Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The Best Part of Me

I finally did a project I've been thinking about for a couple of years. I had my 4th graders do their own version of The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald. It all started when the fourth grade team was discussing their latest Lucy Calkins writing frame back in November. I decided it was a frame I could use to give the students some extra practice and complete the desired project.

First, I shared the wonderful book with the kids. Then, after they shared possible favorite parts and reasons why, they got started making an organizer with their ideas. They could use paper and pencil, the note app on their iPad or the Popplet App. The next step was to begin our writing using the writing frame. We did one paragraph a day. Once they were finished they shared their writing with a partner and made any corrections they thought necessary. The final copy was typed in the Book Creator App. When it was complete they decided on how they wanted their picture taken and we did that together. They learned how to convert the picture to black and white and then added it to their book. I did a little editing with the students and was their final editor as well. The final step for the students was save their pages as a PDF and then Flick their pages to my iPad. I put all the pages into one book, saved it as a PDF and uploaded it to Bookemon. I posted the book on my school webpage and asked parents if they'd like to buy a copy. Eight parents took me up on the offer as well as a couple of the teachers. I was able to make it affordable by asking our wonderful PTA for my yearly $100 grant to help offset the cost for the parents.

Here's our final project: