Ethel Downey is a Library Teacher at Newton South High School in Newton, MA
and a winner of the MSLA Web Seal of Excellence
and a winner of the MSLA Web Seal of Excellence
2004 was the 100th anniversary of Dr Seuss and his amazing children’s stories.
Hamill and Stonehill and McQuillan conspire
Get them to write
To think and inspire
Not so easy to do
This thing called a book
Success they all knew
With gobbledygook!?
Treat them to pizza
Maybe some grapes
Little Johnny and Liza
Will listen and wait
The teens wrote their stories
An assignment they took
Imagine the glories
Imagine the look
A teen telling tales
Right out of a book!
--apologies to Dr. Seuss
Picture a high school class using creative writing skills, visual literacy skills, art, and imagination to create a decidedly low-tech resource, a book. This is what three 12th grade English classes have done this year for an assignment tied to celebrating reading. And, this is not something new - it has been an annual book writing event at Newton South High School since 2004.
Hamill and Stonehill and McQuillan conspire
Get them to write
To think and inspire
Not so easy to do
This thing called a book
Success they all knew
With gobbledygook!?
Treat them to pizza
Maybe some grapes
Little Johnny and Liza
Will listen and wait
The teens wrote their stories
An assignment they took
Imagine the glories
Imagine the look
A teen telling tales
Right out of a book!
--apologies to Dr. Seuss
Picture a high school class using creative writing skills, visual literacy skills, art, and imagination to create a decidedly low-tech resource, a book. This is what three 12th grade English classes have done this year for an assignment tied to celebrating reading. And, this is not something new - it has been an annual book writing event at Newton South High School since 2004.
The event sprang from the 2004 Seussentenial year celebrating the life and works of Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) and marked with wide-ranging reading events at communities across the nation. At our school that year a tradition to celebrate reading and creativity began when three talented teachers brainstormed.
Our former Library department head Dorothy McQuillan, along with English teacher Julie Stonehill, and former Preschool director Melissa Hammel collaborated on the first and subsequent book writing events. Their thoughtfulness and imaginations honored the spirit of Dr. Seuss and shined a spotlight on reading and its importance to children of all ages.Their idea? To have students write and illustrate a children’s book. Presentations would be to an audience of young children from the NSHS Preschool. And the fun began!
Our former Library department head Dorothy McQuillan, along with English teacher Julie Stonehill, and former Preschool director Melissa Hammel collaborated on the first and subsequent book writing events. Their thoughtfulness and imaginations honored the spirit of Dr. Seuss and shined a spotlight on reading and its importance to children of all ages.Their idea? To have students write and illustrate a children’s book. Presentations would be to an audience of young children from the NSHS Preschool. And the fun began!
This year, the 13th, culminated in a very special hour of children and teens coming together over books, lots of books. Something Dr. Seuss would have loved. The create-a-bookevent allows the seniors to exercise their creative writing skills but also gives them the opportunity to experience the joy of sharing a tale. As librarians we work to encourage independent reading, yet we should not forget that reading to another can be every bit as grand as reading for oneself.
Three authors are selected as winners who receive an award gift certificate to a local bookstore and read to the assembled preschoolers. Sharing lunch together allows a time when everyone has an opportunity to read their story to a little one, one-on-one or in small groups. Our surprise every year has been to see the enthusiasm of the teens as they share their stories with the little ones. It is amazing to watch the interaction and sharing. The insecure teen, the bravado teen, the dramatic teen all get to have their time in a small, quiet spotlight.
Three authors are selected as winners who receive an award gift certificate to a local bookstore and read to the assembled preschoolers. Sharing lunch together allows a time when everyone has an opportunity to read their story to a little one, one-on-one or in small groups. Our surprise every year has been to see the enthusiasm of the teens as they share their stories with the little ones. It is amazing to watch the interaction and sharing. The insecure teen, the bravado teen, the dramatic teen all get to have their time in a small, quiet spotlight.
This celebratory event will continue at Newton South High School with its new official name “The Dorothy McQuillan Create a Book Contest” in memory of Dorothy McQuillan, former Library Teacher, Department Head, and past MSLA president.