Writer's Workshop and Self Publishing Class Books

Creating a class book is a time-tested activities that most teachers do. Each students contributes a page and it's stapled together to create a book...most teachers have done this at some point, or perhaps often! 

A few years ago I decided to take it to the next level. Working with grade 1 students, we went through the "writer's workshop" process as a class. 

Together we decide on a topic, go through the brainstorming and editing process, and eventually each student contributes an illustration. 

I could have scanned the pictures after gluing them onto colored paper, but I decided to transfer them digitally. Each picture became a jpeg image that could be dropped into a blank document.  

Next, we sent the file off to the printers and a week later, a box of very professional looking books arrived at our door! It was lovely to see my students reading every word, complimenting each other on their page, and feeling so proud!

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I've done this for several years now, and it's always so inspiring. Here's a peek at the book we had printed this year:  

The title is "I Like Me".

I always make the cover (I didn't think it would be fair for one student to do that) and each student chose an animal to draw and write about using the basic frame. 

With my more advanced students, we added non-fiction facts about each animal around the edges.

The topic arose out of discussions surrounding bullying and assertiveness. 

Basically our theme was:

- We are all different, with our own skills and talents. 
-There will always be people who make us feel "less than", but the best way to respond is not to be nasty back, but to be assertive about your own skills, as illustrated by the animals. 

At the end of the story, students are asked to think of their own special talents!

All of the students ordered a copy to keep (about $10), and some parents ordered 5 or 6 copies to send to relatives! I love to imagine the conversations that went on at home with family and friends as the students got so much positive reaction for their work. 

The end result? They are writing up a storm and don't need any urging from me!

I keep several copies of these books in my class library, and students love to come back and visit when they are older. I still love the books we staple together, but I must admit that holding a professionally printed book does a lot to make them feel like "real authors"!