Syllabus Planning: Different Facets of Writing a Kid's Book
Although the main goal is to get the students to write a book for 8-10 year olds about going to college, the students need to accomplish a variety of tasks:
- learn about children's books
- learn about going to college
- learn about and define their audience and
- learn how to write.
To get the kids to learn how to write, they need to learn how to read. Literary fiction is a good way to do this because the text is complex, it gives them much to explore. Suggestions for stories are "She Flies" by David Rice, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor, "White Angel" by Michael Cunningham, and "Big Fish, Little Fish" by Italo Calvino. These stories have provided incredibly rich discussions, and they also really ask the students to look beyond a "superficial" reading of the text. By looking below the surface of these texts, we are preparing the students to look below the surface of the text in seemingly "simple" children's books. "Where the Wild Things Are" works well as model/touchstone children's book. Teachers can ask the students to make connections between that story and the more complex literary stories. By making these connections the, upcoming writing process should become more tangible to the students.
Writing Early On
Because the kids have a concrete goal of writing a book, they will want to start on the actual writing early on rather than spend too much time "learning." While lesson plans are important, kids will be asking, "When are we going to start writing?" Like any professional writer, they should be on a deadline. Their desire to get their hands dirty in the writing process is a valuable energy. We suggest that you go ahead and start integrating writing and/or illustrating projects with the lessons. Let these projects be part of writing the actual story (make them relevant to the ultimate goal).
This means that instead of spending two months doing close readings of non-children's texts before moving into children's texts, you might:
- pair children's books with passages and excerpts from non-children's books to make discussion on the literature more immediately relevant to students' specific project
- begin integrating writing and illustrating exercises into our discussion. As far as addressing audience issues, ask the students to interview young children about their reading preferences and create a book report.
It's imperative that the students be engaged in a process where they can make concrete connections between the ultimate goal they are working up to and what they are doing on a daily basis. It's also important to provide opportunities for the students to ask questions and vocalize their ideas about the project. The students will be brimming with ideas, and you want to make sure they have an outlet for that even if brainstorming is not an official part of the lesson for that day. Although, we suggest that you build in a small amount of time every day to brainstorm in their journals.
Writing Schedule
The students would benefit from a "writing schedule." The teachers/editors should draw up a calendar/ syllabus to distribute to the students. The students should have some input, but ultimately, the teachers should retain authority on the schedule so that the students are accountable. If the students are clear about expectations and deadlines, they may have more freedom to work at their own pace within each class period.