Grade 2 students at Ecole Olds Elementary School marked the 20th anniversary of the school's annual celebration of authors on April 17 by taking part in various activities promoting the activity of writing.
The students have been studying and practising creative writing all year long, culminating last week in a discussion in the classroom about the writing process with local author Maxine Spence and illustrator Elsie Archer.
In the afternoon, students from the drama class at Olds High School acted out some of the stories written by the students.
The students' stories were also placed around the school's library, as well as at the Wild Rose Medical Centre.
“What author celebration does is it takes their work from rough drafts to published work and then a celebration and displaying of their published works,” said Shannon Basisty, one of the Grade 2 teachers at the school.
Spence and Archer were at the school talking to students about where they get their inspiration and how the author and illustrator work together, among other topics.
Members of the community have also been dropping by the school at various times throughout the year promoting the importance of reading.
The Olds Kiwanis Club has sponsored the program from its inception, giving out T-shirts for students to wear on author's day.
Ashley Hoppins, a Grade 2 student, said she learned that she has to think about what she's going to write before she commits her ideas to paper.
“You can't just write about anything. You have to think about what you're writing,” she said, adding that imagination also plays a part in writing a good story.
Aza Korver, another Grade 2 student, said authors have to think about the story and plan it out before beginning writing.
“Story mapping really helps with that,” she said.
Korver also said authors need to be open to receiving ideas from a variety of different sources.
“You have to find ideas from other things, like looking … and you really have to think,” she said.
