21 New Authors & Artists (in The Comox Valley)
Artists — Grade 1, French Immersion, École Puntledge Park Elementary
Installation — Situated in CVAG’s Hub Gallery
ART STATEMENT
This project idea began 4 years ago when I was a new grade 1 teacher. My teacher librarian Madame Marks and I came upon the realization that there was a great shortage of emergent reader book resources for beginning readers. And so, we decided to create a project that would offer new writers and budding artists an opportunity to become authors.
As a class we readied our mindset and agreed that ‘ we could do hard things’. Understanding this would be a big and bold challenge, as we were just emerging as new writers with proper printing and writing conventions ourselves. As a school family we came up with strategies we could use individually and as a team through this new writing adventure knowing this project required accuracy, attention to detail and focus as each new reader would serve as a teacher and inspiring artist for the upcoming students. We studied different pattern book ideas and explored the magic of last year’s newly written storybooks by testing our new reading skills. We navigated through the experience of coming up with a storyline and title, explored using a writing draft, learned how to edit and then proceeded to write and illustrate our stories for the next two and a half months.
We then worked with our teacher librarian Madame Marks & our SD71 Print Shop to get each story printed & published. A copy would then be gifted to each student author and a second copy would be left to enrich my classroom library so that next year’s students could learn from these newborn authors and so on and so forth the tradition continues.
As a special celebration of this great feat, we held an author’s party where parents, partners and grandparents came to celebrate their new author!
Our grade 1 class then turned into presenters and the afternoon’s program was put on fully by the students. They went about welcoming everyone and giving the Indigenous land acknowledgment in both French and English.
Each student then proceeded to share with our family members a part of the process experience to become new authors as well as give thanks to specific teachers that had supported us throughout the year.
Then each student was introduced by announcing the title and the author at which point they came up to the front and saw for the first time their handwritten story come to life in a proper bound and printed copy! They collected their new books, were given a high five, pound or hug or all three from Madame Chantal as everyone cheered!
Once every story was introduced each student signed their books like a real author would alongside their families and we ended the celebration singing our favourite French song “ J’aime les fruits” with handmade props and dance moves for everyone to enjoy!
What a phenomenal celebration and life experience for all including this Madame.
This coming year our new grade ones and potential authors will begin their journey as writers by reading and being inspired by this past year’s authors. How phenomenal!
— Madame Chantal with the 21 New Authors & Artists
