EDUCATION
A second-grade class at Turner Woods Elementary School had a publishing party to present an animal they researched about, wrote a paper about and made a video about while using the writing and editing process.
Laura Dixon, the media specialist at Turner Woods Elementary School, said she was excited for the publishing party this year. She said the students learned a lot and had fun.
“This is our fourth year doing the publishing party with Ms. Priester’s second grade class. They do a research project on an animal they are assigned, and they use various digital and print resources to do their research, write their paper, go through the editing process, revisions, and once their paper is complete they see me,” she said. “They do a green screen trailer for their paper to mimic a publishing party for a book, since their paper is being published.”
She said the publishing party was a chance for family and previous teachers to come see the students’ work. She said the trailer they create hits highlights of the paper of the animals the students’ researched.
“I think this gives the students a little taste of what publishing a book is like. Publishing a book is more involved, but they get a glimpse of what it’s like. They get an idea of green screen technology and putting films together,” Dixon said.
The media specialist said the students had a lot of fun doing the project. She said she enjoys being able to work with the students one on one to get their ideas out there. She said seeing their creativity is a lot of fun.
“My favorite thing about the publishing party is getting to the point where we can have parents back in our schools,” she said. “The kids get excited. They had multiple copies of their research paper and they got to sign them like a real author and give away their copies. The students, teachers and parents are all in one space again and that’s great.”
Victoria Westbrook, a student who attended the publishing party, said her favorite thing about publishing her paper was that she learned she really likes monkeys. She said she had a lot of fun writing her research paper, and she hopes she can do it again in the future. She said her parents were impressed with her project. She made an entire video and she wrote a lot.
“I was excited for the publishing party. My paper was about howler monkeys, and I learned a lot about them. My video is really cool. I learned howler monkeys are the loudest monkeys out of every monkey. My parents came, and they got to write down stuff about my video and paper,” Westbrook said.
Dixon said the students get to learn a lot about the writing process. She said at Turner Woods Elementary School they have been developing a strong writing program, because those skills are just as important as math and reading.
“We will definitely do the publishing party again next year. I would love to see it grow into more than just this one classroom,” she said. “People really enjoy the publishing party and seeing what the kids come up with. The kids love showing off what they created, too.”
