The situation that highlighted for me the importance of authentic writing experiences was a letter to the author activity. I was collaborating with an English teacher in a class of high school sophomores with severe reading disabilities. We were reading the graphic novel version of Tantalize: Kieran's Story based on Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I was going to see Cynthia at a writer's conference and asked her if she would have time to answer letters from my students. She was thrilled to do so.
What resulted was one of the most engaging writing activities I've ever conducted. The reason it was so successful was because my students knew their letters were going to a real person. This was not just a random writing exercise. For this reason, they were eager to edit and improve their material. Some even brought special stationery from home. I included specific requirements in the project to address specific writing objectives such as describing a character or a scene from the book and asking pertinent questions, but it was still an actual letter to a live person.
Why not start the school year by dynamically engaging students with reading by choosing a book they will love and enhancing the literacy experience by writing to the author? See my suggestions below for how to get the most out of this activity.
Finding a Book and an Author
1. Choose a book you know will grab your students' attention.
2. Contact the author and ask if they can answer letters from your students. This may take a while, so plan accordingly. Don't tell students about the author's involvement until you confirm their availability. There is usually a contact page if an author has a website. If that doesn't work, contact their publisher. If you know the town where they live, contact the local SCBWI branch (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). This organization can be a great place to find local authors willing to visit your classroom and/or write to your students. You may have a celebrity living in your own backyard.
3. If you cannot contact the author, find someone else connected to the book or the subject matter. For instance, if you are reading a book about deadly diseases, a local doctor, physician's assistant, or even your school nurse may be willing to answer letters and perhaps come to your school and talk to your class. In the background material of my new book The Raven Remix: A Mashup of Poe Stories (coming in October), I discuss many of the deadly diseases that were rampant during the time of Poe. I also list children's books that delve into those topics.
4. If your students are reading any of my books which you will find listed on this blog, feel free to have them write letters to me. Decodable chapter books for grades 4-9 are listed
HERE. Young adult novels for ages 14+ are
HERE. You may contact me via my website at
info@wordtravelpress.com. I'd love to hear from your students and answer their questions. My new book,
Gods and Gifts: Three Greek Myths Retold is a retelling of the Greek Creation story in three parts, but it also contains information about other creation stories and examples of early forms of writing. It just came out this month and is available through
Amazon. Read more about it
HERE.
5. Read through the letters your students write and create a cover letter to the author listing the questions and consolidating any repetition of questions. This way, the author can scan the letters without missing any important details and respond with one letter to everyone, answering all questions simultaneously.
6. Mail the letters to the author or scan them and send them electronically.
7. When the author responds, give each student a copy of the response and read it to the class.
Tips for Letter Content
1. Depending on your students' ages and ability levels, determine the number of paragraphs you will assign to them.
2. Decide what skill you want them to work on and incorporate that into the assignment. Is the focus on describing a character or favorite scene from the book, creating a short summary, or identifying a theme?
3. A format might look something like this:
A. Paragraph 1 - The students tell about themselves and mention the title of the book they read.
B. Paragraph 2 - Focus on the writing skill such as describing or summarizing.
C. Paragraph 3 - Wrap up and end with a question.
4. The above can be completed in pairs or as a class for young or struggling students.
Tips for Editing
1. Editing is where students typically lose enthusiasm but where the real magic happens in the letter-writing process. They want them to shine because they know their letters are going to a real person. Have students exchange letters to proofread. Unlike proofreading and correcting random sentences as an editing exercise, they proofread something authentic. Students often have difficulty seeing errors in their own writing and may be better at making suggestions for the work of others.
2. If the letter writing was a group project, the editing can occur as a group, in pairs, or individually. Be sure to leave some mistakes for them to find if you were compiling the letter.
3. Students revise their original letters for punctuation and grammar.
4. Rewrite the letters on special stationery.
If this process works well for you and your students, consider repeating it with different books and authors throughout the year. Consider following the I Do, We Do, You Do philosophy and the Gradual Release of Responsibility using the steps below.
Gradual Release of Responsibility
1. Read a book and write a letter as a group. The teacher takes the lead with input from the class for content. She may make suggestions about content and phrasing.
2. Read a different book. The teacher still takes the lead but shifts more responsibility to the class. They collaboratively make suggestions for content.
3. Read a third book. Students work in pairs or small groups to decide what goes into the letter.
4. Read a fourth book. When ready, students can work independently to create content for the letter. Some may still need more direct assistance.
Parts of the above activity were taken from my book, Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Enhancing Student Learning Through the Power of Storytelling.
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