class
should choose five student speakers to ask these questions over the ITV. The
McKissacks also recommend that students read How
a Book is Made by Aliki about how books are published.
Suggested Audience: Grades 3 & 4
Program Goal: To introduce students to the process that authors use to write a book, and specifically, how to begin a story.
Preparation for Program: Patricia and Fred McKissack meet with teachers
over interactive TV two weeks prior to the scheduled videoconference author's
visit to discuss the goals of the program with them. Teachers describe their
vision of the project and make a plan to prepare their students for the videoconference.
Preparation for the students includes: 1) reviewing a biographical sketch of
the McKissacks provided by them; 2) reading three of the following books: Messy
Bessey, Messy Bessey's Closet, Messy Bessey's Garden, Messy
Bessey's School Desk, or Messy Bessey's Birthday Sleepover or any
three books of the teachers' choosing written by the McKissacks 3) keeping a
journal for one to two weeks of any observations of places, people, and lists
of facts from which they may write stories; and 4) dividing into groups to formulate
questions. Each class
should choose five student speakers to ask these questions over the ITV. The
McKissacks also recommend that students read How
a Book is Made by Aliki about how books are published.
Program Description: The McKissacks will present a talk on the writing process and how an author writes a story. They will teach the students one way, called The Wave, to start writing a story and have students come up with their own beginnings. There will be a ten minute question and answer time for the students to ask their prepared questions about the writing process.
Follow up activities: Each class will create a room at school
to represent a bedroom with Messy Bessey's closet. They will bring articles
from their closets at home and recycle items that they no longer need to
places where people can use them. Students will discuss the meaning behind
the words of the Messy Bessey books. All the students will write and illustrate
stories using the Wave as a way to begin. Another option would be
to have the class create a class book. Each student, or group of
students, could create one page for the book. The McKissacks
will then give feedback to the students about their work over the third
ITV session and by email. Students will publish their stories in print
form and/or on an ITV connection. They should be very specific about what
they want help on. Time will not permit each student to read his/her
entire story.
Handouts For This Lesson (these are in pdf
format)
You will need Acrobat Reader to open them.
