Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschool.html. Spring registration is open!
By: Anna Flurry
Taught by Ben Goldberg and Anna Flurry, teaching assistant, Clare Zad
How many 8-year-olds do you know who are published authors? We created this class to encourage kids to love writing by helping them bring their stories into print.
From left to right: Rayan, Mr. Ben, Lily, Ms. Clare, and Amelia working together on their stories
We started off the semester by introducing the basic elements of a story (plot, character, conflict, theme, and setting), using Little Red Riding Hood as a test case. The kids acted out the story and then told us what the elements of the story were.
From left to right: Amelia as the Hunter, Lily as the Grandma, Genesis as Red Riding Hood, and Rayan as the Wolf
After the students learned about these basic elements, we spent the next couple class periods brainstorming and having the kids plan out their stories. Then they got to work writing their masterpieces.
Lily writing about the adventures of Ann, the mouse-sized girl
Finally, it was time to edit the stories, come up with titles, and put together the artwork. We formatted the books and had them published for the students to take home after showing all their friends and family at the Student Showcase.
Amelia and Rayan put the finishing touches on their stories
If you think the Make Your Own Book Class sounded cool, you might be interested in checking out our new Story Art Class on Mondays for Grades 1-3 or the Poetry Players class on Fridays for Grades 3-5 this spring.