Students writing their own books. Sounds like a fun activity, right? But that doesn’t sound feasible as a part of a classroom setting, right? Well, AP Literature teacher, Ms. Cavanaugh believes otherwise, as she started a new assignment with her students where they interviewed kindergartners from Grand Prairie Elementary School to make children’s books.
Ms. Cavanaugh has expressed that, while her students are exceptionally good at analyzing literature, it leaves them fairly limited in understanding the choices made in literature, or as she puts it: “a Super Bowl commentator who has never actually played football doesn’t know what it’s like to have to make decisions on the field. They can analyze plays, but they can’t analyze the choices in the same way.” She believes that writing children’s books will help students be more aware of the conscious choices authors put in their books. Children’s books have a lot of effort and careful planning behind them since they must capture the audience of both children and parents. The assignment of writing a book, specifically for a little kid, makes the writing and motivation more rewarding for the students. Students are more likely to want to write the best story they can write if it is going to be enjoyed by a little kid!
The reason Grand Prairie was chosen was because one of Ms. Cavanaugh’s former students is a kindergarten teacher at Grand Prairie, so when Ms. Cav reached out to her, she was more than happy to help with the project. After talking to Grand Prairie’s principal about the project, it was approved with great enthusiasm. How the project works is that two high schoolers will be assigned to a kindergartener and students will have to interview their kindergartener for the type of book they want, with the assistance of little red folders the kindergarteners made about themselves and what they like. This was done with a field trip to Grand Prairie. After the first drafts and learning about the uniqueness of children’s books from the Frankfort Public Library, students will travel back the elementary school, and the story will be presented to the kindergartner. After the final drafts are completed, the kindergarteners will be the illustrators for the book they helped create!
The first visit to Grand Prairie went swell! All the teachers involved thought that the high schoolers were amazing at talking to the little kids, as East students believed it can be intimidating talking to someone twice your age, and vice versa! But everything was handled smoothly and students had a fun time interviewing their kindergartener and getting to know them better. One thing Ms. Cavanaugh wished to be different was for her high schoolers to have their very own, “getting to know me” folder so it could be a way the two groups of learners can have equal ground, so the interview can be a little less intimidating.
Many AP Literature students were, and still are, very excited about this project; student Phe Mennella and her group are writing a book about a princess who wanted a cat but instead ended up getting a dog. The princess was disappointed about getting a dog, but the dog was able to save the princess from a dragon attack. Phe said the story was to teach the kindergarteners that things are not always as bad as they seem and how to be brave when faced with adversity. Her opinions on the project are high, with wanting to do this activity with different age groups to see if the themes of stories would change. She also believes that the project is an opportunity that can bring people together in their communities as people are making and sharing stories.
This is only the beginning of what seems to be a long legacy to come. Making stories for kindergartners is helping bring people together and increasing creativity and understanding in the classroom. Both Grand Prairie Elementary School and Lincoln-Way East High School are making a sweet tradition about the importance of morals, lessons, and digging deep into the choices made in books. So, if you know someone who is part of this project, ask them how writing is going!
