Pernille Ripp did such an outstanding job with the Global Read Aloud project, and Katherine Applegate–author of The One and Only Ivan–noticed her hard work. Katherine Applegate answered several student questions about Ivan. Take a look at this video and see if it something you would want to share with your students.
She makes some good points. I like what she says about being a writing. She doesn’t lie when she states, “It’s difficult!” I think students should hear this from an author. Writing isn’t about completing an assignment and being “done.” It’s a long thoughtful process that develops the perfect message for an audience. I cannot count how many times students just did not want to rewrite a “final” draft. After the second time, students always grabbed the standard operating comment–“but, I’ve already written the final copy”–and threw it in my face. Students don’t “own” or see value in the writing. Instead, they are merely completing an assignment.
Once I had my students create blog posts, this started to change as students relied on an audience to motivate them to produce better work. At first, writing is limited but it soon starts to grow into a well-thought-out message. Have students blog! Use Kidblog, EduBlogs, WordPress, or Blogger. Create writers not second copy completers.
