The
season when authors visit schools en masse is just around the corner, and that
means schools are busy getting ready. After all, the more students know about an
author going into the visit, the more they will take away from the experience.
 |
| Reading and discussing my books |
 |
| Identifying text features and text structures |
 |
| Filling out a text structure worksheet |
 |
| Brainstorming question to ask me |
In
mid-April, I’ll be spending two fun days with the fourth graders at Hampden
Meadows Elementary School in Barrington, RI. I loved seeing photos—tweeted by teacher-librarian
Melanie Roy (@hms_library, @mrsmelanieroy)—of
students reading and
discussing three of my books, identifying the books’ text features and structures, filling out a text structure worksheet, and brainstorming questions to ask me. At this point, the students know the books as well as I do.
this fascinating list of the students’ thoughts.
What Fourth Graders Can Tell About
Melissa Stewart by Reading Her Books
- It’s nonfiction but she weaves fun stuff into it so you don’t get
bored - She likes animals – she writes a lot about them and their features
- She puts books in a kids’ perspective and doesn’t use big words we
don’t understand - She tells facts in a kid-friendly way
- She converts animal facts (feather book) into something a human would
do - She has a sense of humor – little worms in the Monkey book
- She really wants you to learn something
- You can tell she really likes to learn about animals
- She’s very detailed
- There’s always a bit of fun – jokes in the Dolphin book
- She makes it good for girls and boys
- Her books are short but there’s a LOT of information
- She does a lot of research
- She really cares about nature
- She’s scientific
- She made me learn something new which is awesome
- She puts surprising things in with her facts
I
was blown away by some of these comments. I was surprised by how much the students
had learned about me from reading my books. Seriously, they’ve got me pegged.
super excited to visit Hampden Meadows Elementary because I know the fourth
graders are ready to ask me deep, probing questions about my work. And those
questions will lead to a rich, intellectually-stimulating dialogue about the writing
process and its challenges. Hampden Meadows here I come!
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4 Responses
We LOVED our Skype visit with you earlier this school year and still refer to what we learned. We start our next nonfiction unit in April and your name will come up again and again!
Thanks, Erika. They are a great group of kids.
This is fabulous. I need to share this with teachers. And the kids' comments are great.
Alyson, Have you met Melanie Roy? She's terrific.