Preschoolers Become Authors and Illustrators

The following is a post and pictures shared by Preschool teacher, Ms. Sterling, on their classroom blog. Their Unit of Inquiry focuses on understanding the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), how to minimize waste, and how to share their learning with the rest of the school.

Our efforts to creatively reuse materials led us to new frontiers in the library. Prior to Thanksgiving, our school Librarian, Mrs. Tabb, read a story about a cardboard box that was recycled into the very book we were reading! She suggested we consider making our own book, reusing (rather than recycling) materials from around campus. Hmmm, we could do that!

To support our efforts, Mrs. Tabb gathered leftover cardboard pieces for the book cover and trimmed used library posters into pages. The Preschool team went to work this week to write and illustrate a story we titled Taking Care of Our Planet. The story was written during a recent morning circle as the team responded to questions about concepts we’d been learning in this Unit of Inquiry. During free play, our artists-in-residence created the illustrations. In a cooperative team effort, we then constructed the book with Mrs. Tabb during Monday afternoon’s library time. Today we put finishing touches on the back cover – signing names and adding important details about all the authors.

Not only did we find a way to share our knowledge and accomplish our goal to reuse materials in a creative way, the team was educated on book parts and purposes. They also learned all sorts of book related vocabulary in the process. The kids were thrilled to learn they were authors and illustrators. I think they were equally delighted, if not slightly challenged, to decide on two facts about themselves to include in the author information on the back cover. Our creation will be on display during Friday’s Open House. Come ready to read!