Nonfiction Writing Celebration

I’ve just gotta tell you, I attended an incredible writing celebration today. Not only was the celebration itself cool, but the way it evolved rocked too. It was a true collaboration. It is teachers like Gretchen and Christi who push me to become a better teacher.

So the celebration . . . how do I even begin to do it justice? Let’s see:

• The basics: 2nd grade, nonfiction unit of study, all about books.
• We spent a lot of time talking about being an expert about a topic when you write to teach others. So Gretchen and Christi invited their students to dress up like an expert. It could be an expert from the field their books were about or an expert ready to talk about their topic (dress clothes). The kids were so excited about this. There were cats (complete with ears, tails, and whiskers), ATV helmets, footballs, a cheerleader, ties, dresses, even a Christmas tree dress (worn by the author of Christmas Trees), and sweater vests.

• I scanned all of the covers and put them into a PowerPoint presentation. I grouped the books according to topic.
• We set up a microphone and projected the presentation onto a giant screen.
• Kids prepared their talking points on a note card Gretchen designed: Hello, my name is _______. The title of my book is ______. One important fact about my topic is _______.
• When the cover of their book appeared, they went to the mic and shared some of their research.

• Parents filled the room. We had over thirty parents attend this mid-day celebration!
• After the research was presented, everyone was invited back to the classrooms for a reception and to read the books (how could you resist after getting a peek at the covers?).

As some of you know, one of my goals this year is making the most out of writing celebrations. I’m learning celebration is critical to the life of a writer. It gives self-confidence, energy, and excitement to writers. I’ve also enjoyed finding new ways to celebrate the learning and process of being writers.