#SOL 3-21-18 Twitter, Lemons, Martians, & Twinkies

To create a literacy rich classroom environment I make every effort to be as transparent as possible about my literacy life.

Our classroom Twitter account is a part of that literacy life. I ask students to write tweets, help me write tweets, and we check in on activity together. In addition to other classrooms, Twitter events like March Book Madness and the Sibert Smackdown, we also follow authors on Twitter.

Students are always excited to find a favorite author on Twitter and that little extra interaction, however distant or small, engages them that much more in their literacy lives. We respond to and like author tweets. Sometimes they like our tweets, follow us back, and once in a great while--like last fall--an author will make a special connection.

Last summer I read a book that I loved so much it looked like it was sprouting tape flags! Okay, I read more than one book that I loved. But this one book was special. I laughed. I cried. It spoke to my heart.

I tracked down the author on Twitter to let her know how much her book had meant to me. This was her first book, and I think she might have been a little surprised by the enthusiasm of my response. But she was very sweet and responded to my “follow” right away.

When the school year started we only read picture books for a couple of weeks to establish the #classroombookaday habit I was trying to create. Meanwhile, I bought a basket full of lemons to put next to the bouquet of flowers and chalk board that welcome everyone to our classroom. I send out a teaser tweet.

I didn’t say anything else to my students about the basket of lemons, but several students commented on them.

The read aloud went even better than I expected. I always find it hard to predict which books will become a heart book for a particular class. So much of it depends on the unique chemistry they create when they are together. With Lemons, my students loved it just as much as I had.

And it hit the mark instructionally, as well. I was planning to introduce signposts to the 5th graders new to my class in the course of this read aloud, but my returning sixth graders did it for me. They picked up on the patterns of the story right away and explained the significance of signposts to the fifth graders organically in the course of our conversations about Lemons.

We shared our response with the author while reading:

Not long after, I received an email from a name I didn't recognize, tucked into the dozens I receive daily. I almost hit delete without opening it, but I’m so glad I didn't! It was from a bookstore, BookBar, located about 45 minutes away. BookBar works with the author of Lemons, Melissa Savage. They were letting me know that Melissa was going to be in the area and wanted to come and visit our school!

I had to clarify. I’ve always dreamed of hosting authors but our school has no budget for author visits. I understand why authors need to charge for their visits. Their time is valuable, after all, every hour they're visiting schools is an hour they're not writing. We just have no budget. BookBar clarified in return. Melissa wanted to visit for free because of the enthusiasm of our response to her book. I was beside myself with excitement.

But my response was subdued in comparison to my students. When I told them, one student jumped up to her feet clasped her chest and screamed, “Oh my God, I think I’m going to faint.” She wasn’t alone, everyone cheered.

In an effort to show Melissa how much we appreciated her book and her upcoming visit, we went into serious preparation mode.

Other classrooms started to get excited, as did our principal!

I looped in Melissa when several students dressed as main character, Tobin, on “Dress as Your Favorite Book Character” day.

 The big day finally arrived for our author visit and it couldn't have been better. It was a day my students and I will never forget. Melissa held an assembly for grades 4-6 and came to our classroom where she conducted a Writer's Workshop. Imagine getting to write alongside your favorite author.

We got to hear about her inspiration, her process, and her plans for an upcoming book.

Plus there were Twinkies!

And lucky for us, the story's not over yet.  Look what arrived last Friday, the day before spring break! The Truth About Martians, due out in October of 2018. No spoilers here, but you can bet I'll be pre-ordering copies for our classroom library!