Yaks, Yetis, and Cheese Puffs

My students and I read a lot of books together, and often, there is much discussion about authors and writing. We often refer to authors so much it's almost like they are in the classroom with us. But recently, we had the privilege of having an author actually visit our school. What a wonderful experience it was!

C. Alexander London, author of the ACCIDENTAL ADVENTURE series, visited our school, and in preparation, I read aloud from the first book: WE ARE NOT EATEN BY YAKS. When I read a book aloud, my students stop to discuss, sketch, and compare understandings. It becomes a shared experience. As I read from this book, I noticed my students doing a lot of following:

• laughing
• wondering
• asking many great questions
• exploring research topics on their own

Gloriously, they became very interested in places and things mentioned in the book such as (but not limited to) yaks, Tibet, explorers, and so much more. As we progressed through the book, they logged on to Edmodo during the evening from home to talk about Mt. Everest and TV-watching!

I encouraged their curiousity, and tried only to facilitate it. I enjoyed watching them design, create and pursue ideas. The result: a few projects that led to learning AND fun: 

During the making of these ties, we discussed the principles of design, production, and custom-made products!  

My students thought that everyone should wear duck ties for the visit because one of the characters in the book has a collection of them. I wondered how I would get that many duck ties for my class, but before I had time to wonder, a group of them started a little assembly line and MADE ties from construction paper. Problem solved.

Do you recognize this symbol from the book? Notice they also made a 'door' for the key to open!

Some were very curious about Tibet. They made this map to use as a visual for a presentation. Of course, we also found it on Google Earth, but I think this paper version is pretty awesome. (Lots of great geography discussions as a result!)

This is a YETI my students made as a gift for Mr. London. He's sporting a duck tie. During the making of this yeti, I taught a little lesson on centimeters and inches. ;-)

The visit itself went by way too quickly! Mr. London connected with my students from the very beginning. He was funny, engaging, and my students were entirely captivated! But my students weren't just being entertained--they were definitely learning. In fact, meeting an author in real life was the best kind of reading and writing lesson a teacher could hope for!




There's nothing quite like having the ACTUAL author read aloud from HIS favorite chapter. Especially if he's kind enough to wear the duck tie your students made for him.



I thought Mr. London might also need a snack after his visit. I gave him a bag of cheese puffs! Oliver & Celia's favorite snack!

 

 

As we processed the morning through notebook reflections and a classroom blog post, it was very evident to me that the visit had made a positive impression on my students. The proof came later in the day, during a break between lessons, when I noticed just about every one of my students completely engrossed in the 2nd installment of the series, WE DINE WITH CANNIBALS (which had been so nicely autographed by the author).

 

I am even more resolved now to continue to do all I can to connect my students with great books and the wonderful people that write them.