I love my student’s writing. I love watching them grow as writers. I also love when we combine our writing with what we’re learning in our class.
I also love sharing and publishing student writing. I am a big believer in sharing the writing of my students.
We publish our writing in a variety of ways. We display it in our classroom and in the hallways. But there’s something special about writing that is turned into a book.
A book with a hardcover. And full color illustrations. A title page. A spine. As my ‘staches call it: A REAL BOOK!
So when Studentreasures reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try their publishing service with my class, I jumped at the chance.
I had heard of Studentreasures but had never tried it. And let me just say how EASY and TEACHER FRIENDLY the entire process was!
Everything you need is included in your package. Directions. Writing pages. Cover page, title page, a page for pictures of your writers. And easy to follow directions.
(TIP: Ummmm read the directions carefully because you keep the box to send your pages back…I didn’t read carefully. Don’t be like me!)
They even include extra page numbers in case your pages get out of whack. Like ours did. But with extra numbers, you just cut and paste and fix the page numbering! So easy!!
After we wrote our bat information on our writing paper, I worked with my students 1 on 1 and in groups of 2 or 3 to help them transfer their writing to the paper from Studentreasures.
I choose this method to make sure we stayed in lines and used our best handwriting for our book. I HIGHLY recommend this when working on your book pages. In older grades, of course, they can work more independently.
After we finished our writing, I went back and traced the writing with a Sharpie. Studentreasures says to use a black marker for the writing, but I didn’t want the students using it for their writing so we could fix mistakes.
After they finished their writing, I went back and traced their writing (mistakes and all)!
And then we shipped our books off.
And waited.
I will say, the waiting was the hardest part. The waiting did make the ‘staches forget about the book.
Once the books arrived, they were beyond excited!
I cannot begin to describe the excitement and pride in my students seeing their writing and illustrations in a “real book!” They screamed and cheered when I opened the box and spent nearly an hour reading the books, talking to their friends about every page! Seeing them find their pages in the book and watching their faces glow was one of those teacher moments you just can’t explain but you know you’ll never forget!
Student families can purchase the books so each child has their book to keep forever!
Our bat book is now a permanent fixture in our classroom library and one of the most popular books in our classroom!
And to prove how much an impact this project has had on my students, last week one of my ‘staches used her indoor recess time to write a book about our class. And she asked me if we could send it to “the factory that made our bat writing into a real book and maybe this book can be a real book too!”
So, if you’re looking for an easy yet POWERFUL way to publish your student’s writing, check out Studentreasures!
Studentreasures gets the MR. Greg Seal Of Approval!
I cannot wait to work with them again!
