Eyler students publish books on kindness
CARLETON — When you’re kind to someone, chances are, they’ll go on to be kind to someone else.
Then that person will be kind to someone else, too. And the cycle continues.
So explained Kendall Baxter, a fourth-grader in Emily Oley’s class at Airport Community Schools' Eyler Elementary School who, along with her classmates, can now call herself a published author.
Over a two-month period, fourth-graders from Oley’s and Amber Brennan’s classes published classroom books about kindness which were formally presented to family and friends during a book publishing and signing party. All writers had the opportunity to purchase a book.
“The students did really well with this project, especially with us starting this in October, before really diving into the writing process and fourth-grade expectations,” Oley explained. “Students were all excited to become published authors.”
The writing process began in October, with students choosing from a list of suggested writing prompts about kindness. All students wrote rough drafts and consulted with their peers through various peer editing sessions and writing conferences. After peer editing, they conferenced with their teacher before writing their final drafts.
Students also had the option to illustrate a picture to go along with their writing as well as a possible cover page. In both classes, students voted on their favorite design. Kendall Baxter’s drawing was selected for Oley’s class, and Camren Quednau’s illustration were picked for Brennan’s class.
Books were published through Student Treasures, an online student publishing company. Student Treasures provided all materials, including writing and illustration pages and order forms. Oley’s class wrote and published, “On the Road to Kindness.” Brennan’s class created “A Book Full of Kindness.” Every student contributed one page to the book.
“Students took the assignment seriously,” Brennan said.
The completed books were revealed to parents and the school community during a book publishing party. Both classrooms shared in the excitement of becoming published authors by hosting a formal book reading and signing.
The classrooms were filled with students’ loved ones and decorated with special backdrops and faux red carpets. Every student author read his/her contributed page aloud and was awarded with a certificate that declared them a published author.
Some excerpts told the stories of kind first responders, while others described the activities they’d include in their own “kindness holiday.” Others described simple acts of kindness, such as giving compliments, lending a helping hand or making new friends. All emphasized the impact of kindness on our society.
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Following the book presentation, students signed their pages in each book and posed for photos with friends and family members.
“Mrs. Brennan and I are both excited to continue doing this project with future classes,” Oley said.
— Caitlin Boron is the educational technology/communications coordinator for Airport Community Schools.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Eyler students publish books on kindness
