Currents in Literacy

Me Books: A Young Author's First Journey

By Evelyn DeRosa

A surge of twenty-one kindergartners bombard through the door. Their initial shyness of the first few days of school is replaced with a flurry of conversations which fill the small cubby area, and they are difficult if not impossible to contain. These kindergartners are bursting with stories: what happened on the way to school, a new brother, a loose tooth, something they did the previous weekend. The possibilities are endless and they want to share their wonderful experiences with any and every willing listener!

In the classroom we can channel this enthusiasm, encourage these future authors and illustrators, and teach letter-sound association all at the same time with the use of Me Books. Me Books are mini-books on self-selected topics which are dictated or written by the children. The books consist of a title page, a dedication page, and four pages of text complete with illustrations. We know that children learn to read by writing and learn to write by reading. Me Books give them the opportunity to include their own built-in enthusiasm for storytelling in this process.

In the past, we found that with traditional journal writing some children would struggle to come up with a new topic every day. Their writing was not imaginative and many times it would fall into a simple question and answer routine. Me Books have been a part of the kindergarten writing program at the Thompson School in Arlington, Massachusetts for four years. They started out as a weekly activity and grew into a daily routine. Me Books evolved from conversations with fellow kindergarten and first grade teachers about the variety of writing activities in their classrooms.

The Me Book format, besides limiting the number of subjects the children had to come up with, offers the added advantages of allowing the child to learn about titles, to expand on a single topic, and to stay on topic. They also give the children the opportunity to experiment with the idea of a story having a beginning, a middle, and an ending. In addition, by observing the children as they write and through analyzing their Me Books, teachers are able to use them as a basis for instruction. Finally, the children's writing made more sense and they had a finished product each week!

The children's enthusiasm for writing and sharing their stories and the parent response to reading these books has been unflagging. Me Books have become treasured parts of families' home libraries and are read again and again. Some books have even been given as gifts for relatives and special friends. In one family a basket of Me Books is in the bathroom to read...just like their parents!

Me Books are introduced in our kindergarten classroom through whole group workshops. Authors and their dedications are highlighted during the first week of school using read alouds, shared reading, and rereading. What authors or illustrators do, why they might write a book about a particular topic, and personal tidbits about their lives lay the foundation for the mini- lessons and set the stage for the first Me Books.

The first mini-lesson begins with a discussion about why we enjoyed a book that has become a favorite in the class. We talk about what would make a good topic for a book, like things we know about, or what's happened to us that we'd like to tell others about. The teacher then models the creation of a Me Book by making a big book size reproduction of the children's book.

On the first day, the teacher talks aloud about what she might like the story to be about and writes the title on the enlarged book, maybe talking about using uppercase letters and only a few words. The teacher models and draws an illustration, talking aloud about what she is adding and why. A dedication is discussed and one is chosen, then a copyright year is added to end the first day's lesson. Each subsequent day brings a rereading of the title, dedication, and the addition of a new sentence and illustration. Details may also be added to previous pages as ideas surface. After a full week of modeling the entire process, the children are ready to become authors and illustrators on their own.

Each Monday, as part of the entering routine, the children pick up a blank Me Book at the back of the room, grab their writing folders, and go to their seats to think about their titles and begin their cover illustrations. Writing folders consist of a two-pocket folder containing a 3 x 5 index card with a personal list of family members, pets, and other special people, an alphabet sound card, and later in the year, a small card of ten to twelve high frequency words and a two-page mini word wall. On each subsequent day, children add a new page of text and illustration to their Me Book.

The first few weeks children draw their illustrations as the teacher, teacher's aide, or volunteers write the text on blank pages. Shortly thereafter, the children will start writing their own text using invented spelling with adult support. At this point the pages have only two lines for text. This is how it works. First the child dictates the sentence. Together the adult and child count the number of words in the sentence. The adult draws lines in marker to correspond to the number of words, with longer words getting longer lines. The adult then writes the child's sentence in small cursive on the bottom of the page so that other adult helpers, as well as the child's parents, will be able to accurately read the child's text. (Ex. He saw a cat.________ _____.) The adult and child together use the strategies that have been introduced in interactive writing to help the child get the message down in print. These strategies are: say the words slowly, stretch them out, put down what they hear, reread what they already have written, and use their ABC cards to help find the sounds. While children are waiting for adult help, they add details to their illustrations and think about what they want to write. Each child is helped by an adult every day.

How is this possible you wonder? The kindergarten teachers enlist the aide of parent and community volunteers, as well as Title I staff and teaching assistants for a block of about thirty to fourty minutes. By doing Me Books first thing in the morning, many parents are willing to come and help out as they drop off their children. As the children attain more letter-sounds recognition and begin to write longer sentences, we switch to Me Books with more lines, more pages, and a smaller space for illustrations. By January, most children do not need adults to put the "word lines" on their page prior to writing. Some children use magic spacers (tongue depressors with glittered tops) to remember to leave spaces between words. Typically, several children are writing their sentences independently at this point. We also start to see some conventionally spelled words appear in their writing.

Each month, two pages of the Me Books are photocopied and placed in the child's portfolio. These samples are used to document each child's growth and aide the teacher in assessing their strengths and weaknesses. When checking for letter sound association in January we see a tremendous increase in the children's knowledge in this area.

By mid-year, the hard work of getting this writing program underway is evident. The children demonstrate that they are more comfortable with the writing process, and more confident in their abilities as writers. They are able to organize their actions to write and express their thoughts and ideas clearly and with details. They view themselves as successful writers and illustrators who have a purpose for communicating. With Me Books their journey as storytellers has just begun. Who knows? Maybe sitting in your class is a future Eric Carle, Judi Bloom, or Seymour Simon just waiting to blossom!

Evelyn DeRosa has been teaching at the Thompson School for seven years and in Arlington schools for thirteen years. She is a current member of the Thompson School Council.