C4K October

The first post for this month was by Reilly. He is a 4th grader in Mr. Wriths' class at Union Pleasant Elementary in Hamburg, New York. He posted his poem "Morning Greetings." When I read his work I had to double-check that he was a 4th grader. The level of writing demonstrated by Reilly was amazing. The descriptions he used were so believable that one feels as if they are part of his world. I praised him in this regard and asked him to continue writing. I honestly believe has gift, and if he continues to nurture this, he will be a bestselling author one day.

The second post was from a girl named Shannon. She is a student in Mr. Gwaltney's 10th grade class in Portland, Oregon. She is partnering with teachers in order to increase her knowledge of modern history. Shannon also talked about her recent project on the Age of Reformation. She thinks she covered the information part well, however she feared that her presentation was not "fun". I told her that I was interested in the partnering projects. I also told her not to be afraid to be creative, because creativity can inspire us to do amazing things. I hope she continues to learn more through this, not just about history, but about herself as well.

The third post was from Kailin. She is a third grader in Mr. Capp's class. She wrote a poem about a frog that was rooting for the wrong team. Luckily the frog fell out his log and received a mild concussion. When he woke up he was cheering for the wrong team. The second half of the poem was about the cheer he starting saying. This cheer is one of Kailan's softball cheers. After I read this, I told her that I loved her poem. I also told her that it is wonderful that she can find inspiration and humor in everyday life. I asked the following questions. What happens to the frog next? Did his new team win? I ended my reply by telling her to never lose her creativity. I also told her that she has the power to change the world with her words and if she keeps writing people will keep reading.

Next up is Jabari. He is a grade 4 student at the Lochearn School in Alberta, Canada. His latest blog post was a short animoto animation about Parkland in Alberta. His pictures were all very neat and the music was upbeat. I told him that I really liked his animoto and that his pictures have inspired me to vacation there one day. I when asked him what would be the one thing I would have to do when I visited.

Lastly was a special edition C4K, instead of a student the comments revolved around Dr. Vitulli and Santoli. They are currently in Ireland teaching others about how to use visual arts in conjunction with literacy. I told them how proud I was that they were willing to go to such great lengths to help others. I hope they also learn a lot from this experience. According to the program they provided it looks like they will have plenty to do. In closing I told them to have fun.