NYC Kids Get Published as Part of the Writers of Tomorrow Project
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By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 05/26/2010
Close to 100 low-income elementary school children in New York City spent the last year learning about writing, editing, design, and layout from professionals in the business—and recently published their very own glossy hardcover books.
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A Scholastic volunteer works with students during one of the publisher's workshops in downtown Manhattan. |
As part of the Writers of Tomorrow Project, the second through fifth graders have faithfully attended monthly workshops at scholastic's offices and at their schools—P.S. 279, P.S. 135, and the Beginning with Children Charter School in Brooklyn and P.S. 195 in Queens—to learn about the ins and outs of the publishing industry from volunteer Scholastic Book Club employees.
In collaboration with PENCIL, a nonprofit organization that seeks to elevate schools by pairing them with local businesses, the goal was to improve students’ writing skills and to look for ways to “make a better school-home connection,” says Judy Newman, president of Scholastic Book Clubs.
Working closely with the principals at each school, volunteers designed lesson plans and activities that matched individual English Language Arts curriculums—and decided on the theme of “home.”
The published books were impressive. Students at P.S. 195, for example, came up with the idea of “Home Sweet Home,” researching countries around the world—from China and Egypt to Nigeria and Haiti—and ended up writing short stories in the voices of children who live there. “Hey, it’s me, Sanji. Boy, is Egypt hot! It’s April, so that means I have to start preparing for the sandstorms,” begins the story, "Stone Strong."
And another story, "Did I Do Something Wrong," touched upon the issue of censorship. “My name is Mei-Ling. I live in downtown Beijing, China. Yesterday, I got in trouble at school. I was reading a book that my teacher said was not approved by the government.”
Meanwhile, in their book, students at Beginning with Children Charter School wrote about thoughts of home, from play fighting with dad to fun sleepovers.
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The book cover of Thoughts of Home, published by students of the Beginning with Children Charter School in Brooklyn. |
“Behind it all are some very important themes though,” says Newman. “They learned how to create, how to see a task through to the end, and how to express themselves through writing.”
The workshops focused on everything from how to brainstorm ideas to how books are marketed and sold. “The students created book proposals, presented them, incorporated feedback, wrote, edited, and illustrated their work, and learned about how books are promoted—including the difference between publicity and advertising,” Newman adds.
The schools plan to sell the books to help raise funds—and the proud voices of the student authors are apparent. .
"Working with Scholastic on this writing project helped me expand my writing experience,” says Salmon Akinwunmi, a fourth grader at P.S. 195. “I enjoyed researching facts on the country Nigeria and sharing what I learned with my friends. I think we have written a great book.”
