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ENLARGE
Grandview Elementary fifth-graders in Marie Tometich’s gifted and talented program show off their first ever published poetry books. Back row, from left: Nathan Chapman, Rane Dennis, McKenley Hoelmer, Halen Hartley and Sierra Coonts. Front row, from left: Sam Sterns, Kayla Ricketson, Amanda Fields, Jordyn White and Natalie Zimmerman.
Some of them wrapped it up and laid it under the Christmas tree for their parents.
One even sent his out to Nebraska for his grandparents to have.
And others have donated their copy to the school library.
Ten Grandview Elementary School fifth-graders in Marie Tometich’s gifted and talented program, and four first grade classes are published authors and decided their first-ever book would be the perfect gift for the holiday season.
Each student wrote their poetry book on their hopes and dreams throughout life. The first-grade classes wrote alliterations using each student’s name.
For Kayla Ricketson, her dreams are to climb Mount Everest and the Eiffel Tower in Paris and become a princess and cake designer.
“It was fun to express the way I felt and try to rhyme,” Kayla, 10, said.
McKenley Hoelmer’s dream is to become a football player, and Natalie Zimmerman wants to be a dog trainer.
“There are some dreams that will take awhile, and there are some that can happen pretty soon,” Natalie, 10, said.
Amanda Fields would like to go to Harvard and become a stock analyst.
“I’ve always wanted to succeed and I like math,” Amanda said about her hopes in life.
The motivation for writing came from local author Justin Matott, who visited the Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District last spring. Matott, who was raised in Fort Collins, is the author of the award-winning book, “When I Was a Boy, I Dreamed,” and is this year's nominee for the Colorado Children's Book Award for, “When I Was a Girl, I Dreamed.” The Windsor Council of the International Reading Association brought the author into the district so he could share his love and enthusiasm for reading and writing.
“I had them pick it (”When I Was a Boy, I Dreamed,”) apart and figure out the writing pattern, rhythm and rhyme and we followed the footprint,” Tometich said.
“I wanted them to think about what they wanted for the future and as they grow they’ll see how they kept it up,” Tometich added. “I hope they see writing isn’t just an assignment, it’s a part of your life and they will do so much more writing in their future.”
Some of the challenges with writing the poetry book came with the development of ideas and making each line rhyme, but the students helped each other out, through peer editing, and came up with something they are really proud of.
“It’s not that hard. You just have to think about what you want to do and you can write about anything,” said Sierra Coonts.
Tometich then contacted Matott, explained what her students were doing and he pointed her in the direction of Studentreasures, a publishing company that takes students’ writing and illustrations and publish them in a full-color, hardbound book. (www.studentreasures.com). And the best part, the first copy of the books are free for each student.
“I’m so proud of them. I cried when I read their books,” Tometich said. “Their voice in the stories are so real. This turned out to be so much more than I ever thought it would be.”
The books were delivered last week to the students.
“I was overwhelmed,” said Jordyn White about receiving her bound book. “It was a lot of hard work, and it turned out really cool.”
“It felt like we were a real author,” said Halen Hartley.
The students said the first thing they did was share it with their classmates, family and other friends.
“I wrapped both copies and one is going to Nebraska for my grandparents, and one is already underneath my tree for my mom and dad,” said Sam Sterns. “I think they are all going to be pretty happy because they don’t know what I have done in GATE so far.”
One even sent his out to Nebraska for his grandparents to have.
And others have donated their copy to the school library.
Ten Grandview Elementary School fifth-graders in Marie Tometich’s gifted and talented program, and four first grade classes are published authors and decided their first-ever book would be the perfect gift for the holiday season.
Each student wrote their poetry book on their hopes and dreams throughout life. The first-grade classes wrote alliterations using each student’s name.
For Kayla Ricketson, her dreams are to climb Mount Everest and the Eiffel Tower in Paris and become a princess and cake designer.
“It was fun to express the way I felt and try to rhyme,” Kayla, 10, said.
McKenley Hoelmer’s dream is to become a football player, and Natalie Zimmerman wants to be a dog trainer.
“There are some dreams that will take awhile, and there are some that can happen pretty soon,” Natalie, 10, said.
Amanda Fields would like to go to Harvard and become a stock analyst.
“I’ve always wanted to succeed and I like math,” Amanda said about her hopes in life.
The motivation for writing came from local author Justin Matott, who visited the Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District last spring. Matott, who was raised in Fort Collins, is the author of the award-winning book, “When I Was a Boy, I Dreamed,” and is this year's nominee for the Colorado Children's Book Award for, “When I Was a Girl, I Dreamed.” The Windsor Council of the International Reading Association brought the author into the district so he could share his love and enthusiasm for reading and writing.
“I had them pick it (”When I Was a Boy, I Dreamed,”) apart and figure out the writing pattern, rhythm and rhyme and we followed the footprint,” Tometich said.
“I wanted them to think about what they wanted for the future and as they grow they’ll see how they kept it up,” Tometich added. “I hope they see writing isn’t just an assignment, it’s a part of your life and they will do so much more writing in their future.”
Some of the challenges with writing the poetry book came with the development of ideas and making each line rhyme, but the students helped each other out, through peer editing, and came up with something they are really proud of.
“It’s not that hard. You just have to think about what you want to do and you can write about anything,” said Sierra Coonts.
Tometich then contacted Matott, explained what her students were doing and he pointed her in the direction of Studentreasures, a publishing company that takes students’ writing and illustrations and publish them in a full-color, hardbound book. (www.studentreasures.com). And the best part, the first copy of the books are free for each student.
“I’m so proud of them. I cried when I read their books,” Tometich said. “Their voice in the stories are so real. This turned out to be so much more than I ever thought it would be.”
The books were delivered last week to the students.
“I was overwhelmed,” said Jordyn White about receiving her bound book. “It was a lot of hard work, and it turned out really cool.”
“It felt like we were a real author,” said Halen Hartley.
The students said the first thing they did was share it with their classmates, family and other friends.
“I wrapped both copies and one is going to Nebraska for my grandparents, and one is already underneath my tree for my mom and dad,” said Sam Sterns. “I think they are all going to be pretty happy because they don’t know what I have done in GATE so far.”
