麻豆影院

Students in CU-麻豆影院 science-writing class write science-themed books for first graders, who now return the favor

Two first graders walk into a class. They open a science book they wrote together. They read it to college students, who clap and ask questions.

This is no joke. It鈥檚 a joint effort of a writing class at the 麻豆影院 and a first-grade class at Bear Creek Elementary School.

More on that later. But first, back to the story. It concerns a grizzly bear and a polar bear, both famished after a harsh winter, both eyeing a 鈥渓uscious elk.鈥�

The first-grade girl ticks off the grizzly鈥檚 diet, size and top speed鈥�35 mph. The boy narrates a parallel tale about the polar bear鈥�25 mph, if you鈥檙e curious. The tension peaks as both animals lunge at the hapless elk.

The grizzly runs faster, so it wins. The fate of the polar bear is left to the readers鈥� imagination.

Daniel Long calls this a 鈥済reat example of community-based writing.鈥� He should know. Long, who earned his MA in English literature at CU-麻豆影院, teaches 鈥淲riting on Science and Society鈥� for the university鈥檚 Program for Writing and Rhetoric.

A few years ago, one of his students, Allyson Adams, asked to write a science-themed children鈥檚 book for her final project. Her book is called Our Love Was Born from Burning Stars, and it offers a scientific, as opposed to religious or mythological, account of the universe鈥檚 origins.

During the next two semesters, more and more students asked to write children鈥檚 books, Long recalls. 鈥淪o I said to myself, 鈥榃hy not ask all听of them to听write children鈥檚 books?鈥欌��

As long as you鈥檙e writing children鈥檚 books, you might as well share them with actual children. Long did this via Stephanie Briggs, a first-grade teacher at 麻豆影院鈥檚 Bear Creek Elementary School.

Long鈥檚 students read their books to Briggs鈥� first graders last spring, and the kids asked if they could write their own books. After two more classes made the same request, 鈥淢rs. Briggs and I said to ourselves, 鈥榃hy not let them?鈥欌��

This spring, the first graders at Bear Creek Elementary wrote and illustrated their own books. Their assignment: to tell a story based on imaginary contests between two animals鈥攁nd the assignment was appropriately called 鈥淲ho Would Win?鈥� The matchups included a mako shark vs. a great white shark, badger vs. wolverine, cheetah vs. leopard and great horned owl vs. golden eagle.

Framing the assignment as a wild competition prodded the first graders to learn about the animals in their stories. Thereby hangs both a tale and a bit of science.

Who Would Win is a popular series of children鈥檚 books written by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Rob Bolster. Briggs asked teams of first graders to research two animals on specific characteristics using library books and child-friendly websites.

The first graders incorporated writing strategies they learned during the year: using vivid details, interesting word choices, sound effects and similes, Briggs notes. And the kids enjoyed it.

鈥淭hey were thrilled to share their efforts with Danny Long鈥檚 students, who inspired them to use science concepts to create engaging stories,鈥� Briggs says.

Long鈥檚 CU-麻豆影院 students, meanwhile, have also been writing, illustrating and binding children鈥檚 books that tell engaging stories with a subtext of science, sometimes conveyed through anthropomorphic characters.

To illustrate the hydrologic cycle, for instance, Long鈥檚 students chronicled the journey of Reggie, the raindrop. Highlighting anatomy, students told the story of a human heart who鈥檚 feeling blue because only the brain came to the heart鈥檚 birthday party. (The brain helps the bone, tooth and stomach overcome their weaknesses and join the celebration.)

There鈥檚 Halley, the lonely comet who finds solace as she soars by the solar system鈥檚 planets, each with its own character. And there鈥檚 The Lost Wolf and The Sleepy Moon, which follows a little wolf as he howls at a moon that changes shape during a month鈥攖hus highlighting the lunar cycle.

The groups of students who wrote and illustrated these books include the following: David DeHerrera, Brock Bylovas and Nicci Hines created Reggie. Nate Coyle, Lu Cester, Evan Lockard and Sachi Wong wrote the anatomy story. Lucy Wilkinson, Christina Clementz, Girish Narayanswamy and Eric Brown wrote and illustrated Halley. And Will Golding, Chris LeSueur, Hanadi Salamah and Perry Soderstrom created Lost Wolf.

Long is particularly pleased that his science-writing students have observed something many writers never see: a real impact. He puts it this way:

鈥淚t鈥檚 the latest of my attempts to disassemble the walls enclosing听the science-writing curriculum.听I want my students to look their influence in the eye, to see that their writing听matters: it teaches, it awes, it inspires.鈥�

Long鈥檚 course aims to help students practice techniques for communicating analytically and persuasively, to further develop their creative and critical-thinking skills, and to consider how their fields relate to other fields and to the civic arena.

Besides those skills, the course also imparts bookbinding methods. This is thanks to CU-麻豆影院鈥檚 Department of Special Collections and Archives. 鈥淭he librarians there have played a vital role in teaching my students bookbinding methods,鈥� Long says. 鈥�Halley, for example, wouldn鈥檛 exist without SCA鈥檚 book-arts听instruction.鈥�

In an essay published last summer, Long discussed his fondness for the children鈥檚-book exercise. 鈥淚 love the assignment for a number of reasons: it鈥檚 multimodal, it demands critical and creative thinking, it teaches students how to engage in deliberative dialogue, is stresses audience awareness, it discourages wordiness,鈥� he wrote.

鈥淎nd above all, it鈥檚 fun! Really flippin鈥� fun!鈥�

Clint Talbott is director of communications and external relations for the College of Arts and Sciences and editor of the .

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