Otselic Valley Central School District

If you can think about friendship and kindness -- as 2nd graders do -- can you also write and illustrate a book about it?With Mrs. Marston’s help, these young Vikings sure can. The big news: a book is coming!To begin, students learned that many of the books they enjoy include two kinds of contribution: the words, and the art. And then they got started.“We have been discussing the writing process,” Mrs. Marston explained. “We chose the topic and pre-wrote our content. We gathered our thoughts and ideas, and planned our writing. We used our ideas to write our first draft.”Like all accomplished authors, everyone practiced revisions to make their work better.  “We added detail, and sometimes we substituted, added, or removed words to make our writing more clear. Then we became editors as we fixed spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure.”A near-final step was peer editing and discussion, where students read their partner’s work. This is always a gentle, instructive opportunity to make corrections, offer suggestions, and give compliments.Next up...publication! A beautiful  published book featuring the students’ writing and illustrations will be available for parents and guardians to purchase (NOTE: payment is due to Mrs. Marston by Friday, October 30.)Helping students grow their writing/editing skills, nurture their confidence,  and support constructive teamwork was the goal, but there were unexpected outcomes from this project: Mrs. Marston noticed students demonstrating kindness and sensitivity in new ways. The positive influence of the subject matter, as well as  classroom help in finding one’s own voice, will provide benefit long after the book is published and enjoyed. Friendship is underway and growing.