grant, an induction ceremony, and an article in the newspaper. You can further imagine my relief when I learned that Jackie had not only found one of the coolest uses of StudentPublishing.com I have personally seen, but that she had found an inspiring and imaginative teacher in Diane Martindale who has magically found a way to make her kids write… OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL! Settle in because this is a long one but by the end of it, you too will have the roadmap and inspiration to run this awesome contest in your own school…

StudentPublishing Pen: Where did you hear about StudentPublishing.com and what attracted you to the program?

Diane: I first heard of Creations By You five or six years ago. A promotional flier was in my mailbox. As the Title I Literacy Specialist, I receive a lot of advertisements for programs and products. Unfortunately, most end up in the recycling bin because they are so costly. I held onto the flier from studentpublishing.com to investigate. I thought it would help boost students enthusiasm for writing to see their ideas published in a way that resembled works by their favorite authors, rather than pictures and text stapled together between two pieces of construction paper. I kept it on my desk and looked at it every morning, wondering how I could raise money to do something so awesome with our students. Thanks to the Birch Run Taymouth Education Foundation, a local organization, Marshall Greene Middle School is now in its 4th year of the schoolwide “Publishing Contest.”

SPP: How did you come up with the idea for a school wide publishing contest and what did it take to get it started?

D: One of our school improvement goals is to improve written expression across the curriculum.  Just like we lead children to books with topics they will enjoy to read to create a love for reading, I felt the first step to meet this goal was to give children an opportunity to write what they love to write – despite the curriculum objectives for that grade. Also, I wanted to create an extracurricular that was open to all students, especially those who feel that they don’t fit in anywhere.

To get started, I first generated a timeline and budget. I then applied to the Birch Run Taymouth Education Foundation for grant money. From there, advertisement was simple. I hung sign up sheets around the school and made sure it was on daily announcements. This year we had more participants than ever because I took advantage of studentpublishing.com’s free book project for classrooms. I was able to guarantee that every child who made a book would receive a free paperback copy.

SPP: What is the basic structure of your contest including the process and timeframe of running the school wide publishing contest from an administrators end?

D: First of all, I secure the funds. We honor our first and second place winner in each grade by purchasing for them a hardcover copy of their book. In addition, the first place winners get their book inducted into our school media center. However, any school could run a similar program for virtually free due to studentpublishing.com’s free library book program.

Next, we have a two week block for students to sign up for the program. I post a sign up for each grade level in the hallways. They sign their name, grade, and also choose whether they would like to create a 12 page, 16 page, or 32 page book. Once sign up is over, I then create and distribute each participants online publishing account. Because this is schoolwide, I hold a meeting at the end of the school day for each grade level. I explain how to sign in and demonstrate the tools for creating their book.

Students create their books through November and December. For those students who do not have internet access, I hold an open lab after school once a week. This is a fun time to be with the kids and help them troubleshoot. Many students come that are also working on their book at home just to be part of the group and camararderie. 

I submit the books for publication in December and we receive them back within four weeks. At this time, a judging panel of teachers narrows down the semifinalists to about 10 in each grade. These books are put on display in our library.

Over the course of late January and February, teachers, administrators, and even school board members, visit the media center during planning hours, lunch time, and after school to complete a ballot. To get all students involved we have a voting box for a “Student Choice Award” as well. Once the ballots are collected in mid-February, we announce the first place winners and runner up in each grade during schoolwide announcements. Names are also posted outside the office. At this time, the order is placed for the hard cover books sponsored by the education foundation to be purchased.

The book induction will be celebrated in mid-April during the school day. Family and friends of our winners will be invited to join in celebration with their student. Our media specialist “pre-catalogues” the books, so that on the day of the induction, student authors can search their name and book title on our electronic catalogue. They then place the books on the shelf for generations of students to check out and enjoy for years to come.

SPP: Who judges the books and what criteria do you use to pick winners?

D: All teachers are invited to participate in judging. Because the focus of the contest is the overall publishing of a book and its idea, we encourage professionals from all disciplines. Students may choose to write in any genre. We have submissions that include personal narrative, fantasy, adventure, poetry, folktales, realistic and historical fiction, and informational essays. Students are evaluated using the six + 1 traits of writing as it pertains to the genre of their piece; content, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, and mechanics. Because they have six weeks to publish their book, judges also take into consideration the layout of the book and whether or not students took advantage of the free publishing tools, such as, creating pictures, uploading photos, and making their author’s page. However, the quality of the writing is the primary focus.

To complete a ballot, judges write down their top three choices in order from first to third for each grade level. Once all of the ballots are handed in, they are tabulated. For every first place vote a student receives three points, for every second place vote a student receives two points, and for every third place vote a student receives one point. The student in each grade who accumulates the most points is the winner.

SPP: What is the process on the students end? Is there any follow-up or help from teachers with the stories?

D: The students may choose any piece of writing to publish. Some have stories or essays they wrote for a class that they want to publish, but many write strictly for the contest. A few even tell me at the beginning of the year that they had been working over the summer on their submission. It is up to the students to use the writing process to complete their book. No class time is given to them by teachers. Students are completely responsible to create their books at home online or stay after school for our open lab. Reminders are sent home of the approaching deadline. Students are encouraged to have their parents, siblings, and friends to give feedback and help edit their book. A student may approach a teacher for help, but some may decline if they know that they will participate in judging. The overall quality of the book is completely up to the student. It’s very eye opening for a student who receives their free paperback and they see their mechanical errors. Some are disappointed, but they also learn the important lesson of taking their time and checking over their work.

SPP: What is the reaction to the contest by the students and what is the prize (if any) for the students who win?

D: As you can see, this contest takes almost the entire school year from beginning to end. Students work hard to draft and publish. Some are secretive about their story ideas, while others swap ideas. For most of the year, I can’t get too far without being stopped in the hall to be asked if the books are here, if the winners are chosen, if I thought their book was good. There is a lot of anticipation. When winners are announced you can hear applause and cheering come from the classrooms. It’s that moment that makes all the hard work worth it. On the day of induction, the primary honor is having a hard copy of their book inducted into our library. However, our local theater, Cinema Hollywood, also donates free movie passes. I use any money left from the grant to buy gift cards from Barnes and Noble, and the students are presented with beautiful certificates.

SPP: What do you think students learned/what skills did they gain through creating their own books?

D: I think students learn how powerful writing can be, that it does not have to be a chore. They also learn a sense of responsibility and patience…. and that good writing takes a lot of revision and hard work, but pays off in the end. They learn to have a sense of pride in academics and that writing is actually “cool.” Many students dedicate their books to family, friends, and teachers. This process deepens their value of important relationships in their lives.

SPP: Any other thoughts or advice for our teachers about running a publishing project in their own school?
D: We are now in our 4th year of the publishing contest. The contest itself is now a tradition and has a positive reputation. Every year more students sign up to compete than the year before. They all want to see their book in the library. Students sometimes tell teachers, I’m going to submit this into the writing contest next year (or vice versa), so the enthusiasm filters into the classroom all year round. Because of the free services studentpublishing.com offers, it is possible to create this contest with little or no money if a few  teachers are willing to give a little bit of their time. It is definitely worth it when you see an authors face light up as he or she holds a book with glossy pages and colorful pictures in their hands…a book that they created.

SPP: If you could give one tip to our teachers about using StudentPublishing.com, what would it be?

D: The program itself is so user friendly. Don’t be intimidated using the online version. The kids will have it figured out before you can even blink! They teach me new tricks every year.

We want to say a big THANK YOU to Diane for taking the time to share the details of her school-wide publishing contest and hope it has inspired YOU to get creative with your curriculum initiatives and maybe even follow in her footsteps! Be sure to check out the pictures sent in (below) of Marshall Green Middle School students working on their books and the article written about them.

Resting our pen until next time,

StudentPublishing Pen