Book features local first-graders' work

A book featuring stories by Creston School first-graders is meant to help students from all over the country learn how to write informative stories.

“Can Your Dog Do Your Homework?: And Other Questions about Animals,” a Capstone Classroom mentor text, was recently released and features eight stories and illustrations written by last year’s first-graders in Ariann Hess’ class. The mentor text is part of Capstone’s “What’s the Point? Reading and Writing Expository Text,” series.

“They were so excited. I brought one a couple of weeks ago and they were just in awe,” said Hess, who currently teaches sixth grade.

The purpose of a mentor text is to provide other students with examples of good writing by their peers. To accompany the book is a teacher’s manual containing Hess’ lesson plans.

“A teacher would read this book with their class,” Hess said, and use it as an opportunity to point out style and convention.

The prompt “can your dog do your homework,” Hess said served as a launching point for the class to talk about what can dogs do? What can’t they do? How do people communicate? How do different animals communicate?

Students then chose an animal and asked if the animal could do a task such as typing on the computer, talking on the phone, eating or babysitting.

“They had to answer if they [the animal] could do that and why or why it couldn’t do it,” Hess said.

Creston student Madilynn Uskoski chose to write about bats and how they eat in her story “Feeding Frenzy.”

“People eat with forks and spoons, but a bat uses its body,” Hess read from Uskoski’s story.

A student drawing accompanies each story. The illustrations feature additional ways to tell a story through graphic conventions, such as speech bubbles and labels, Hess pointed out.

Uskoski used labels in her illustration of bat anatomy to help clarify questions Uskoski posed in her story such as — “Do Bats have fingers? They do, but not like ours.”

The stories are also an opportunity to increase vocabulary, Hess said. She used an example of choosing a more complex word such as “communicate,” rather than the word “talk.”

Creston student Jackson Tanner had several examples such as “whimpering,” and “growling” when he asked if a wolf can make a phone call.

“Can a wolf make a phone call,” Hess read from Tanner’s story. “No, that’s not possible. People use their words to make sentences. Wolves communicate by howling, whimpering, growling and barking. I guess I don’t need to let a wolf use my new smart phone.”

Hess is in her seventh year of teaching, and her first time working with a publishing company. She was connected with Capstone through Creston Principal Tami Ward.

“I wanted to feature this great teacher and the work she was doing in her room,” Ward said. “It was quite a process.”

Hess said “it was a lot of work,” but added that it was worth the unique opportunity.

Hilary Matheson can be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.