Parent Writing Showcase

Who knew we had so many accomplished

writers in the neighbourhood. From

books to biographies to newspaper arti-

cles, the parent writing showcase provid-

ed students at Westvale with a bit of his-

tory and writing inspiration.

We got the words out! Between November 2011 and June 2012

Westvale's talented students from kindergar-

ten to Grade 6 experienced and created liter-

ary masterpieces using pencils, paper, scissors,

the internet, group collaboration and more!

Westvale hosted different daytime and even-

ing events showcasing children author presen-

tations, family writing nights, different tech-

nologies, and a game of story tag, engaging,

teaching and inspiring literacy.

A big thank you to all the students, parents,

guest speakers, and authors who participated

and supported this event.

Getting the Words Out program — Page 1

Westvale Reporters

Read about each event as seen through the

eyes of our own Westvale reporters from

Room 12. Each event was captured using col-

laborative writing and good details. Journalist

Tom Nunn met with the Press Room to share

reporting tips and stories with the students.

Message from the Principal:

The Getting the Words Out program has been a tremendous success at Westvale Public School. After arriving in Janu-

ary, I have had the opportunity to see how much our students enjoy reading and writing. Who could forget Kari Lynn

Winters’ inspiring story telling and amusing approaches to writing fiction, or watching children and parents come to

the school on a cold February night to work collaboratively at writing a family story with Anna Trinca. From the Never

Ending Story to Harry Endrulat’s inspiring story about a Bear in World War One, there were so many ways that stu-

dents could connect with writers. A special thanks goes to all staff and parents who worked so tirelessly at making all

of this come together. — Mr. Alexander, Principal

At the end of November, an author

named Sigmund Brouwer came to

our school to talk about writing –

“rrrr”. “RRRR” is a way to remember

how to write for the Right audience,

at the Right time, in the Right place,

to press the Right buttons.

Sigmund Brouwer’s method of

writing is called, “Rock and Roll Lit-

eracy”. He has written many books

including Revenge, Rivals and many

more. Sigmund Brouwer has

French translations of many

of his books. We learned a

lot from Sigmund Brouwer

when he came to our school!

Kari-Lynn Winters

Sigmund Brouwer

Kari-Lynn Winters showed us

some ways to write funny stories:

surprise the reader, bump up a

number, exaggerate, reader

knows more, play on words,

tricky picture, irony, out of con-

text information, awkward situations and

gross stories. She helped us exaggerate with

riddles like this:

We really got you going, huh?

Kari-Lynn Winters also helped us write a story

about someone with zero manners who was

at a super-fancy restaurant. He spat on and

ate other people’s food, ran about the res-

taurant and put his feet on the table! What a

guy! Then she read us one of her stories

called Jeffrey and the Sloth. It was a funny

story about a boy who didn’t know what to

write and a lazy sloth who didn’t want Jeffrey

to write. It was a great book. Sadly, the au-

thor visit was now

coming to an end –

though Kari-Lynn

Winters had one

more thing to say…

Knock knock!

Who’s there?

Ima. Ima who?

Ima author, are you?

By Priscilla and Evi

By Charlie, Laura Beth and Jess P.

They have some BIG teeth

And sometimes, they get stuck

right on your chest and won’t budge!

And once in a while, they even tear

at your hair…

ZIPPERS are sooooo horrifying!

November 29

January 12

Getting the Words Out program — Page 2

“Literacy begins with play”

— Kari-Lynn Winters

"Rock and Roll Literacy combines story and

music in a one hour presentation that enter-

tains and motivates students to read and write

more. It encourages students to develop liter-

acy skills as a way to reach for their dreams

and especially appeals to boys and reluctant

readers and writers” — Sigmund Brouwer

Family Writing Night

Harry Endrulat

Scribble, scribble…Family Writing Night is a

night to write for fun! Family Writing Night

was held on February 27th. When we were

there, it didn’t matter if we made mistakes,

it just mattered that we got our thoughts on

paper. We wrote all the five senses: smell,

taste, touch, hearing and sight to help with

our story. We also made comparisons – for

example, crayfish being a Formula 1 car in a

race. We brainstormed ideas for our story

and chose the best one. When we wrote

our stories, we used the five senses and

comparisons. Writing the story was a lot of

fun, especially when we didn’t have to worry

about anything except getting our thoughts

on paper!

Harry Endrulat gave us good tips on

how to become an author. Some of

the tips he gave us were, you can

write stories based on TV shows,

non-fiction and imagination. Did you

know that Harry Endrulat was inspired

to be an author by making up stories for

his kids? Most of the stories he wrote

were Max and Ruby books (26 in total!).

He also wrote a very popular Silver Birch book

called A Bear in War. A Bear in War is a non-

fiction book. Harry discovered the story for the

book by reading the newspaper. The teddy bear

in the story can be found in the War Museum in

Ottawa. Harry Endrulat also visited our school at

night and three lucky kids got to read A Bear in

War aloud. Harry Endrulat is an outstanding au-

thor.

By Evi, Iman and Armaan

By Charlie and Gabriel

February 27

April 23

Getting the Words Out program — Page 3

“Everyone has a story worth telling. It's

just a matter of finding the courage to put

it down on paper.” — Harry Endrulat

Story Tag

The Story that Never Ends

Over two days at school, Westvale students from every class participated in a Story Tag. Sigmund Brouwer wrote a “story starter”, and one class after another

added on to the story. Students first listened to the story to the point it was written, and then in small groups dis-cussed what should happen next. Each group shared their ideas and the class decided which group’s idea would be the next para-graph in the story. The story was typed onto a computer projected to a

white board. Each class had 15 minutes once the story had been read to complete their sec-tion. Students were encouraged to illustrate part of the story, and two of the many wonder-ful drawings are included here.

The Story Tag was a bit like relay race; some-one from each class tagged the next class. It was a game of tag won by everyone!

Read the story online at http://issuu.com/wpsjk123456/docs

Using home computers, the internet and an application called Titanpad, Wesvale students met online (with parental permission) to write ``The Story that Never Ends,” an unpredictable, wild, dragon tale. The story was initially started by author Kari-Lynn Winters and was continued by Westvale students on the internet. 38 students partici-pated creating over 70 en-tries, totaling up to over 6,200 words!

February 27—28

March 1—31

Getting the Words Out program — Page 4

The Getting the Words Out program was

provided through the generous in-kind

support of time by parents and Westvale

staff volunteers. Financial support was

provided by the Westvale School Council,

the Ontario Ministry of Education (Parents

Reaching Out Grant), by the Writer's Un-

ion of Canada (Writer's-In-the-Schools

Program), and Westvale Public School.

We hope that this newsletter and your program bookmark serve as a reminder of the Getting the Words Out program to encourage you to “get lost in books and find yourself in writing.” Enjoy reading and continue to write together with others who inspire you. Parents - continue to use your experiences and creativity to encourage your own children to read and write together with you.

Many thanks to the program committee – a group of incredibly dedi-cated Westvale parents (Cindy Desbiens, Janis Roughley, Greg Sen-nema, and Jennifer Yessis) and staff (Bruce Alexander, Jennifer Bend-er, Cathy Freeman, Julia Kezys, Jennifer Poll, Mary Jane Rathwell, and Allison Scott). Their tireless efforts to bring the program vision to life will have an impact that cannot be fully measured. Thanks to Kathy Haddock for her initial inspiration for the idea.

Read it online at http://issuu.com/wpsjk123456/docs

The Taco Spell by the students at Westvale Public School

Drawing by Olivia

Drawing by Nolan