From the Cedar Rapids school district:
Students in grades kindergarten through fifth at Polk Elementary School have collaborated to write and illustrate their own hardbound books.
“Students went through the whole process of first draft and revisions, all the way to the publication process,” explained Anita Miller, teacher librarian. “The teachers tied the writing process into what they did in their classrooms. For one class, it was a collection of the child’s writings over the year. For another, it was a class book with research related to a science unit. Another teacher gave them a writing topic like ‘If I were president.’ The teacher then determined the book would be a class book with everyone writing a page or if each child would write an individual book.”
This marked the third year Polk has participated in the project and the first year involving the entire school.
“The children and teachers are so pleased with the finished product,” Miller added. “The students wanted to produce their best work.”
The publication was through Studentreasures Publishing, and the students who wrote individual books received a free hardcover copy of their own work.
