Last year they were fourth-grade students. Today they are published authors. For eight months, with the help of teaching assistant Debbie Fox, a dozen fourth-graders at Pelican Island Elementary School in Sebastian, Fla., wrote and researched a travel guidebook called "Fun in the Sun - a Kid's Guide to Indian River County...and Beyond!"
What was originally intended to be a small spiral-bound booklet turned into a real paperback book when Ms. Fox stumbled upon an inexpensive online publisher and realized that the thrill of working together to produce a "real book" was within reach for her students...
In today's climate of heightened concern about standardized test scores, it's become rarer for teachers to invest time in such special extracurricular projects. But since Fox is a teaching assistant without the heavier workload of a full-time teacher, and the students were willing to donate their lunch breaks and weekends, the project didn't interfere with other class work.
"Debbie is an incredible talent," says principal Bonnie Swanson. "She's so in tune with young children and the things that interest them."
Nice to see recognition of the fact that kids are willing to work hard and take on new challenges over and above their regular classwork. And it's nice to see recognition for these kids in particular. They've sold only 25 copies of their book, but hey, that's 25 more books than I've ever sold.
Posted by kswygert at August 10, 2004 09:54 AM