Pre-K Students Want To Be Authors

I am a pre-K teacher in a Title 1 school in Brownsville, Brooklyn. My students are young but very inquisitive and they have a lot to say.

The majority of my students come from working families. Sometimes they do not even see their families too often because they are trying to provide the best that they can for their children. Often they see their child care providers more often than their parents. When my students come into my classroom, my assistant and I try to make it as welcoming as possible. We start by introducing all the wonders that books have to offer. For some of my students, this is the first time people are taking the time to read to them and pay attention to what they want. My students are read to everyday and introduced to yearly favorites such as books by Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss and David Shannon. My students have shown they love listening and reading these treasured books on their own. We try to recreate these favored stories on our own with different characters. Unfortunately, we often end up with unfinished stories or my students get disinterested in the project because it takes too long to complete.

One great solution would be to have blank big books, where the students would be able to create their own page of the story on a large scale. My students would not feel overwhelmed in trying to finish an entire book on their own, but to be part of a group to create a "masterpiece". The best part of these blank books is that all the students would be able to look and see the finished products without having to vie for space when viewing the books. We encourage parents to come into the classroom monthly or even everyday, but most importantly when they have the opportunity. The parents would be able to view all the wonderful stories that we have created and are very proud of.

Your help will ensure that my students will develop and learn to be great readers and writers as they grow through each year of school. They will also learn to feel confident in what they have to say and express to others.