program newsletter - getting the words out
DESCRIPTION
Program summary and results from the events and challenges.TRANSCRIPT
Parent Writing Showcase
Who knew we had so many accomplished
writers in the neighbourhood. From
books to biographies to newspaper arti-
cles, the parent writing showcase provid-
ed students at Westvale with a bit of his-
tory and writing inspiration.
We got the words out! Between November 2011 and June 2012
Westvale's talented students from kindergar-
ten to Grade 6 experienced and created liter-
ary masterpieces using pencils, paper, scissors,
the internet, group collaboration and more!
Westvale hosted different daytime and even-
ing events showcasing children author presen-
tations, family writing nights, different tech-
nologies, and a game of story tag, engaging,
teaching and inspiring literacy.
A big thank you to all the students, parents,
guest speakers, and authors who participated
and supported this event.
Getting the Words Out program — Page 1
Westvale Reporters
Read about each event as seen through the
eyes of our own Westvale reporters from
Room 12. Each event was captured using col-
laborative writing and good details. Journalist
Tom Nunn met with the Press Room to share
reporting tips and stories with the students.
Message from the Principal:
The Getting the Words Out program has been a tremendous success at Westvale Public School. After arriving in Janu-
ary, I have had the opportunity to see how much our students enjoy reading and writing. Who could forget Kari Lynn
Winters’ inspiring story telling and amusing approaches to writing fiction, or watching children and parents come to
the school on a cold February night to work collaboratively at writing a family story with Anna Trinca. From the Never
Ending Story to Harry Endrulat’s inspiring story about a Bear in World War One, there were so many ways that stu-
dents could connect with writers. A special thanks goes to all staff and parents who worked so tirelessly at making all
of this come together. — Mr. Alexander, Principal
At the end of November, an author
named Sigmund Brouwer came to
our school to talk about writing –
“rrrr”. “RRRR” is a way to remember
how to write for the Right audience,
at the Right time, in the Right place,
to press the Right buttons.
Sigmund Brouwer’s method of
writing is called, “Rock and Roll Lit-
eracy”. He has written many books
including Revenge, Rivals and many
more. Sigmund Brouwer has
French translations of many
of his books. We learned a
lot from Sigmund Brouwer
when he came to our school!
Kari-Lynn Winters
Sigmund Brouwer
Kari-Lynn Winters showed us
some ways to write funny stories:
surprise the reader, bump up a
number, exaggerate, reader
knows more, play on words,
tricky picture, irony, out of con-
text information, awkward situations and
gross stories. She helped us exaggerate with
riddles like this:
We really got you going, huh?
Kari-Lynn Winters also helped us write a story
about someone with zero manners who was
at a super-fancy restaurant. He spat on and
ate other people’s food, ran about the res-
taurant and put his feet on the table! What a
guy! Then she read us one of her stories
called Jeffrey and the Sloth. It was a funny
story about a boy who didn’t know what to
write and a lazy sloth who didn’t want Jeffrey
to write. It was a great book. Sadly, the au-
thor visit was now
coming to an end –
though Kari-Lynn
Winters had one
more thing to say…
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Ima. Ima who?
Ima author, are you?
By Priscilla and Evi
By Charlie, Laura Beth and Jess P.
They have some BIG teeth
And sometimes, they get stuck
right on your chest and won’t budge!
And once in a while, they even tear
at your hair…
ZIPPERS are sooooo horrifying!
November 29
January 12
Getting the Words Out program — Page 2
“Literacy begins with play”
— Kari-Lynn Winters
"Rock and Roll Literacy combines story and
music in a one hour presentation that enter-
tains and motivates students to read and write
more. It encourages students to develop liter-
acy skills as a way to reach for their dreams
and especially appeals to boys and reluctant
readers and writers” — Sigmund Brouwer
Family Writing Night
Harry Endrulat
Scribble, scribble…Family Writing Night is a
night to write for fun! Family Writing Night
was held on February 27th. When we were
there, it didn’t matter if we made mistakes,
it just mattered that we got our thoughts on
paper. We wrote all the five senses: smell,
taste, touch, hearing and sight to help with
our story. We also made comparisons – for
example, crayfish being a Formula 1 car in a
race. We brainstormed ideas for our story
and chose the best one. When we wrote
our stories, we used the five senses and
comparisons. Writing the story was a lot of
fun, especially when we didn’t have to worry
about anything except getting our thoughts
on paper!
Harry Endrulat gave us good tips on
how to become an author. Some of
the tips he gave us were, you can
write stories based on TV shows,
non-fiction and imagination. Did you
know that Harry Endrulat was inspired
to be an author by making up stories for
his kids? Most of the stories he wrote
were Max and Ruby books (26 in total!).
He also wrote a very popular Silver Birch book
called A Bear in War. A Bear in War is a non-
fiction book. Harry discovered the story for the
book by reading the newspaper. The teddy bear
in the story can be found in the War Museum in
Ottawa. Harry Endrulat also visited our school at
night and three lucky kids got to read A Bear in
War aloud. Harry Endrulat is an outstanding au-
thor.
By Evi, Iman and Armaan
By Charlie and Gabriel
February 27
April 23
Getting the Words Out program — Page 3
“Everyone has a story worth telling. It's
just a matter of finding the courage to put
it down on paper.” — Harry Endrulat
Story Tag
The Story that Never Ends
Over two days at school, Westvale students from every class participated in a Story Tag. Sigmund Brouwer wrote a “story starter”, and one class after another
added on to the story. Students first listened to the story to the point it was written, and then in small groups dis-cussed what should happen next. Each group shared their ideas and the class decided which group’s idea would be the next para-graph in the story. The story was typed onto a computer projected to a
white board. Each class had 15 minutes once the story had been read to complete their sec-tion. Students were encouraged to illustrate part of the story, and two of the many wonder-ful drawings are included here.
The Story Tag was a bit like relay race; some-one from each class tagged the next class. It was a game of tag won by everyone!
Read the story online at http://issuu.com/wpsjk123456/docs
Using home computers, the internet and an application called Titanpad, Wesvale students met online (with parental permission) to write ``The Story that Never Ends,” an unpredictable, wild, dragon tale. The story was initially started by author Kari-Lynn Winters and was continued by Westvale students on the internet. 38 students partici-pated creating over 70 en-tries, totaling up to over 6,200 words!
February 27—28
March 1—31
Getting the Words Out program — Page 4
The Getting the Words Out program was
provided through the generous in-kind
support of time by parents and Westvale
staff volunteers. Financial support was
provided by the Westvale School Council,
the Ontario Ministry of Education (Parents
Reaching Out Grant), by the Writer's Un-
ion of Canada (Writer's-In-the-Schools
Program), and Westvale Public School.
We hope that this newsletter and your program bookmark serve as a reminder of the Getting the Words Out program to encourage you to “get lost in books and find yourself in writing.” Enjoy reading and continue to write together with others who inspire you. Parents - continue to use your experiences and creativity to encourage your own children to read and write together with you.
Many thanks to the program committee – a group of incredibly dedi-cated Westvale parents (Cindy Desbiens, Janis Roughley, Greg Sen-nema, and Jennifer Yessis) and staff (Bruce Alexander, Jennifer Bend-er, Cathy Freeman, Julia Kezys, Jennifer Poll, Mary Jane Rathwell, and Allison Scott). Their tireless efforts to bring the program vision to life will have an impact that cannot be fully measured. Thanks to Kathy Haddock for her initial inspiration for the idea.
Read it online at http://issuu.com/wpsjk123456/docs
The Taco Spell by the students at Westvale Public School
Drawing by Olivia
Drawing by Nolan