A New Way to Read

First graders just wrapped up a unit that focused on elements of fairy tales and writing.  Part of their unit was to take a familiar fairy tale and change the setting.  They then created a diorama of the new fairy tale, and wrote their own versions.

It's a really fun unit, and it gets the little ones writing more than they would have thought they could!

Except.

You know me.

I always have to have a technology component.

So when one of the teachers invited my Thinkers to be an audience for her first graders, of course, we happily accepted!  As I watched the first graders proudly read their stories to the third graders, I had a brainstorm.

Last year I started a website called For Kids, By Kids, where I've posted student work in a format that anyone in the world can download to read on tablets or kindles.

Why can't the first graders have their stories a part of this, too?

Yep.  That very next week my third graders met once again with the first graders and typed the stories for them.  The first graders recreated their cover illustrations, and voila!  They became published writers!

Check out the first grade stories, as well as bunches of other pieces written For Kids, By Kids!