MTS Elementary Kickstarter Visit Went Great!

Hi!  Thanks for reading today!  I am mostly writing this post to just document what a great time we had visiting MTS Elementary this week.  As part of our most recent crowdfunding campaign supporting the printing of our newest book, Isabella, Cat in the City: A Visit to the Sculpture Garden, we had an option that people could "support a live classroom."  

We raised enough to provide each classroom teacher with a class copy of the book, and we were able to give each of the third grade students their own copy.  The principal, Sue Dornfeld, and I had communicated to make a schedule for the day, and it was a full one!

Heather and I started off together in the third grade classroom - I read the book, answered a few questions, and then I was off to other classrooms while Heather stayed and did an art project.  She taught them the words backgound and foreground, and had the kids use cut paper to make a scene of a tree in the winter, with the blue sky behind and snow on the ground, and a sticker of Isabella sitting in the foreground.  Heather said it went great and the students were very engaged. 

For my part, I visited each of the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classrooms.  All of the students were quiet and respectful, with fun reactions to parts of the story and some of the artwork, especially the CherrySpoon Bridge.  Many students recognized the Cherry, and they thought that it looked like the squirrel was lifting the spoon while Isabella took a bite of the cherry.  That's exactly the effect we were looking for.  We even had a great discussion of "forced perspective" - a phrase that I hesitated to put into the book. 

The only reason I hesitated is because it's such an advanced phrase for a children's picture book, but as a reading specialist, I know darn well that peppering in those big words into an engaging story is a great way to make sure that young people have a lot of background knowledge to carry with them for the rest of their lives. 

This classroom visit was a lot of fun for me, because I taught at MTSE for four years before I moved to Chicago a year and a half ago.  It was great seeing so many familiar faces, but I am hoping that we can find more schools to have either an author or illustrator visit. If you work in a school and are interested in a visit, be sure to contact us for further details!

Thanks for reading!! Sheila