Literacy events this spring

Tonight's annual Lawrence Reads activity promises to be an evening of great book discussions all around the school, engaging students in grades K - 8. Even if you don't attend the event, the books would be great ones to read with your family:

Grades K - 1 That Book Woman by Heather Henson
Grades 2 -3 Hachiko Waits by Leslea Newman
Grades 4-5 Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Grades 6 -8 Fire from the Rock by Sharon M. Draper

Thanks to the generosity of the PTO we had a March author visit by Anna Alter for grades K -2. On Monday, April 14 we will host author Barbara O'Connor who will meet with grades 3 - 5 (this visit is also funded by the PTO). We have a display of Ms. O'Connor's books in the library and many students have been reading her books to prepare for the visit.

The books she has written are listed below. Most should be available at bookstores and at the branches of the Brookline Public Library and Boston Public Library.

• How to Steal a Dog
• The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis (last year's Lawrence Reads selection)
• On the Road to Mr. Mineo's
• The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester
• Me and Rupert Goody
• Beethoven in Paradise
• Greetings from Nowhere

All are skillfully written and would make good family read alouds. For more information check out Ms. O'Connor's website www.barbaraoconnor.com or her blog http://greetings-from-nowhere.blogspot.com

We hope students will be inspired by our second author visit of the year!

Anna Alter visits Lawrence School!

On Monday, March 3 we hosted author/ illustrator Anna Alter in the Lawrence School library. Thanks to the generosity of the PTO, this local picture book author and illustrator visited with students in grades kindergarten, one and two.

Anna told us about her early life as a writer (she started making books when she was three years old and showed us a photo to prove it!). She talked about the difference between a published book and a non-published book and explained that it takes years for the process to be complete. She showed us each step of the publishing process from her idea notebook to the finished product that can be sold in stores or borrowed from libraries.

She told us a top secret piece of information: no writer ever gets it perfect on the first try! (I'm happy to report that most classes remembered this secret when I saw them later in the week!)

Anna then left time for students to ask questions -- and they had plenty of questions! Teachers had asked students to brainstorm some questions in advance, so they posed excellent questions about her books and the writer's process.

It was an informative and inspirational morning! Lots of good advice for our young writers! Here are some photos from the day:

Anna shows us her edited first draft. Lots of sticky notes with suggestions from her editor!

Anna asking for suggestions as to which of her characters students would like her to draw.