Ms. Urvater's class hosts families for end-of-year Auhtor Celebration

Park Avenue first-graders in Aimee Urvater's class welcomed some very special guests to a very special afternoon gathering on Tuesday, their end-of-the-year 1st Grade Authors Celebration!  

Students' families were invited to the event, which was part author reading and part presentation about the first-grade writing curriculum; more specifically, how Ms. Urvater's students have sharpened their own writing skills this year. Each student had a book of their own writing and illustrations to share, which they collected from their writing assignments over the course of the year. 

Following a warm welcome and writing program overview by five classroom ambassadors, each student and their guests got to look through the books during "family reading time." It was an opportunity for parents to sit down with their children and read through their writing together. Kids shared both finished stories and insights into how they developed each one.

To guide discussions, each family received a Conversation Card, which included prompts like “What did you learn as an author this year?” and “Which genre did you enjoy writing most?” The goal was to help families connect over the work and give students a chance to discuss their experiences. Alongside reading and discussion, families also got to see firsthand the steps students took to go from brainstorming to publication this year.

"We started off simply by learning how to generate ideas for our stories, then moved on to how to plan and organize our writing," said Ms. Urvater. "Then, we learned about revising our work, adding details, and editing. We also thought a lot about creating meaningful illustrations, all to get where we are today... here with our published writing!"

Ms. Urvater also shared the specific genres that the writers studied this year, all of which were represented in their books: Personal narratives, nonfiction, opinion writing and reviews, and realistic fiction. 

The Authors Celebration wrapped up with snacks and socializing, but it was the behind-the-scenes look at the students' writing process that remained the true highlight of the afternoon -- a great way to recognize the students’ accomplishments and the effort that went into not only their writing, but an outstanding first-grade year overall!