Mrs. Johnson's 4th grade class participated in an author Skype with Jeff Weigel, who wrote Dragon Girl. To prepare for the Skype Mrs. Cunningham did a book talk about Dragon Girl and read an exert to the students.
Students were introduced to the writing process as the author described he starts with the beginning and end of the story then has to fill in the events in the middle. During his introduction Mr. Weigel showed the stages of his drawings to the students, and admitted that he writes stories so that he can draw out the illustrations. He showed the drawing stages of several pages, and we were able to see the final product in the book.
Students planned questions the day before, and several were selected to ask the author questions.
Students wanted to know the origin of the character names, and why dragons were the topic.
The author Shared he doesn't feel anything special about dragons, but chose them because he knew kids found them so interesting.
Students wanted to know the origin of the character names, and why dragons were the topic.
The author Shared he doesn't feel anything special about dragons, but chose them because he knew kids found them so interesting.
As most writers do, Mr. Weigel had a broad vocabulary and used words with the students such as "germ" and "intriguing" which Mrs. Johnson is going to explore in class.
Mr. Weigel offers his books for sale, and several students are excited to purchase a copy of their own. Mrs. Cunningham has a copy in the media center which will undoubtedly be checked out constantly. Noelle left the skype describing it as "awesome". What a great way to explore the "real life" of a writer!
Mr. Weigel offers his books for sale, and several students are excited to purchase a copy of their own. Mrs. Cunningham has a copy in the media center which will undoubtedly be checked out constantly. Noelle left the skype describing it as "awesome". What a great way to explore the "real life" of a writer!