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I have never seen my students more excited about writing as when I told them we were going to write a real book together. You guys – their eyes lit up and a giant smile grew across their face. Then one of my sweet kiddos asked “A real book?” “Yes!” I responded with excitement, “a real book like this,” and I held up one of their favorite classroom read alouds. They cheered and high-fived each other. Publishing a class book was not only fun but it was super easy with Studentreasures. This post is sponsored by Studentreasures – but rest assured that I only recommend products and resources that I love for my own classroom!
Studentreasures makes it so easy to turn your students into published authors. They have taken a complicated process and made it easy peasy! And everything you need is provided for you. All of you have to do is follow the easy instructions and get your students writing!
Step 1: We Are Publishing A Class Book!
The first thing you need to do is visit Studentreasures and select your publishing date. You get to pick the date that works for you, your curriculum and your classroom. I love doing our book towards the end of the school year when we do our kindergarten version of research papers. But you could do it any time of the year!
Simply click on Step 1 – Order Kit to get started. All you have to do is choose the book format you would like. They have options for landscape and portrait books (with or without lines) and an online book.
Your publishing kit will arrive with everything you need!
The Quick Start guide will tell you ALL.THE.THINGS you need to know to get started.
Step 2: Start Writing
It’s time to get your students writing! Before telling your students about this, decide what kind of book you are going to write. Is it going to be a story or non-fiction? Will you collaborate as a class or will each student write their own page? Will you decide on the topic or writing prompt or will the class decide? Basically, just get your plan in place. Need ideas, just visit the #ProudAuthors page on Studentreasures or look at Sample Books written by other classes and get inspired!
Next, it’s time to tell your students about the book. I always start with the “We are publishing a class book!” talk that I described earlier! Every year it goes about the same. Lots of excitement, one or two skeptics that I assure we are writing a REAL book, and then lots of anticipation. Once they get excited about this experience the rest is pretty easy!
This is a great time for teaching or reviewing the writing process. “Even the best authors don’t start out with a final draft” is what I tell my students. Whether you do a traditional writing lesson or writer’s workshop approach, the class book will fit in well.
Step 3: The Final Draft
When it’s time to write the final draft, the one that will get submitted to the publisher, the class gets so excited. Studentreasures provides everything you need for this step. Use the pages they provide for writing the final draft.
I have never seen my students work so hard on handwriting as when they wrote their final draft for the class book. Make sure to follow the instructions and use black ink for this final writing so that the book can be easily read. Studentreasures offers lots of tips and ideas for making sure the final draft is great!
After everyone has written their final draft its time to add the finishing touches. It’s time to design the book cover, title page, dedication page and the authors page. You can divide these tasks up however you feel works best for your classroom. I’ve seen some books that the teacher does these pages and others where the students do them. You know your students best!
Step 4: Send It In and Sit Back and Relax!
Once you’ve gotten all the pages completed for your book it’s time to return it to Studentreasures. They make this so easy too! Just send everything back in the envelope that your publishing kit arrived it.
Then the hardest part of all . . . waiting (20 business days). You will probably answer the question “Is our book done yet?” a million and one times, but it will be worth it. The day the box does arrive will be one of the best days of the entire year!
Check out the Possibilities!
Isn’t that just the most amazing book! I know that your students can write a great book too!
How Much Does Publishing a Class Book Cost?
I hope by now I’ve got you so excited that you are ready to jump right in. But I know first I must answer the question “How much does this book publishing cost?” Are you ready . . .
NOTHING! NADA! ZIP! ZERO! You guys every classroom gets a free book! The only thing that Studentreasures asks of you is that you give the parents of your students the opportunity to order a book. They even provide the forms to send home.
There is no minimum order required so even if every.single.parent says No – the class still gets one book for free!
So head on over to Studentreasures and get started today! You’ve got nothing to lose and your students have everything to gain from this amazing writing experience!
Publishing a Class Book: Save this Idea for Later!
Not ready to publish just yet – no worries! Just pin this to your favorite classroom Pinterest board and you will be able to get back here quickly and easily when you are ready!