Fourth-graders make foray into publishing

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.

But their foray into publishing didn't come easy for these fourth-graders. Since this was an add-on to their regular school work, the students had to meet at lunch for weekly brainstorming meetings. Then they used their weekends to visit beaches, parks, bowling alleys, and art classes from Cocoa Beach to Port St. Lucie.

Along the way, they discovered places they didn't know about - and sharpened their writing skills.

"Real-life experiences are so important to get your head out of photocopied paper and spitting back answers," says Fox, who spent $99 of her own money to publish the book through Weekly Reader Press and iUniverse. "It shows them that writing is more than an assignment. It has helped them understand deadlines."

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."

The idea hatched after Fox moved from Fort Lauderdale to Sebastian. She had already written a travel book about southern Florida. No one had ever written a book about Sebastian - a small fishing town in eastern central Florida - so it got Fox thinking: why not turn the project into a student-teacher collaboration?

Once Fox got approval from Ms. Swanson, she asked several teachers to nominate strong writers from their classes. The students needed to be detail-oriented, able to take constructive criticism, and capable of understanding deadlines. They also needed thick skins to get through the editing process. Twenty-five students were nominated, but only 12 had the stamina to stick with the project to the end.

To start, Fox created a master list of the students' favorite destinations, from skateboard parks and arcades to restaurants to beaches. But nothing violent, such as a paintball site, would make it into the book. She also made it clear that not every review would make the final cut - even though seeing their words cut was sometimes difficult for the young writers.

Page: 1 | 2