As you might have read on this blog or heard from your fifth grader, during the weeks leading up to this year’s Literacy Week, our fifth graders listened to the middle grades novel Because of Mr. Terupt in class, did some inquiries about the author Rob Buyea during their library time, and got to ask the author some of their questions during a Skype visit. Since then, we have spent time reflecting on the experience, and I wanted to share with all of you, and of course also with Rob Buyea, some of the learning that resulted from this, as well as messages our fifth graders have for the author. Here are some of our students' comments, about what they learned, want to try out, still wonder about and want the author to know:

​Something we learned about writing/being a writer…
You need to think like a writer and make observations.
You need to be a reader if you want to be a writer.
You have to be enjoying what you are writing to make it good. Be excited about your writing.
To write the beginning takes a long time. The beginning of a story is the hardest part.
Sometimes the process can be messy.
Most of the planning happens in your mind.
Always think about writing away from the writing desk.
Perseverance and commitment are very important.
Writing is rewriting. You need to revise a lot.
It’s very important to think like a writer when you are not working; always have your mind on writing.
Continue doing the work and new ideas come to the surface.
Put life experiences into your stories to make them more interesting.

​Something we want to try out as a writer…
Writing from different perspectives.
Keeping a writer’s notebook.
When you have a good idea, just go for it and write it down.
Being more committed to my work.
Reading loads to get better imagination.
To use my memories and things that happened to me and add them in my story.
To plan on a grid.
Put real life bits into the story
Pay attention to what’s around you.
Always have my mind on writing.
I want to try out writing an actual book and learn more about the writing process.
To try brainstorming more and take ideas from the real world, change them and be creative.
Set goals for writing.

​Something we still wonder about…
Can anyone learn the skills to write?
How much planning do you need to write a book?
How long does it take to get a book out?
How much time do writers work on a book?
How do you know your story is perfect and ready to be published?
I wonder if there are more ways to make your story better and make people get engaged with your story.
Do you have to think about what your readers would think about your books before writing?
How many rewrites does one story take?

​Something we want Rob Buyea to know…
You inspire me and other people and I want to write a book from different perspectives like yours.
I can’t wait to read The Perfect Score!
You should be a motivational speaker/comedian because you are very hilarious (especially when you were explaining the inspiration for the snowball fight)!
You actually went to my dad’s school.
Mr. Terupt was a great book and it inspired me to try new stuff.
Thank you for teaching me so many writing tips like using real life and keeping thoughts as you walk around.
I love your books and you are one of my favorite authors!
It was very nice talking to you because you looked happy to talk to us.
You help me and inspire me to write more – and keep writing because it’s amazing!
You have inspired me to write a book. I will try to use the grid plan, and if I do get to publish my own book, I want you to be the first one to read it.
Thank you for skyping with us, I really appreciate it. And thanks for sharing you memorable and funny “memory story”.
I really appreciate the time you took out of your night to skype with us. I love your books and thank you for all the cool tips.
I wish the book would turn into a movie so you can see how the students look like.
I picture Mr. Terupt a lot like you, but with more beard and hair.
I really like how you can make really good cliffhangers, and I love your books and I find it really cool how you come up with great ideas. I hope you will be a writer for the rest of your life because you write amazing stories.
You are very enthusiastic and motivating. You are such a big inspiration to all the young writers.
Your books are awesome!

More than two weeks have passed since Literacy Week and it has again been a bit more quiet on the library blog - but not in the library itself. It has been as busy as ever as you can also see from our constantly growing author inquiry display. The library is packed every morning with students reading, exchanging books, doing origami or playing a boardgame with a friend. During the day classes visit to inquire about authors, to discover new books for pleasure reading and personal inquiries, to participate in book clubs and literature circles and to dig deep into personal wonderings during inquiry circles as part of their current unit of inquiry (Sharing the Planet). Below are a few snapshots. Enjoy!

PK1 students exploring the difference between fiction and nonfiction/informational books...

PK2 making a new literary friend and discovering what life can look like in South Africa through Niki Daly's Jamela books...

Kindergartners finding out more about author Matt Cooper and getting a chance to connect to their prior learning under Sharing the Planet when listening to and discussing The Last Gibbon...

G1 continuing their inquiry about Atinuke and enthusiastically learning and sharing their learning about plants during inquiry circles...

G2 students embarked on a new author inquiry - Ying Chang Compestine - and are intrigued by the stories they heard so far and have many questions and wonderings already...

G3 students continuing to inquire about Lenore Look - currently we are reading Ruby Lu Brave and True, making connections to what we learned about and from her during our Skype as well as what we already know about Alvin Ho...

G4 students continue finding out more about Phil Bildner, surprised to discover how clearly they can hear his voice in his stories...

G5 students reflected on their Skype with Rob Buyea, in particular what they learned about writing from him and what strategies they might like to try out in their own writing...

Stay tuned to find out more soon :)

Just like every day this week, we started the day with story time in different languages in the library. Today's readers shared stories in Italian and Mandarin, which were all very much enjoyed.

Then our fourth graders came to the library to meet with author Phil Bildner. Just like when reading one of his picture books for the very first time (Marvelous Cornelius), it was an instant connection. There were smiles and happy waving, yes even some enthusiastic cheers. Everybody was hooked, listening attentively to what the author had to share about his life as a writer and his creative work. 

Our fourth graders had many questions and got lots of answers - for example about what inspired him to become a writer, whether there was an author that had influenced him in particular, what his writing process looks like and what he finds challenging when writing, about the themes in his books and why he chooses to write about them, how long it takes to write a book and whether he prefers writing picture or chapter books. There was also a lot of talk about books written by other authors as Mr. Bildner asked each student after they had asked their question what they had read recently. Our students loved hearing that they had so many favorite books in common with the author: Because of Winn Dixie, The One and Only Ivan, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the I Survived series, the Percy Jackson series, Reina Telgemeier's graphic novels and many more. I could tell that our students would have loved to continue chatting when our time was up; that much fun they had!

Our next agenda item was the much anticipated Battle of the Books between a team of teachers and parents against all of our students. To make it a manageable task in a short period of time, we had selected just 6 books from the list of 20 for parents to prepare. And prepared they came, ready to challenge our students. It took our parent/teacher team a few minutes to get into the competition but from then on it was a close race. Hardly any questions were missed on either side. While the atmosphere was more competitive than usually during our practice meetings, it remained friendly with lots and lots of smiles all around - also because everybody had some yummy treats to nibble on. The final count put the students just one point ahead of the parents - and the parents are already asking for a rematch.

The third highlight of the day was our fifth graders' Skype with Rob Buyea, author of the much loved Mr. Terupt series. After listening to the first book in the series, Because of Mr. Terupt, as a class read-aloud, all of our students were looking forward to meeting the author - and so were we librarians and teachers. This was already our third Skype with Mr. Buyea, and from past Skypes, I knew that without any doubt, this would be another fantastic experience. I couldn't wait for this year's fifth graders to be blown away and inspired by him, hearing him talk about his writing - and the importance of reading.

Our students had many writing questions which Mr. Buyea answered with much detail - for example what he enjoys about writing, what his favorite writing environment and tools are, how he plans his stories, what tips he has for getting ideas, what skills you need to write a book, and whether he has a favorite writer and favorite books. He mentioned many authors he admires, such as Christopher Paul Curtis, Gordon Korman and Richard Peck, and recommended a number of books by other authors to our students as well: All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, Wolf Hollow (which some of our students who knew the book already greeted with loud cheers), and Masterminds. Especially excited everybody got, when he showed us an advanced reader copy of his newest book, The Perfect Score, which will be released in October, and told us a bit about the story which is again written from different perspectives. When spontaneous applause broke out, I knew that our fifth graders are as much looking forward to reading this book as I do!

There would be so much more to say about our wonderful authors but I will stop here for today and in the upcoming weeks let our students share more with you about what they learned, what they took away from meeting the authors - tips, ideas and surely, above all, inspiration.

A big THANK YOU to both Phil Bildner and Rob Buyea, for staying up late to Skype with us here in Hong Kong, for sharing their amazing stories with us and for inspiring us to become the best readers and writers we can possibly be!