聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The Preeceville School and the School Community Council hosted a literacy event on January 11.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The event featured its writer-in-residence, Sigmund Brouwer, a Canadian author. "The date was chosen to coincide with Brouwer鈥檚 scheduled time within Good Spirit School Division and in preparation for Family Literacy Day on January 27," said Leslea Hanson, teacher.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Parents and students were invited to attend and participate in activities and stations set up in the school where they could listen to stories 小蓝视频 read, play word games, or pick a cozy corner and share a story.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dallas Burym, Grade 2 teacher, shared elementary reading strategies for early learners. Sheila Klebeck, Grade 3 teacher, spoke about the Story Ninja program. Leslea Hanson demonstrated how to access free online e-books and audiobooks through the school's library system, Publizard (a site which the school has access to because of the writer-in-residence contract), and the Parkland Regional Library.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Before Brouwer's presentation, he met with Grade 9 students who had asked for his feedback with the narrative stories they are writing for their ELA class.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "Brouwer delivered a captivating presentation to a combined audience of students and parents," said Hanson.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Brouwer compared great stories to great music with the idea that the stories grab listeners鈥� attention and feelings. Brouwer said he believes that human 小蓝视频s connect through story, whether it is the everyday stories people tell each other or the stories people tell designed to entertain or evoke emotions and reactions. He encouraged parents to celebrate the stories told by their children.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Using his personal experience as an example that 鈥渟tory is the best reason to read and write,鈥� Brouwer shared that, after 小蓝视频 given the first book in the Hardy Boys series, he went on to read the entire 103-book series, which means he processed approximately three million words.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "When people write or tell stories about what they care about, those are good stories. When students care, they will do the work; they will have the motivation to fulfill literacy goals," said Brouwer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Every student who attended received a copy of Absolute Pressure from Brouwer, as well as a free book from the school's literacy collection.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sheila Klebeck reported her progress with her Grade 3 students and the Story Ninja Program.
鈥淎t the beginning of this project, we each received a complimentary Ninja folder that contains all the writing tips, and is designed to house our writing projects, from 鈥榮loppy copy鈥� to published work,鈥� Klebeck said. 鈥淪igmund also included a free copy of a chapter book called Bird Nerd that we use in class.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "We have finished the Ninja 鈥楽tory鈥� Moves, which are lessons that combine information and videos from Sigmund to give us tips on story structure and how to hook your reading audience," she said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Grade 3 students are working on Ninja 'Writing鈥� Moves that work on writing mechanics and conventions (noun, verbs, adjectives, etc). The videos help the class add colour and depth to students鈥� stories.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽"Brouwer often visits the class via 'Zoom' interactive video forum, where we can actually speak to him and ask live questions. The students are more than enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with a 鈥榬eal鈥� author," said Klebeck.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Grade 9 ELA class has also been using Brouwer鈥檚 writing resources to produce a narrative story, said Hanson. "Like the Story Ninja program the Grade 3 students鈥� use, he has made writing project videos for older audiences that provide information and hints for developing ideas, writing stories and editing stories.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The students also submitted questions to Brouwer about the writing process.
Brouwer鈥檚 valuable feedback provides an authentic framework for the students to be authors writing manuscripts which they care about, Klebeck said. When the narrative task was first assigned, it seemed daunting that they could write a six-page story; a few weeks and several revisions later, the students have proudly exceeded their own expectations to create very interesting stories.
