(Pictured above: Paige Seabrook works on her story Totto and the Rainforest during a session of the Literacy Outreach Project at Almonte and District High School.) 

(Almonte) - When Paige Seabrook first heard about her term assignment in her grade 10 applied English class, she was less than enthusiastic.

The Almonte and District High School student was unsure if she was up to the task of writing a children’s story and having to visit a kindergarten class each week to read to a young girl as she collected first-hand research on what children like and dislike.

She doubted she could relate to their world.

“But then I started into it and met my reading buddy Summer and she was just so adorable,” recalled Seabrook. ”Just to have the chance to make her smile, to make her laugh was wonderful for me.”

Along with other members of teacher Breanna Bedor’s class, Seabrook is eagerly participating in the ADHS  Literacy Outreach Project, a one-term English course that has paired each  student with a young child in Janet Smith’s kindergarten class at R.Tait McKenzie Public School,  and challenged them to write their own children’s stories designed specifically for their “reading buddy”. 

Through the project students are learning about creative writing in the most practical way possible, by writing a book, said Bedor. They will also edit the books, lay them out, and provide their own illustrations, making it a true differentiated learning experience.

The books will be bound as hard covers using funds that the students themselves raised over the Christmas holidays by selling scented candles in the community.

Through the exercise, Bedor is teaching her students about the five elements of fiction – plot, setting, theme, character and style/narration.

The students are also challenged to conduct first-hand research by reading different stories to the kindergarten students to discover the types of topics, characters and literary devices that the students enjoy best in their stories. During their visits to R. Tait, conducted over an eight-week period last fall, Bedor’s students employed different reading techniques that engage children and help them gain a love of reading - such as the use of expressive language and making predictions.

Once the students determine the topics and characters that capture their reading buddies’ attention, they design their stories around those interests.

During the sessions, Seabrook discovered that Summer loves stories with animals in them and delights in happy endings so the 15-year-old is creating a book called Totto and the Rainforest . The story is about a flying lizard that just can’t seem to get airborne while others around him can fly. Totto lives in a rainforest and never gives up hope of taking to the air. Finally, she takes to the top of a tall tree only to discover her wings may not be big enough to carry her. But she keeps the faith, and flaps as fast and hard as she can until she eventually lifts off from the canopy.

“The moral of the story is that if you set your mind to it you can do anything,” said Seabrook.

The exercise has not only taught the students a practical lesson in writing techniques but opened their eyes in other ways.

“I’ve seen some very positive changes in many of my students,” said Bedor. “They have developed a greater sense of leadership and also a greater sensitivity to the needs of others because they were able to work with very small children.”

Seabrook agrees that the program has changed her.

“I think it has helped make me a lot closer to younger children,” said Seabrook. “It’s satisfying because I feel like I’ve helped someone who needed it. When I started with Summer she really didn’t want to listen but by the end of the session she was paying attention and really wanted me to read to her.

“And you know, I read more now and I pay more attention in this class because I really like it.”

“It was a good opportunity to do something different that allowed us to get out of the classroom and help others,” added Jay Smith, 15, who wrote a story called The Special Gift for his reading buddy. “It was a great way to share our work with others.”

Bedor says her students have finished the rough copies of the books and are working on layout and illustrations in hopes of finishing the books over the next two weeks.

The stories will be bound and ready for students to present to their reading buddies at a celebration tentatively scheduled for the end of February.

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For more information, please call:

Breanna Bedor

English Teacher

Almonte and District High School

613-256-1470

Posted January 17, 2010